Healthy Holiday Rice Stuffing with Fruit & Nuts

Medically reviewed by Abbey Sharp, Registered Dietitian (RD), BASc.

This healthy holiday rice stuffing recipe is packed with fruit and nuts and is perfect for entertaining at a holiday dinner.

Rich curries, hearty stews, and fragrant stir-fries all have one thing in common- they’d all do well on top of a bed of rice to sop up all their flavour. But when you slave over a slow-cooking curry all day, the last thing you want to do is babysit a fussy pot of rice. And that’s where Minute Rice comes in. This stuff is going to be your best friend when it comes to getting an impressive dinner on the table STAT.  While I usually opt for the whole grain brown rice for everyday dinners and lunches, they’ve just released their new line of aromatic varieties- Basmati and Jasmine. These babies are perfect for all of your Asian, Middle Eastern and Indian inspired meals.

The Basmati (aka. the “prince of rice”) in this rice stuffing is a long grain rice from the Himalayas with a nutty aromatic flavour, while the Jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand and perfumes the entire house with the fragrance of jasmine flowers. Heaven.

Usually, both of these varieties take about 20 minutes to cook, but this new Minute Rice cuts that time in half! Anything that can get a healthy homemade meal on the table faster means it will get a healthy homemade meal on the table more often- and that’s good news to me. Especially if we’re talking about rice stuffing, one of my all time favourite holiday dishes.

Trade Bread Stuffing for Rice Stuffing

Now, with the holiday season sneaking up, I thought I would share one of Minute Rice’s latest recipes – a Fruit and Nut Basmati Rice Stuffing. Yum! This is perfect if you have a family member with celiac or gluten intolerance because rice (unlike the bread in traditional stuffing) is naturally gluten free.

Even more good news is that I’m giving away a massive supply of Minute Rice (36 BOXES! YES, THIRTY-SIX) to one crazy lucky (and hungry) Abbey’s Kitchen reader. This is super exciting. To enter, you must:

1. Follow me on twitter.
2. Like my facebook page.
3. Tweet about the contest.
4. Subscribe to my website below or on the right hand side.
5. Subscribe to my youtube page (I’ll be expanding this soon!!)
6. Leave a comment below on your favourite recipe using rice.
7. Leave a comment on any other Abbey’s Kitchen blog post.

Didn’t win but still need to get your exotic rice fix? Check out this coupon here for Minute Rice savings!

Fruit and Nut Basmati Rice Stuffing

This healthy holiday rice stuffing recipe is packed with fruit and nuts and is perfect for entertaining at a holiday dinner.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 285kcal

Author: Abbey Sharp

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 g pouches Minute Rice Basmati Rice 125 each
• ▢ 1/4 cup butter 60 mL
• ▢ 3/4 tsp salt 3 mL
• ▢ 1/4 tsp pepper 1 mL
• ▢ 1 large onion chopped
• ▢ 1 large carrot chopped
• ▢ 2 ribs celery chopped
• ▢ 1 apple peeled and chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 tsp dried thyme 5 mL
• ▢ 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1 mL
• ▢ 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1 mL
• ▢ 1/4 cup dried cranberries 60 mL
• ▢ 1/4 cup dried chopped apricots 60 mL
• ▢ 2 cups vegetable broth 500 mL
• ▢ 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds 125 mL
• ▢ 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 60 mL

Instructions

• Remove rice from pre-portioned pouch; set aside. Melt butter in a large, nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat.
• Add onion, carrot, celery, apple, garlic, thyme, cinnamon and ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 9 minutes or until vegetables soften. Add broth; bring to a boil. Stir in rice, cranberries and apricots.
• Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Stir in almonds and parsley.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 1022mg | Potassium: 289mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 3364IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg

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Disclaimer: The rice for this post was provided by Minute Rice, however, as always, all opinions are genuine.

Updated on October 4th, 2021

Abbey Sharp

Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.