Instant Pot Risotto

This Instant Pot Risotto takes most of the work out of the classic risotto but leaves all of the creamy flavor in.

If you love risotto as much as I do, this Instant Pot recipe is going to bring a smile to your face and have you making risotto every other night. Ok, maybe not every night, but when you do crave this creamy Italian rice dish, it’ll only be 20 minutes away. And it won’t have you standing over the stove stirring incessantly.

This recipe relies on the ingredients of a classic risotto which means you will need to make sure that you have either arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano rice. These three kinds of rice have a very high starch content which gives the risotto that creamy texture. I find that arborio is readily available in most grocery stores if you can’t find the other two.

The other ingredients that you’ll need to gather are broth, white wine, Parmesan cheese, onions, garlic, butter, and fresh thyme.

The process is straight forward and very simple. The sauté function is used to melt the butter and then sweat the onions for about 2 minutes and the garlic for another minute. Then the rice is added. Many Instant Pot recipes require the rice to be rinsed, this is not one of those recipes. No rinsing required.

It’s important to stir the rice so that all of the grains are coated with the butter. When the edges of the rice are translucent and there is a small white dot in the center of each of the grains, it’s time to add the broth and the thyme.

The lid goes on and the pressure cooking time is set for 5 minutes. Yep, that’s it, 5 minutes and then a quick release which generally takes another 7 – 8 minutes depending upon the size of your electric pressure cooker. If your Instant Pot has a rice setting, please don’t use it. The pressure cook setting creates more steam, which helps release the starches from the rice.

When the time is up, I like to take the inner pot of the pressure cooker out to minimize the risk of the risotto overcooking. Do this with oven mitts or pot holders to avoid burns! Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Try serving the risotto topped with Roasted Shrimp for a quick dinner or a fried egg for a special weekend breakfast.  If you have leftovers, try this recipe for easy risotto balls or arancini as my Italian friend calls them.

If you just can’t find any of the rices, or you just want a risotto-like dish to make with your pantry staples, try my Chicken Breast with Carrots and Rice dinner which uses long-grain white rice and comes out creamy and risotto-like.

Enjoy!

Christine :)

 

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