Recipes › Fresh bowls & lunches› Wild rice bowl with roasted squash and brown butter
Fresh bowls & lunches · Easy · Serves 4

Wild rice bowl with roasted squash and brown butter

A fall lunch bowl of wild rice, roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, feta, and toasted pumpkin seeds, all dressed in a quick brown butter apple cider vinaigrette.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-06-06
Two wide cream-speckled stoneware bowls of wild rice and roasted butternut squash side by side on a white marble counter, each with dark nutty wild rice topped with deeply caramelized orange squash cubes, scattered dried cranberries, crumbled white feta, toasted pumpkin seeds, fresh parsley and thyme leaves, and a slow drizzle of golden-amber brown butter vinaigrette. A small ceramic dish of more dressing sits between the bowls with a small wooden spoon, with two light oak forks resting on a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel beside the bowls. Soft autumn-morning light from the kitchen window.
Prep
15 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
easy

This is the bowl I make in October, when the marble counter starts to feel cold to the touch and the squash at the farmers' market is suddenly the right size. Wild rice grown right here in Minnesota, deeply caramelized butternut squash, a small handful of dried cranberries, crumbled feta, toasted pumpkin seeds, and a brown butter vinaigrette that pulls the whole thing together.

Two pans, one small pot, and the kind of pantry pull that turns a Tuesday lunch into something a little special. I make a double batch and the leftovers are even better cold the next day, eaten straight from the container while leaning on the counter.

“Wild rice and roasted squash, dressed in a brown butter vinaigrette. The kind of fall lunch that feels like a small celebration.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01A fall lunch bowl that comes together with one sheet pan, one small pot, and a small saucepan. Mostly hands-off while the oven runs.
  • 02Wild rice and brown butter is one of the great quiet flavor combinations. Nutty, savory, just sweet enough from the maple in the dressing.
  • 03Meal-prep gold. The components keep separately for 4 days; assemble a five-minute lunch all week.
  • 04Fully vegetarian and easy to flex: swap the squash for roasted sweet potato, the cranberries for chopped dates, the feta for goat cheese, or skip the cheese entirely for vegan.
A parchment-lined half-sheet pan of deeply caramelized butternut squash cubes resting on a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel on a white marble counter. The squash cubes have charred caramelized edges and vibrant orange tender interiors, spread out with space between them. A few sprigs of fresh thyme are scattered across the top. A pair of cream linen oven mitts sits at one edge of the frame, a small ceramic bowl of ground cumin at the other, and a wooden spoon rests on the linen.
Give the squash space. Cubes that touch each other steam instead of caramelize, and those charred edges are the whole point.
Ingredients

For the wild rice

  • 1 cupwild rice or wild rice blend
  • 3 cupswater or low-sodium broth
  • 1 tspkosher salt

For the roasted squash

  • 1small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1½ to 2 lb)
  • 2 Tbspolive oil
  • 1 tspground cumin
  • 1 tspkosher salt

For the brown butter dressing

  • 4 Tbspunsalted butter
  • 2 Tbspapple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsppure maple syrup
  • 1 tspdijon mustard
  • ¼ tspkosher salt
  • a generous pinchblack pepper

