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This rich and creamy risotto is made super quick and easy in the Instant Pot! No endless stirring, just restaurant-quality risotto. Loaded with fresh Parmesan cheese and a touch of white wine, this recipe is super versatile. It makes a delicious side dish or main dish with veggies or protein, like chicken or shrimp, stirred in.
No Instant Pot? No problem. My recipe for the best ever risotto walks you through my foolproof stovetop method!
🍚 What Makes Recipe So Good
- Creamy, cheesy, and absolutely perfect, Instant Pot risotto is one of the easiest ways to make this somewhat intimidating dish. All of the cooking happens in the Instant Pot, and other than some initial sautéing, the pressure cooker takes care of all the work. No juggling multiple saucepans, no slowly adding stock and stirring forever. Just you, your Instant Pot, and some restaurant-quality risotto.
- Risotto can be an incredible main dish on its own, or it can become the perfect side for rich proteins like our Marry Me Chicken, Salmon Meuniere, Lemon Pepper Chicken, or Easy Seared Scallops.
- While I don’t really recommend freezing Instant Pot risotto (or any version of risotto, honestly) because it’ll affect the texture of the rice, you can totally enjoy the leftovers for a couple of days! Refrigerate any leftover risotto in an airtight container and it’ll keep up to 3 days. Reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop, stirring in chicken broth or water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed if it’s too thick.
🗝️ Key Ingredients
Arborio Rice – THE rice of choice for a perfect risotto! Thanks to the higher starch content, arborio rice gives you that delectably creamy texture you want in risotto.
White Wine – Don’t worry. If you’re not a drinker, that is TOTALLY fine. You can substitute water for the white wine. If you’re using the wine, though, you’ll want to choose something that’s crisp, dry, and not overly fruity. Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio both work well, as does a nice Chardonnay.
Saffron – LOVE. Saffron gives the Instant Pot risotto a ton of flavor and a really nice color that really makes a difference in this dish.
🍄 Will This Work for an Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto?
Absolutely! You’ll actually want to prepare the mushrooms separately from the Instant Pot risotto, then add them in at the end.
While the risotto is cooking, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 8 ounces of sliced white mushrooms and 8 ounces of sliced brown mushrooms to the melted butter, then sauté them 3 minutes or until soft. Once they’re soft, remove them from the skillet and set them aside. You’ll stir the sautéed mushrooms into the risotto when you add the Parmesan cheese!
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Don’t rinse the arborio rice before adding it to the Instant Pot! You actually want those starches on the outside of the grains so your Instant Pot risotto comes out nice and creamy.
- One of the many, many beautiful things about risotto is its versatility! It pairs well with a variety of other dishes, plus you can add in different flavors, veggies, and proteins toward the end of the cook time. Don’t be afraid to mix things up and try something new once you’ve perfected your Instant Pot risotto!
- After you remove the Instant Pot lid, you absolutely HAVE to stir the risotto. You’ll notice there’s still liquid in the pot, and that’s totally fine. Stirring will help incorporate (and evaporate) the remaining liquid which will give you the thick creaminess you’re expecting, rather than a rice soup. Just keep stirring until all the liquid is absorbed.
♨️ Try These Instant Pot Recipes Next!
- Instant Pot Applesauce
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
- Dreamy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Jasmine Rice (Under 10 Minutes)
- Creamy Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Instant Pot Lasagna
- The Best Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
- Instant Pot Clam Chowder
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Instant Pot Risotto
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups uncooked arborio rice
- ½ cup white wine or water
- 1 pinch saffron
- 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt use more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper use more or less to taste
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté and add 4 tablespoons butter. Stir occasionally. Once melted, add chopped onion. Sauté approximately 4 minutes or until translucent, then add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant.
- Add rice to Instant Pot. Stir well to thoroughly incorporate rice, completely coating it in melted butter.
- Pour in white wine (or water) and add 1 pinch saffron. Stir, then simmer mixture on Sauté setting for approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and stir, scraping sides of pot to dislodge any grains of rice. Let simmer 1 minute.
- After 1 minute, secure lid on Instant Pot with vent in Sealing position. Set to Manual High Pressure with 6-minute cook time. Once Instant Pot reaches pressure (approximately 10 to 15 minutes), 6-minute cook time will begin.
- When 6-minute cook time is up, immediately and carefully Quick Release pressure and remove lid. Stir risotto until all liquid is absorbed. Mixture should be creamy and rich. Add in Parmesan cheese, remaining 1 tablespoon butter, salt to taste, and pepper to taste. Stir until cheese is completely melted, then serve risotto warm.
- For Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto: Prepare the Instant Pot risotto as written above. During cook time, prepare mushrooms. In large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté 8 ounces sliced white mushrooms and 8 ounces sliced brown mushrooms in 2 tablespoons melted butter. Cook until soft, approximately 3 minutes, then remove mushrooms from heat and set aside. Stir sautéed mushrooms into risotto along with Parmesan cheese in step 5 above.
- Make it Vegetarian: Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- Make it Vegan: Use vegetable broth, vegan butter, and vegan Parmesan.
- Make it Dairy Free: Use dairy-free butter and dairy-free Parmesan.
- Make it Gluten Free: Be sure to use a gluten-free chicken broth and a gluten-free white wine. You can also use water instead of wine.
- Leftovers: Let risotto cool completely then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate up to 3 days.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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I used one and a half cups of rice and 4 cups of broth six minutes manual quickly release, and it was way too much water.
Hi, Lauren! I’d love to help troubleshoot things if I can. I do have a few questions, just to clarify:
1) I assume you mean it was too much liquid? Or did you use more than ½ cup of water in addition to the broth?
2) Did you let the broth simmer for a minute, before putting on the lid? It should’ve reduced slightly during that time.
3) Also, what type of rice did you use?
4) For the actual process, you let the Instant Pot pressurize for 10-15 minutes, then cooked for 6 minutes on Manual High Pressure, then did a Quick Release?
5) Then after that did you stir until all the liquid was absorbed into the rice?