This easy mushroom risotto recipe comes together in about 30 minutes and is incredibly easy to make. Here’s how to cook risotto.
Ready for the perfect special dinner for entertaining? Shallot, butter, Parmesan and white wine create some kind of magic in this creamy mushroom risotto recipe. If you don’t know how to cook risotto, we’d highly recommend it. Making risotto is not too difficult (even easy!), and the flavor that can come out of these ingredients is something wonderful. Keep reading for this easy mushroom risotto recipe.
Related: 12 Easy Dutch Oven Recipes
How to cook risotto
If you’ve never made risotto before, it’s easy to make once you keep a few things in mind! Here are some tips for how to cook risotto, which we’ve reflected in the mushroom risotto recipe below:
- Use Arborio rice—this is short-grain rice specifically used for making risotto. It’s high in starch, which is what makes it ideal for whipping up a batch of creamy homemade risotto.
- Warm the broth separately—Adding warm broth to the risotto as it’s cooking actually makes for a creamier dish. If you added cold broth to the risotto, it’d take even more time for everything to heat up and cook through, and you’d run the risk of overcooking the Arborio rice.
- Resist the urge to rush—when making this easy mushroom risotto recipe, you’ll add warm broth to the rice and then let it cook down; this is what lends the creamy texture. Because Arborio rice is so high in starch, it needs extra time to release the starches properly. If you rush cooking the risotto, you’ll wind up with a dish that’s more similar in consistency to regular rice.
- Use white wine!—a splash of wine adds the right complexity to the dish. If you’re in a pinch, you can substitute brandy for a similar taste. The alcohol cooks off completely though, so this dish will still be kid-friendly.
Related: 12 Best Kale Recipes
How to serve it
Once you’ve got yourself a big pot of mushroom risotto, how to serve it? Here are a few ideas:
- Big salad. We like serving with a big salad like our Arugula Salad, Best Kale Salad or Chopped Salad.
- Simple vegetable side. Try our Baked Asparagus or Lemony Green Beans.
- Want more ideas? Head to Best Sides to Serve with Risotto.
This mushroom risotto recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
PrintEasy Mushroom Risotto Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This easy mushroom risotto recipe comes together in about 30 minutes and is incredibly easy to make. Here’s how to cook risotto.
Ingredients
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups mushrooms, chopped (we used shiitake and oyster)
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale
- 1 large shallot
- 2½ tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
- 3/4 cup white wine or brandy
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Place broth in a medium sauce pan and heat to a simmer; reduce heat and keep warm.
- Clean the mushrooms and chop them. Destem and chop the kale. Mince the shallot.
- In a large heavy-bottomed skillet, pot or Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium high heat. Add the shallot, mushrooms, kale, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the shallots are translucent, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add the Arborio rice and stir to combine; cook for 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add the white wine. Cook, stirring, until liquid is almost evaporated, a few minutes.
- At this point, you’re ready to start adding the broth. Add ½ cup warmed broth to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until broth is almost absorbed. Repeat, gradually adding broth ½ cup at a time and stirring, until rice is tender but still al dente and sauce is creamy (you may not need all the broth). The process should take about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Continue to stir until combined (or turn off the heat and cover the dish for a few minutes). Remove from heat and season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. Serve immediately, garnished with Parmesan cheese.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: mushroom risotto
Looking for more vegetarian Italian recipes?
Outside of this easy mushroom risotto recipe, here are a few of our other favorite Italian recipes:
- Pumpkin Vegetarian Stuffed Shells
- Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara
- Orecchiette Pasta with Tomatoes
- Skillet Eggplant Marinara
- Ribollita (Tuscan Vegetable Stew)
Last updated: January 2020
20 Comments
Tieghan
December 10, 2013 at 10:56 pmMushrooms and risotto and made for each other and the kale is just a added delicious bonus! This looks awesome!
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
December 11, 2013 at 5:44 amLove this – risotto is one of my favourite things ever and this looks like the perfect consistency. Gorgeous!
Skye
December 11, 2013 at 5:54 amI adore mushroom risotto anyway – and the Kale really adds some colour as well as an extra punch of flavour to the dish. Yum.
Katrina @ WVS
December 11, 2013 at 9:21 amI love this flavour! Awesome risotto annnnnd it looks perfect :)
sandra
December 11, 2013 at 10:52 amthis looks so beautiful – I am going to make it tonight! Love mushrooms!! Yum.
Amanda
December 11, 2013 at 11:14 amThis is gorgeous! It would be perfect for a holiday meal, definitely adding this to my make list!
Ali @Inspiralized
December 11, 2013 at 3:18 pmI would love this, like, right now! Beautiful!
Samantha
December 11, 2013 at 6:41 pmThis looks so delicious. With the white wine, do you have a suggestion on brand? We don’t drink really at all but wouldn’t mind trying it with the wine.
Thanks!
Tammie
December 13, 2013 at 1:30 amMy daughter loves eating risotto. This is a fresh recipe for me. I’ll try making one following your recipe.
Valentina Hortus
December 14, 2013 at 7:14 amHello Guys! :D
Well, doesn’t this look fantastic! Risotto is such an autumn/holiday thing, it makes for a great addition to any table. I am already sick of just hearing about holiday food, even though I haven’t actually started eating anything…but risotto is an all-time winner :)
Sarah Rose
December 18, 2013 at 2:26 pmThat looks amazing – I always love risotto’s that have mushrooms in them the most! Can’t wait to make this. Thanks for sharing!
Kate
January 8, 2014 at 7:59 pmThis looks delicious! All of my favorites, old and new, rice, kale, and mushrooms! Can’t wait to make!
xx Kate
Russell
October 20, 2014 at 9:22 pmYour biggest fan likes this! I think you should add another risotto to the repertoire.
Alex
October 21, 2014 at 2:18 pmGlad you enjoyed! We’ll have to get to work on another :)
Lety
December 16, 2014 at 10:07 amThis looks delicious! Definetly I will try it. Last time I cooked risotto I came up with a recipe with red wine. So it gave a very interesting color! Thanks for sharing
Heather
December 21, 2014 at 10:39 amI made this for some friends last weekend, and I just wanted to let you know that it was absolutely amazing. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Hollie
October 14, 2015 at 4:32 pmI made this over the weekend, and it was VERY tasty. I had only attempted risotto once before, and it was a flop, so I was kind of nervous. This time, it seemed a lot easier and took about 30 minutes for the entire process. Plus it was also a great way to sneak some kale into a meal!
Shyanne
November 1, 2015 at 7:24 pmI made this last night and I was so impressed! Super easy and was given rave reviews!
Kym
January 4, 2020 at 6:20 pmI Thought this was an easy to follow recipe and full of flavor. My (FIRST EVER) risotto came out a little too salty. Next time I’ll go for a low sodium broth. I needed far less broth than called for but I can see how this could turn into a nightmare if you dont have enough. Thanks for sharing!
Sabrina
May 18, 2020 at 6:37 amThis was a really easy recipe for my first time attempting a risotto! I added some garlic and truffle oil and used pecorino instead of parmesan to customize to my personal taste and it turned out great!