To finish

  • ½ cupdried cranberries
  • ¾ cupcrumbled feta cheese
  • ⅓ cuppumpkin seeds, raw or toasted
  • ¼ cupfresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 Tbspfresh thyme leaves
  • for servingflaky salt and black pepper
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Cook the wild rice.
    Rinse the wild rice in a fine-mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring the water (or broth) and salt to a boil. Add the rice. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 35 to 45 minutes, until the grains have split open and are tender but still chewy. Drain any excess liquid.
  2. 02
    Roast the squash.
    While the rice cooks, preheat the oven to 425°F. On a large sheet pan, toss the butternut squash cubes with the olive oil, cumin, and salt. Spread in a single layer with space between the cubes (give them room to caramelize, not steam). Roast 25 to 30 minutes, turning once halfway, until the cubes are tender and the edges are deeply caramelized.
  3. 03
    Toast the pumpkin seeds, if needed.
    If your pumpkin seeds are raw, toast them in a dry small skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until lightly golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Watch closely; they go from pale to burnt in a minute.
  4. 04
    Make the brown butter dressing.
    In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Keep cooking, swirling occasionally, until the butter foams, then turns golden, then a deep amber with toasty brown flecks settling at the bottom of the pan, about 4 to 5 minutes. Pull off the heat and let it cool for 2 minutes. Whisk in the apple cider vinegar (it'll sizzle), the maple syrup, dijon, salt, and pepper.
  5. 05
    Assemble the bowls.
    Divide the wild rice between four wide bowls. Top each with a generous scoop of roasted squash, a small handful of dried cranberries, a crumble of feta, and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds. Drizzle generously with the warm brown butter dressing. Scatter chopped parsley and fresh thyme leaves over the top, and finish with a tiny pinch of flaky salt and a crack of black pepper. Eat warm or at room temperature.
    A pair of hands in a fitted white tee and beige linen apron cupping a wide cream-speckled stoneware bowl of assembled wild rice and squash from the sides, with the contents visible from above: dark wild rice, vibrant orange caramelized butternut squash, red dried cranberries, white crumbled feta, golden pumpkin seeds, and fresh herbs. A folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel sits at the lower-left edge and a light oak fork rests on the marble counter at the lower-right.
    Hold the bowl warm, in both hands, like a small lunchtime ritual. It travels well from kitchen to wherever you eat it.
Macro top-down close-up of an assembled wild rice and squash bowl surface, showing dark nutty wild rice with split grains, vibrant orange caramelized butternut squash cubes with charred edges, bright red dried cranberries scattered through, white crumbled feta cheese, golden green-rimmed pumpkin seeds, small parsley leaves and tiny thyme sprigs, with cracked black pepper across the squash and a flake of flaky salt visible. The cream-speckled stoneware bowl edge sits softly out of focus at the corners.
A note from Anna

Don't crowd the sheet pan with the squash. Cubes that touch each other steam instead of caramelize, and the deep golden edges are what make this bowl great. If your sheet pan is small, use two and rotate them halfway through, or do the squash in two batches. The brown butter dressing keeps for a week in the fridge; gently warm it on the stove or in a measuring cup of warm water before using so the butter is liquid again.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    A simple green salad
    Arugula with olive oil, lemon, and shaved parmesan.
  • ·02
    A small glass of crisp white
    Or a small glass of cider if you're leaning into the fall theme.
  • ·03
    Crusty sourdough
    For sopping up any extra brown butter dressing at the bottom of the bowl.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Components separately, in sealed containers, for up to 4 days. Wild rice and squash in one, dressing in another, feta and cranberries dry. Assemble fresh.

Reheat: Squash and rice in a 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes to revive the squash edges. The dressing can be warmed gently on the stove. Or eat it all at room temperature.

Make ahead: Cook the wild rice and roast the squash on Sunday. Make the brown butter dressing fresh (it takes 5 minutes). You've got bowl lunches sorted Monday through Thursday.

Freezer: Roasted squash freezes well; wild rice freezes well. Assembled bowls don't, really. Keep it as components.

Recipe card

Wild rice bowl with roasted squash and brown butter

A fall lunch bowl of wild rice, roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, feta, and toasted pumpkin seeds, all dressed in a quick brown butter apple cider vinaigrette.

Prep
15 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
4
Total
50 min
Ingredients
  • 1 cup wild rice or wild rice blend
  • 3 cups water or low-sodium broth
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1½ to 2 lb)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • a generous pinch black pepper
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • ⅓ cup pumpkin seeds, raw or toasted
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
  • for serving flaky salt and black pepper
Method (short version)
  1. 01Cook the wild rice.
  2. 02Roast the squash.
  3. 03Toast the pumpkin seeds, if needed.
  4. 04Make the brown butter dressing.
  5. 05Assemble the bowls.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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