CREAMY MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Creamy mushroom risotto is an easy and quick meal prep. This is restaurant-style mushroom risotto, made in minutes and you will need only one pan and few ingredients on the side, including a glass of wine!

Let me tell you this creamy mushroom risotto can be prepared in advance and frozen in airtight containers and taken out, right before the lunch or supper. You just reheat it and add-on your favourite toppings, such as sauté mushrooms, ham, grilled chicken breast or just add shaved Parmesan cheese.

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This post is in collaboration with talented food blogger/photographer Nick from Blogtastic Food. Make sure you check his food blog. And another very talented food bloggers, and we came up with 10 ideas for easy meal prep recipes. You can check all the other meal prep recipes right after the recipe card for creamy mushroom risotto.

How easy is to make creamy mushroom risotto at home

This risotto is our family and friends favourite. Because it is a meal, where you can cook and sip a glass of wine at the same time. It is also a meal, which is very easy to store, so you can prepare it in advance.

You can store the risotto in the refrigerator up to 3-5 days or you can freeze it in airtight container for up to 3 months. All the toppings are recommended to prepare fresh. You can top this risotto with sauté mushrooms, ham (that’s my kids’ favourite), leftover grilled chicken or even with simple scrambled eggs.

What is risotto?

Risotto is an Italian rice dish made from a short-grained, starchy variety of rice called arborio rice. That is cooked in a broth and mixed with all kinds of meat, vegetables or cheeses at the end. The technique for making it is called the risotto method, which involves stirring small amounts of hot stock or broth into the rice a little at a time, allowing the liquid to be absorbed as you go.

Is mushroom risotto a side dish or meal?

Risotto is considered as both, main meal or as a side and in some Italian regions, they consider risotto as an entry. I am always adding plenty of toppings; veggies or a protein, such as grilled chicken breast, shrimps, scallops or any kind of vegetables; mushrooms, green peas, carrots, anything what you like. So for me it becomes a main meal.

How to make mushroom risotto with creamy texture

It takes a lot’s of liquids and the right type of rice. As I mentioned before, for risotto you must have a special rice, which is called ARBORIO RICE. It is starchy variety of rice. Chicken, beef or vegetable broth will do all the creaminess. I am using a chicken broth and white wine to have this fancy risotto.

For those of you, who doesn’t like wine flavor in meals, you can substitute the wine for a splash of lemon juice or I have heard of verjus (mild tart grape juice), which can be used to add acidity to the risotto. The reason, why the wine is used in risotto, is that it brings little acidity to the dish. But you can just simply skip the white wine and add just extra broth.

The secret to the creaminess in risotto is of course lots of hot liquids, such a broth…reheat your broth before adding it to the rice. If you will be adding  cold or room temperature broth to the rice, it will slow down the cooking and preventing the risotto rice from releasing its starches. Also frequent stirring helps release the starch from the rice to give risotto its creamy texture.

What adds-on I can use for risotto?

There is lots of variety of toppings for risotto. Often, my children screams just for cheese (Parmesan or mozzarella) and ham. I cut the ham in small cubes and sauté on a skillet for a few minutes until golden from all sides. Or I take my frozen bacon cut in cubes and sauté as well on the skillet, until crispy.

For me and my husband, we love mushrooms. So for us, it is definitely sauté mushrooms on butter, until golden brown. White or brown button mushrooms are our favourite. But you can use Portabello mushrooms, shiitake or oyster mushrooms. Simple vegetables, such as green peas, cubed carrots makes a great addition to this meal. Or if you have meat leftovers such as chicken breast, pulled pork, minced meat sauce, you simply add them on the top of your risotto or on the side.

Tips how to make perfect and creamy mushroom risotto

• Hot liquids – make sure you reheat the broth, before adding it to the rice, so it doesn’t slow down the cooking and preventing the risotto rice from releasing its starches.
• White wine– is not a must, but it brings to risotto texture and acidic flavour. You can substitute for a splash of lemon of grape juice called verjus.
• Stir frequently – frequent stirring helps release the starch from the rice to give risotto its creamy texture.
• Make double batch– you won’t regret it! Make sure you double the portion, so you can freeze the risotto for another time. This recipe should serve 6-8 portions as a main meal (served with mushrooms).

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Linking this recipe to Cook Blog Share week 7