This Instant Pot Risotto recipe couldn’t be any easier! Creamy and rich, with no fussing over the stove; this hands-off risotto recipe can be made in 35 minutes and is easily adaptable.
Making risotto in the instant pot is a wonderfully fast and easy entertainer’s dream! It is perfectly creamy and delicious with such little effort! A godsend when you have lots of other things to get done.
As a former caterer, I used this basic risotto recipe for special events, and it has always been a hit. The best part is how creative you can get with this basic risotto recipe. Here, I’ve kept it intentionally very simple with lemon zest, cheese and fresh herbs… but ohhhhhh, the many ways you can go with this! Truly endless!
Why I love it! Prep time is minimal here. And to jazz things up, you could add seasonal mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, baby spinach, sauteed asparagus, English peas, a veggie medley from all the strays in your fridge, etc. Stir in goat cheese instead of traditional parmesan, or try pecorino or manchego, which was super yummy. Use leeks instead of onions. You get the idea. 🙂
I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Ingredients in Instant Pot Risotto
- Olive oil (or unsalted butter)
- Onions and cloves garlic –or shallot or leek
- Arborio rice or short grain Spanish rice (Bomba) and…in a pinch, sushi rice will work too.
- Dry White Wine- sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot grigio, all work.
- Stock or Broth- chicken stock or vegetable broth
- Salt and Pepper
- Freshly Grated Pecorino or parmesan – or try manchego, goat cheese , vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast.
- lemon zest from one lemon (optional)
- Fresh herbs- for finishing : parsley, basil, tarragon, dill, mint, or chives.
How to Make Instant Pot Risotto (instructions)
Step 1: Set Instant Pot to the “Saute” Function, and sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until tender and golden.
Step 2: Add the aborio rice and coat it with the oil, stirring for one minute.
Step 3: Add the dry white wine, and cook this off.
Step 4: Add all 4 cups of veggie, chicken, or stock. The nice thing about making risotto in the instant pot is that you don’t need to add warm broth gradually, like you do in stovetop risotto.
Step 4: Pressure cook on high pressure for 6 mins , let it naturally release for 5 minutes, then use the manual release, releasing the pressure valve, before opening the lid. Give it a good stir, and you will find it perfectly cooked! I have cooked a LOT of Risotto recipes for catered events over the years… and this version is truly just as good!
Step 5: Stir in any additions you like. Here I’ve added parmesan cheese, a little more stock to give it a creamy texture, lemon zest and fresh dill. Vegans could try a little nutritional yeast and olive oil. Taste the risotto and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Storing your instant pot risotto
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator or can be frozen up to 3 months.
instant Pot Risotto Variations
- Instant Pot mushroom risotto: Saute 1 pound of sliced mushrooms with the onion and garlic then pressure cook them along with the risotto. This would also work well with cubes of butternut, corn, or veggies that would discolor or get too overcooked.
- Add Sauteed/Blanched Veggies: saute asparagus on the stove, or blanch spring peas, or blanch broccoli or other vibrant veggies then stir them into the risotto at the end. I prefer to stir these in at the end so they stay nice and vibrant green.
- Add fresh greens: like baby spinach or sauteed kale.
- Add seafood! Top with sauteed shrimp or stir in lobster or crab meat.
- Add Roasted Veggies: You can roast and puree veggies, then stir it in, creating an extra creaminess – like roasted butternut, roasted carrots or parsnips, beets, winter squash… you get the idea. 🙂
- Add herbs – rosemary, thyme, sage, chives, tarragon, basil, mint etc.
- Add different cheeses– pecorino, manchego, cheddar, creamy goat cheese, etc.
What to serve with Instant Pot Risotto
- Top it with a piece of this Salmon or this Chicken or this Cod
- These Sauteed Mushrooms
- Tender-Crisp Roasted Asparagus
- Roasted Root Vegetables
- Chimichurri Shrimp
- Pan-Seared Scallops with Citrus Sauce
More favorite Risotto Recipes!
