Roasted Cranberries and Brussels Sprouts over Wild Rice
Crisp-tender Brussels sprouts meet burst fresh cranberries, toasted pecans, goat cheese and wild rice blend. It's a delicious winter meal.
Posted by Kathryne Taylor on December 18, 2025
Now introducing… the wintery side dish or vegetarian main dish that you didn’t know you needed! You’ll love how it comes together with one pot on the stove and one pan in the oven.
This festive green and red dish features roasted Brussels sprouts cooked to crisp-tender perfection with fresh cranberries, which become so lovely as they bake on the same pan alongside the sprouts. Add chopped pecans to the pan toward the end of baking to toast them.
Once your components are done cooking, combine them in a bowl over cooked wild rice blend. Finish it off with crumbled goat cheese, plus a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. The flavors remind me of my popular Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans, but you can eat this one as a standalone meal. It’s a winner.
I adapted this recipe from a since-deleted recipe titled Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries with Barley (here’s a PDF). The old recipe utilized the broiler, and I hate to recommend baking with broilers because they get so very hot and vary widely from oven to oven.
My old instructions for the broiler didn’t turn out nearly as well in our newer oven, for example, so I reworked the recipe to use my go-to roasting temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
I also traded the bed of barley for a more flavorful and easier to find wild rice blend. Lastly, after sampling bites with gorgonzola, which is a mild blue cheese, goat cheese and feta, I decided that goat cheese is my favorite, followed by feta.
The finished dish is memorable and borderline magical. If you’re looking for a healthy, flavorful meal to serve around the holidays, this is a great candidate.
More Brussels Sprout Dishes to Make
Here are a few more of my favorite Brussels sprout recipes to try:
- Buffalo Brussels Sprouts
- Farmers’ Market Bowl with Green Goddess Sauce
- Honey Mustard Brussels Sprout Slaw
- Lemony Roasted Broccoli, Arugula & Lentil Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Crispy Tofu with Honey-Sesame Glaze
Please let me know how your recipe turns out in the comments. I love hearing from you.
Roasted Cranberries and Brussels Sprouts over Wild Rice
Crisp, roasted Brussels sprouts meet burst fresh cranberries, toasted pecans, and creamy goat cheese over a tender wild rice blend. This delicious winter meal would also make a lovely side dish or vegetarian main dish at your Thanksgiving or Christmas supper. Recipe yields 4 medium servings.
Ingredients
- ½ cup wild rice blend
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts, tips cut off, discolored leaves removed and sliced in half (smaller sprouts are better than large sprouts)
- 1 cup fresh cranberries (or ⅓ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
- Flaky salt, for finishing (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook the wild rice according to package directions. Once it’s done, cover the pot with a lid to keep it warm.
- On the prepared baking sheet, combine the Brussels sprouts, cranberries, oil and salt. Gently toss until everything is lightly coated in oil. Spread the mixture in an even layer across the baking sheet, then arrange all of the sprouts with their flat sides facing down. Roast until the Brussels are tender and deeply caramelized on the bottoms, about 18 to 25 minutes depending on their size.
- When they’re nearly done (about 3 to 5 minutes to go), add the pecans to the pan and return them to the oven (this is an easy way to toast the pecans).
- Toss the warm cooked rice, sprouts, cranberries, cheese and pecans in a bowl and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Season with salt (flaky salt if you have it), divide into smaller bowls, and enjoy! Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days. You might like to wake up the leftovers with another little splash of vinegar.
Notes
Adapted from an old, now-deleted recipe titled Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries with Barley (here’s a PDF).
Whole grain options: Wild rice blend, wild rice, farro, or barley would all work well for this recipe. You’ll need 1 ½ cups cooked whole grains.
Change it up: Omit the whole grains to simplify the dish to a vegetable side. You might prefer less maple syrup and balsamic vinegar without the rice. Add it by the teaspoon, to taste.
Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit the cheese. It’s very good without it.
Make it nut free: Omit the pecans.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi – I would love to make this dish as is, but I am struggling with what vegetarian protein to serve with it for a proper dinner menu for guests. A simple salad and good bread would be lovely – but it’s missing the protein – any ideas?
Thanks very much!
:)
Hi Donna! That’s a good question. My notes say that I liked this recipe with scrambled eggs (fried eggs would be good, too), but that might not be guest-worthy. Each serving has 10 grams protein as is, but you could add an extra 7-ish grams by stirring a can of drained chickpeas into the warm rice. Adding some extra goat cheese would bump it up a bit, too!
Thank you!
Dumping some canned chickpeas into the dish does not make it a guest-worthy meal, lol.
Hi Kryshyll, it would make it similar to a harvest grain bowl, which I have served for a casual dinner with friends before. It would certainly depend on the type of gathering you were trying to host.
Kate, this looks awesome! Can I use frozen cranberries?
Mary S.
Hi Mary! I want to say yes, but I haven’t tried to be sure. They might turn out more mushy and messy than mine did. I recommend using fresh if possible!
Hi Kate and Mary,
I used frozen cranberries because I didn’t have any fresh ones on hand.
After 18 minutes I took the pan out to add the pecans, and the bottoms were pink…not carmelized. I figured the berries were too wet and wondered whether I didn’t roast them long enough. The tops were crispy after roasting the nuts, though, and don’t recall the bottoms being soggy.
Also, for anyone else who may have wild rice whose package calls for cooking the entire bag…. Some online searching led me to use a 4:1 ratio of water to rice, and it worked out well.
This was delicious Kate, and our 4 year old gobbled it up! Love your Perfect Roasted Brussels Sprouts, too. Thank you!
Hi Jo, thanks for sharing the results from the frozen cranberries. I’m glad this recipe was a hit.
Thanks so much for the speedy response! There are still fresh cranberries in the store for the holidays, so I’ll grab a bag for this recipe.
Hi Kate, planning on taking this to my family Christmas dinner, but its a three-hour ride away…does it reheat well?
I would travel with the components separate, then assemble at my destination. It does reheat well, but may need to be refreshed with some vinegar.
I’ve made your previous version a couple of times and experienced some of the same issues you listed. I bought Brussels’ sprouts yesterday and just went looking for your recipe, thinking to make many of the very modifications you describe! And I find this updated recipe in my Inbox! I know it will indeed be magical! Thank you!
Looks good. Quick question – if using dried cranberries, do they still go in the oven?
Hi Robert, you can add the dried cranberries at the end. They don’t nee to be roasted. Thanks for the clarification.