Creamy Mushroom Risotto is an amazingly flavorful side dish perfect for any special dinner. This post includes instructions for preparing risotto on the stove top and in the Instant Pot.
Risotto is one of those magical side dishes that never fails to impress. It is naturally creamy, easy to pack with flavor, and can go alongside just about any main entrée!
This classic creamy mushroom risotto recipe is easy to prepare, but just requires a little attention. Unlike regular steamed rice, making risotto on the stove top does take quite a bit of stirring and you need to be present throughout the cooking process, lest the risotto not cook evenly or stick to the bottom of the pan.
This post covers everything you need to know about making risotto, from common questions to tips and tricks for perfectly cooked risotto, and instructions for Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto.
If you aren’t confident in your ability to make risotto on the stove top, it is much, much easier to make in the Instant Pot. The added benefit to making pressure cooker risotto is you can multi-task as it is cooking (no hovering around the stove!)
Is Risotto Rice or Pasta?:
Common source of confusion! Risotto is rice. Arborio rice is used to make risotto, which is naturally starchy. As it cooks, risotto becomes creamy completely on its own. It is often thought due to the creaminess of risotto that restaurants add cream or milk. Sometimes they do! Often, they just add cheese.
Tip For Making The Best Risotto:
Keep the broth hot: before you even begin the recipe, add the broth to a saucepan and heat it on the stovetop so that by the time you add it to the arborio rice, it is piping hot. This will ensure the rice cooks evenly and quicker than if you use cold broth.
Go big on onion and garlic: Risotto is naturally creamy, so going big on bold flavors like onion, garlic, wine, cheese, and/or herbs is a great way of enjoying a flavorful side dish.
Add cheese if you like it: While risotto does not require dairy of any kind, it is definitely enhanced by grated cheese like parmesan, gouda, and/or gruyere.
When adding broth, do so a little at a time: When you’re adding the hot broth to the arborio rice, aim for no more than 1 cup at a time. Allow the broth to absorb quite a bit before adding more. At the beginning, you’ll be adding the broth quickly and as the rice absorbs it, you will go longer between additions.
Continuously stir the risotto so that it cooks evenly and does not stick to the bottom of the pan. This does require some elbow grease and attention. Risotto isn’t a good side dish to put on in the background so to speak…you need to be actively cooking the whole time.
Mushroom Risotto Ingredients:
Avocado Oil: My go-to cooking oil for sauteing vegetables. Avocado oil has a high smoke point so you can saute or roast vegetables or meat without worrying about it (or your food) burning.
Butter works marvelously in risotto recipes, so if you cook with it, feel free to use 3 tablespoons of butter with 1 tablespoon of avocado oil (to prevent the butter from burning).
Vegetables: Onion, Mushrooms, Garlic, Peas. This combination makes for an earthy, deliciously flavored risotto with beautiful texture. I use baby bella mushrooms, but you can also use classic button mushrooms, chanterelles, or even shiitake mushrooms. You can also go with dried mushrooms instead of fresh mushrooms.
Arborio Rice: As previously mentioned, risotto is made with arborio rice, as it is what gives the dish that iconic creaminess with perfectly puffy, chewy rice. Arborio rice can be found at just about any grocery store, right next to all the other varieties of rice.
Chicken Broth: Because arborio soaks up so much liquid, we may as well give it something flavorful to soak up, rice? Chicken broth brings richness to the dish without adding many calories. It is actually the only liquid you need in order to make risotto.
If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you can absolutely use vegetable broth. On the flipsyde, if you’re serving the risotto with a meat dish such as a beef roast, short ribs, rack of lamb, etc, you may consider using beef broth.
Fresh & Dried Herbs: Dried parsley and fresh thyme make an amazing combination in this mushroom risotto recipe.
Optional Add Ins:
If you cook with wine and/or cheese, I highly suggest adding them to this delicious creamy risotto recipe! Add ⅓ to ½ cup of dry white wine (just as you begin cooking the rice), and/or 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese (or your favorite cheese) after the risotto has finished cooking.
How to Make Mushroom Risotto:
Pour the chicken broth into a large saucepan and heat it on the stove top until it comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat and keep the saucepan covered while you sauté the vegetables. You want the broth to remain at a boiling point, but not be boiling out of control.
Add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to a Dutch oven or thick-bottom large saucepan and heat to medium-high. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté until mushrooms are golden-brown, about 5 to 8 minutes. If at any time the vegetables begin to stick to the pan, you can add a small amount of water or broth to deglaze it.
