By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 3, 2026
Serves 4
247 cal · 45 min
Harvest Wild Rice Skillet
Recipe GLPRebd83267f14d46
A vibrant autumn-inspired side dish combining nutty wild rice with roasted butternut squash, tender kale, and crisp apples, finished with melted Provolone cheese and aromatic thyme. This wholesome vegetarian skillet celebrates seasonal flavors in one colorful pan.
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Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, minced
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups cooked wild rice
2 cups baby kale
2 tablespoons cream, milk, or butter
2 cups chopped crisp apples with skin
½ cup shredded Provolone cheese
Salt to taste
Directions
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
Stir in the cubed butternut squash and dried thyme. Continue cooking for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash becomes tender when pierced with a fork but still holds its shape.
Add the cooked wild rice and baby kale to the skillet. Stir well to combine all the ingredients evenly.
Pour in the cream, milk, or butter, which will help create a cohesive dish with light moisture. Stir gently to incorporate throughout.
Add the chopped apples last, folding them in gently to maintain their crisp texture. Season with salt to taste.
Scatter the shredded Provolone cheese over the top and stir a few times until the cheese melts and distributes evenly throughout the skillet. Serve warm.
Comments
All ingredients are stocked year-round at Charlotte's major chains—wild rice and cream are standard, and butternut squash is reliably available even outside peak fall season. The real cost driver is the provolone and cream, which together run around $6–$7 for this dish; at roughly $1.75–$1.85 per serving, it's solidly mid-range. The stated 45 minutes is honest if you account for cubing the squash and hand-chopping the kale, though a food processor cuts it to 35. It's a strong weeknight one-pan dinner that reheats well and feeds four without fussiness, though the wild rice does demand attention to the simmer time and water ratio—if you rush or add too much liquid, the texture suffers. Seasonally, butternut squash and kale are at their best and cheapest September through February in North Carolina, making this ideal for the months ahead.
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