November 21, 2020
Autumn Rice Casserole
Meet your new favorite Holiday Rice Recipe! Rice infused with herby Fall flavors and bejeweled with butternut squash, earthy walnuts, dried cranberries – and complete with crispy onions! This Autumn Rice Casserole is worthy of being a main dish at this year’s Holiday table!
THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY LOTUS FOODS. ALL THOUGHTS, OPINIONS, AND TEXT ARE MY OWN. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING THE BRANDS I LOVE, WHICH ALSO KEEP ME HUNGRY AND INSPIRED TO CREATE!!!
a holiday side dish the whole family will love
We’ve all had our fair share of Stuffing and Green Bean Casserole, so when Lotus Foods asked me to make a delicious Holiday-Inspired dish using their Organic Forbidden Rice® and Organic Tricolor Blend Rice, I knew exactly what I wanted to create!
*Insert my Vegan Autumn Rice Casserole*
This dish is kind of like a fusion between between all of our Thanksgiving side favorites … all in one! It’s creamy, cheesy, and nutty with hits of sweetness throughout.
Grab a warm drink and let’s get to cookin’ the best Vegan Autumn Rice Casserole!
how to make vegan autumn rice casserole
The great thing about this recipe (besides the fact that it’s DELICIOUS) is that it’s essentially a “dump and bake” kinda dish. If you have an oven safe skillet, you can make this dish in just one pan as well! All you have to do is sauté, mix, bake, garnish and enjoy!
But that’s not even the best part! If you’re worried about oven space, this Vegan Autumn Rice Casserole is delicious served at room temperature – in fact, it’s better when it’s not piping hot! I know it seems a bit strange, but trust me on this one.
More show-stopping Thanksgiving sides:
- French Onion Mashed Potatoes
- Chorizo, Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms
- Cauliflower Gratin
- Garlic Herbed Scalloped Potatoes
Is this vegan autumn rice casserole making its debut this holiday season?!
I sure hope so! If you try this dish and love it as much as I do, make sure to snap a photo or video, share it to Instagram, and make sure to tag me at @eat_figs_not_pigs and #EatFigsNotPigs. I love seeing all your recreations of my recipes! Til next time, friends!
XOXO!
Autumn Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 carrots peeled and finely chopped (about ¾ cup)
- 2 small stalks celery finely chopped (about ½ cup)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 8 ounces butternut squash cubed
- 6 cloves minced garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh minced rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh minced sage
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups cooked Lotus Foods Organic Tricolor Blend Rice about ½ cup uncooked
- 1 ½ cups cooked Lotus Foods Organic Forbidden Rice about ½ cup uncooked
- 1 bunch kale roughly chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cups vegan mozzarella shreds divided
- 1 ½ cups vegan-friendly fried onions for garnish
- Fresh minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° degrees F.
- Place the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onion, carrot, celery and walnuts, and sauté, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the butternut squash, garlic, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper, and continue to cook until the squash starts to soften, 8-10 minutes.
- Fold in the rice, kale and cranberries, mixing to combine. Cook until the kale is just wilted, another 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and 1 cup of the mozzarella shreds, tossing gently to combine.
- Transfer the rice to a casserole dish and top with the additional mozzarella shreds. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, broiling it for the last 2-3 minutes.
- Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
- Garnish with fried onions and minced parsley. Enjoy!