Transfer the vegetable mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to the Dutch oven, along with the arborio rice and about ¼ cup of broth. Stir the rice constantly and allow it to brown slightly for 2 minutes.
Begin adding the broth to the rice, one ladle full at a time (about ¾ to 1 cup), stirring well between each addition and allowing the liquid to mostly absorb before adding more. Add the dried parsley and fresh thyme.
Continue adding the broth and stir constantly until the rice is completely cooked. The texture should be slightly al dente, but nice and soft but not mushy. You may not need all of the broth.
Add the vegetable mixture back into the pot with the rice along with the peas. Stir well. If adding cheese, do so now.
Taste the risotto for flavor and if desired add sea salt or lemon zest or juice. Serve with your main entrée and enjoy!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Use butter or ghee instead of avocado oil
- Add 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
- If you do dairy, add ½ cup cream or full-fat coconut milk for an even creamier consistency.
- If you love cooking with wine, add ⅓ cup dry white wine.
Instant Pot Instructions:
Plug in your Instant Pot and press the Sauté button. Add the avocado oil, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have reduced in volume and are beginning to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the arborio rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is opaque but not browning, about 5 minutes.
Pour one cup of the chicken broth into the Instant Pot and stir until most of the broth has been absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes (if adding wine, do so now!). Add the rest of the broth, dried parsley, thyme, and sea salt and stir to combine. Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and press Manual (or Pressure Cook) and make sure the setting is defaulted to high pressure. Set the time for 15 minutes. Leave the pressure relief valve closed (or ‘Sealed’).
After the Instant Pot has run its course, open the pressure release valve to manually release the pressure. Open the lid and add the peas.
Press the ‘Sauté’ button and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn off the Instant Pot, and if desired, stir in 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Main Entrée Suggestions:
Here are a few ideas for main dishes you can pair with the risotto.
Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp avocado oil divided
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 16 ounces baby bella mushrooms chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ tsp sea salt to taste
- 1 cup green peas
Optional Add Ins:
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese*
- 1/3 cup dry white wine**
Instructions
- Pour the chicken broth into a large saucepan and heat it on the stove top until it comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat and keep the saucepan covered while you sauté the vegetables. You want the broth to remain at a boiling point, but not be boiling out of control.
- Add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to a Dutch oven or thick-bottom large saucepan and heat to medium-high. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 5 minutes. Toss in the mushrooms and garlic and sauté until mushrooms are golden-brown, about 5 to 8 minutes. If at any time the vegetables begin to stick to the pan, you can add a small amount of water or broth to deglaze it.
- Transfer the vegetable mixture to a bowl and set aside. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to the Dutch oven, along with the arborio rice and about ¼ cup of broth. Stir the rice constantly and allow it to brown slightly for 2 minutes.
- Begin adding the broth to the rice, one ladle full at a time (about ¾ to 1 cup), stirring well between each addition and allowing the liquid to mostly absorb before adding more. Add the dried parsley and fresh thyme. Continue adding the broth and stir constantly until the rice is completely cooked. The texture should be slightly al dente, but nice and soft but not mushy. You may not need all of the broth.
- Add the vegetable mixture back into the pot with the rice along with the peas. Stir well. If adding cheese, do so now.
- Taste the risotto for flavor and if desired add sea salt or lemon zest or juice. Serve with your main entree and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
I made this recipe last night. Very good, I did halve the recipe, as just my husband and myself. It was very good, will try the instant pot next time. I have the small instant pot, so half recipe should work fine.
Thank you!
I’m so happy you and your husband liked the risotto! Hope you like the Instant Pot version as well! It makes the process so quick and easy 😉 xoxoxo
I’ve never made risotto before but I made the Instant pot version of this recipe and it was so easy and so good!! At first I thought I was adding too much liquid (8 cups) but it was not! It turned out creamy and perfect. The directions for this method say to add the “mushrooms and garlic” to sauté however it doesn’t specify when to add the small chopped onion – so I added onions first and sautéed for a few mins before adding the garlic and mushroom to the instant pot. Also, I added more salt and pepper to the veggies before adding 1/2 tsp salt to the rice and herbs. My fiancé was impressed by this dish and thought it was something I “already knew how to cook.” 🙂
I’m so happy you and your fiance enjoyed it! Yes, it’s crazy how much liquid arborio rice can soak up! Glad you figured out the onion situation…I’m updating the post now! xoxoxo