- Mushroom Risotto with Frizzled Leeks
- Asparagus Risotto
- Butternut Squash Risotto
- Spring Pea Risotto
- Tomato Risotto with Saffron
- Seared Black Cod with Meyer Lemon Risotto
Please enjoy the ease of this Instant Pot Risotto, and let me know what you think in the comments below.
Hope you are well, all is well here.
xoxo
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Instant Pot Risotto Recipe
- Prep Time: 12
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: main, side, vegetarian
- Method: Instant pot, pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The easiest recipe for Instant Pot Risotto! No more fussing over the stove, this hands-off risotto can be easily adapted to your tastes. See notes for ideas!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
- 1 white or yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 cups Arborio rice or short grain Spanish rice (Bomba)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 4 cups veggie stock or chicken stock or broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- ——
- 1/2 – 1 cup pecorino cheese or parmesan (or sub other cheeses- pecorino, manchego, goat cheese, vegan cheese.) Vegans could also try stirring in a little nutritional yeast. 1-3 teaspoons, to taste.
- a drizzle of olive oil or a couple tablespoons of butter (optional)
- lemon zest from one lemon, optional
- more stock or broth to the desired consistency
- Fresh herbs! Flat leaf parsley, basil, dill, etc.
Instructions
- Heat the oil on “saute” function on the Instant Pot. Saute onion and garlic until tender ad fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Add Arborio rice and saute for one minute.
- Add wine and cook this off, about 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a light simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in salt and pepper. If adding any dried herbs, add now.
- Set Instant pot to High Pressure for 6 minutes. Manually release after 5 minutes (letting this naturally release all the way may result in rice that is slightly overcooked )
- Stir in the lemon zest, grated parmesan or other cheese, optional butter, and any optional additions you like.
- Then stir in a little more broth to loosen it up and give it a nice creaminess.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Divide among bowls and top with fresh herbs and more finely grated cheese.
Notes
Risotto Variations:
- While the risotto is cooking, you could saute asparagus or mushrooms on the stove, or blanch spring peas, or blanch broccoli or other vibrant veggies then stir them into the risotto at the end. I prefer to stir these in at the end so they stay nice and vibrant green.
- You could also stir in fresh baby chopped spinach or sauteed kale.
- You can roast and puree veggies, then stir the puree in, creating an extra creaminess – like roasted butternut, roasted carrots or parsnips, beets, winter quash… you get the idea. 🙂
- Feel free to add any herbs – rosemary, thyme, sage, chives, tarragon, basil, mint etc. ( If using dry herbs, use 1 teaspoon dry herbs, add to broth before pressure cooking.)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup - with 2 additional tablespoons butter, 3/4 cup grated parmesan
- Calories: 387
- Sugar: 3.2 g
- Sodium: 996.8 mg
- Fat: 11.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 60 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 9.2 g
- Cholesterol: 17.4 mg
Having 25-30 people for Christmas. Can I make this Instant pot risotto ahead in batches? How much would I make and how would I reheat it? It would be a side dish along with scalloped potatoes and veggies with prime rib being the main. I think this would be a great addition to the menu! I’m relying on your catering skills! Love all your recipes! Thank you!
Hi Linda, how big is your instant pot?
What can I substitute the white wine for? Just add more stock? Or omit all together?
You can omit it all together. At the end of cooking, perhaps a few drops of lemon juice for acid, only if you like. 🙂
Love this recipe, perfect for rainy cold weather! I add garbanzo’s, and zucchini with a handful of pine nuts!
Sounds great!
I appreciated the limited number of ingredients and possibilities for modifications. If I could eat dairy, this would have been delicious with a bunch of parmesan all over it. Alas, that is not the case for me. As a dyslactic (no lactose for me), I thought it was a bit on the bland side . But even so, serving it with an Italian sausage ragout with green pepper and cannelinni beans and it made for a lovely combination (I used TVP for my Italian “sausage”). On its own, it needs more of the suggested flavor enhancements. I added about 1/4 of a lemon worth of juice, which was nice. I would have added more if I’d had more lemons. For those of you who can eat dairy, it would benefit a LOT from parmesan. Even if it’s on the bland side, I’m not sad to pile it into a container for a warm and satisfying lunch at work tomorrow!
