This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
People love to complain about making risotto, but I find it to be one of the most relaxing, therapeutic things to do. Here is a very simple recipe for a Creamy Mushroom Risotto that I know you’ll love for the holidays or special dinner at home, just get those stirring arms ready.
Risotto isn’t necessarily “difficult” to make, it just takes some time, attention, patience and little finesse. It does require you hovering over the stove top for about 30 minutes but hey, grab a chair, a glass of wine (or another beverage of choice, maybe a Holiday Clayton Margarita?) and ladle, stir, stir, and ladle again. The end result is creamy, hearty, and just decadent. To me, it’s always worth the tedious time to build more flavor and make a dish extra special. Those are the dishes that are made with the most love!
You can certainly serve this Creamy Mushroom Risotto alone as a nice vegetarian main dish, but you can really top it with any protein! Try it topped with some seared scallops, shrimp or halibut! Or, if you really want to go big — serve it under this delicious Bottle of Wine Braised Brisket for the ultimate entertaining recipe!
SHOP THE POST HERE:
Creamy Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 8 oz bella mushrooms thinly sliced
- 4 oz shitake mushrooms unchopped if they are small. If your shiitake mushrooms are on the larger size, cut them in half
- 8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 cups uncooked arborio rice
- 1 cup dry white wine I use chardonnay
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat the broth in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once heated, add the onion, mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves. Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender; about 5 minutes.
- Add the rice to the pot and stir to toast the rice until fragrant; about 2 minutes.
- Next, add the white wine and continue to cook stirring until the wine is absorbed.
- Once the wine is absorbed, with a ladle add one cup of the warm broth to the risotto and continue to cook stirring until the broth is absorbed fully.
- Continue to ladle the broth one cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb most of the liquid before adding more. This process should take 25-30 minutes (and you should use all or almost all of the warm broth from the saucepan). Your rice should be tender and creamy.
- Add the grated parmesan and stir one more until combined.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi! I want to make this with braised brisket; what can you recommend to substitute arborio rice with? 🙂 thank you!
The ‘purist’ way to make a risotto is always with arborio rice. You could sub a short grain rice if you must. The beauty of arborio rice is that it is high in amylose so that it can be cooked for the long time yet still keep its al dente texture.
So yummy this is something we will be making again.
Hi Alex,
I’m going to make this Xmas day. Do u have a vegetable suggestion?
Thank you.
Joy
These Apple Cider Roasted Root Vegetables could be a great option or a simple salad like my Bibb Lettuce Salad with Black Truffle Vinaigrette and Mimolette or Shaved Celery and Fennel Salad.
Loved this! Super easy and delicious. I used low sodium chicken broth and found that it needed salt when serving. If I make again, I may try using regular chicken broth (full sodium) to see if that helps.
Hey Alex! Could you recommend a non-alcoholic substitute for the white wine? Thanks!
Just sub more broth! you’ll just want to add a little squeeze of lemon juice at the end for some brightness/acidity.
Could substitute brown or wild rice for arbolio rice? My husband & I LOVE your recipes and your book! You’ve been our go-to for recipes during Covid.
I wouldn’t recommend using wild rice for risotto
I’m making this with the brisket and the lobster ravioli for Christmas. Trying to figure out how to make it all come together at the same time. Should I make the risotto and let it sit while I make the lobster ravioli? Or should I make the lobster ravioli short of cooking them in the sauce, then make the risotto, then finish the ravioli? I know this is a tedious question but I need to know I can pull this off by myself! Thanks!
Prep as much stuff ahead of time that you can leading up to Christmas day. Here are some tips:
– Make the lobster stuffing and go ahead and make the ravioli. Cover with saran wrap and set aside.
-get the brisket in the oven
– Sometime while the brisket is cooking, you can make the broth that the lobster will be cooked in, just leave it covered, on low, and kept warm until ready to cook!
-About an hour before the brisket is ready, make the risotto. When ready, remove from heat and cover and keep warm. If it gets too cool, you can always reheat right before and add about 1/2 cup broth to bring it back to life and hydrate it a bit more.
Yummy! Will I need to add more liquid if I wait an hour or so before serving it? Thank you!!
I would make it, leave it covered to stay warm, and just check it before serving. You’ll likely 1/2 cup-1 cup of broth to give it a little more umph/hydrate it again.
This looks so delicious! I want to make this and the brisket for Christmas but my husband isn’t a mushroom fan (even though I love them!). Do you think you could sub something else for the mushrooms or leaver them out?
You could leave them out, it will just be a nice creamy, more simple risotto but nothing wrong with that! You could also stir in some roasted butternut squash at the end, some roasted brussels sprouts, or something like that! Risotto is like pasta, its kinda good with everything haha!
Yesterday my husband and I were talking about what we should have for Christmas dinner.. I think risotto with the brisket will be a hit! When adding the wine and broth, what heat setting should the stove be on? Thanks!
You will leave it on medium-high and continue to stir as you add the wine and broth. Hope you enjoy!