Hi there, I added a few more notes on how to make it flavorful if going dairy free. Glad you were able to salvage it!
This was fantastic! I used roasted chicken broth and Chardonnay. Followed the recipe to a T. My family was floored. Served with roasted asparagus and rotisserie chicken. Absolutely did not need the chicken, said my son and husband. We will have this recipe on repeat!
Great to hear!
Very good recipe! I kept it simple: added only butter and lemon zest and Parmesan cheese at the end. The risotto turned out delicious! Thank you, Sylvia!
Great to hear! thanks Dana!
We love every one of your recipes that we try. This is one we go back to over and over again. We always add mushrooms and we often add other things that we have around the kitchen. The best thing about this recipe is how amazingly easy it is. Thank you, Sylvia, for all the recipes you share.
Thanks Terri!
We’ve been using this recipe for over a year and its about time I left a review. It is amazing!!! We will sometimes add steak to the top and the recipe is so great that it allows additions/changes. We make this a few times a month and its never let us down!!
Great to hear Ashley! thanks!
I made this and was surprised about how easy it was compared to the stovetop method. And it didn’t lose any flavor… delish!!!! I added ham, steamed asparagus and peas at the end and it was a complete meal! My question is, can you use long grain rice instead of Arborio?
I haven’t tried with long grain rice- my guess it would get mushy??
I can’t believe how easy and delicious this was. I’ve been making risotto almost every week for the past couple months on the stove pot. I’m Never doing that again! Thank you for this recipe!
I made it vegan, added puréed squash at the end, perfect.
Great to hear Mary!
This was my top made recipe in 2020 and will continue into 2021. So quick and easy, so delicious. I have followed the instant pot recipe exactly as written each time, and add chevre as a garnish. It’s a perfect weeknight dinner but also has such a wonderful flavor profile that it would make a nice dinner for guests (when that is safe again!)
I’m a new Instant Pot user. Want to understand the recipe. Cook 6 mins, got it. Then do I let it sit for 6 mins before doing a manual pressure release?
Yes, actually five minutes. 🙂
Making tonight with fridge leftovers (diced ham/roasted acorn squash/Garlic Boursin cheese spread).
Thanks for the great starting point.
Love it Kevin! It’s a fun way to create a meal- using what you have.
light and delicious. And SO easy.
If I add shrimp what is the best way to do that
Personally, I think I would pan sear the shrimp and add it in at the end.
Hi! This was great but my risotto came out a little mushy; could that be from cooking too long or using too much liquid?
Hi Ethan, I meant to update this recipe sooner. Sorry about that. Pressure cook on high for 6 minutes, pressure release after 5 minutes.
Delicious. Big hit with the family.
I thought it was a little dry even though I added about 1/2 stick of butter and a healthy drizzle of oil.
I’d definitely make this again.
Thanks Lisa, dry in that it needs more liquid?
Added shrimp & peas, it was absolutely delicious!
Had always been intimidated by risotto, but this was easy and so good! Will make again.
Hi Sylvia. Thanks so much for all your recipes and tips! Can you please tell me how to adapt this risotto recipe to either crock pot or stovetop? Thanks again…..Sue
Hi Sue I don’t have a crockpot where I’m staying. AS far as stove it’s a completely different recipe altogether. You’d have to stir fairly regularly and add way more stock, a little at a time, letting it cook down before adding more, until the rice is just tender.
I love all your recipes and especially appreciate the soups for this challenging “stay at home and stay healthy “ time! Can you make this risotto recipe without an instant or rice pot? Judith
Hi Judith, you can but it would take a lot more broth and fairly constant stirring.