Parmesan Risotto Recipe. Creamy Parmesan Risotto is an easy to make Risotto Recipe that is the perfect side dish for dinner. This creamy risotto tastes just like what you get at a restaurant but easy enough to make at home.
Parmesan Risotto Recipe
For the longest time I was scared to try my hand at making risotto. I am not really sure why it scared me but it did. It might have been that it is something that I normally get when we go to a fancy restaurant or my fear that it would not live up to my own taste expectations.
Being scared of making homemade risotto is now a thing of the past. I have been making homemade Risotto to go along with lots of our normal dinner meals and I have perfected an easy Parmesan Risotto that anyone can make.
What is Risotto?
Risotto is a creamy Italian dish made with short grain rice. While being cooked the rice is stirred to release the starches making it creamy without needing any cream! Risotto can be served as a side dish as is or you can make it an entree by doubling the portion size and adding cooked veggies, or cooked proteins to it after it is done being made.
What to serve with Parmesan Risotto
There are many side dish recipes that pair well with risotto. You can make risotto the star of the meal and make it with veggies as the side dish. There are not many things that don’t pair well with a creamy risotto recipe. If you are looking for amazing main dish recipes then check out some of our favorites.
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Pan seared chicken and mushrooms
- Asparagus stuffed Chicken
- Feta and Pesto Stuffed chicken
- Chili Lime Chicken
What can you add to Risotto?
While I like to serve risotto as a side dish you can serve it as a main dish as well. If you want to add more to the risotto after it is done cooking to make it a main dish you can add cooked shrimp, cooked scallops or cooked chicken. You can also add in some cooked veggies like broccoli or cooked asparagus.
Do you need to stir Risotto constantly?
You need to stir it often but not constantly. When you continue to stir it cool air is added to it, if you don’t stir it every few minutes you will burn it.
Tips for Making this Recipe
Stirring. It is important to stir Risotto while it is cooking but you do not need continuously stir. When you continue to stir it cool air is added too it, if you don’t stir it every few minutes you will burn it.
Keep the chicken stock warm. After you bring it to a boil you want to keep it warm. Adding cold stock will cool things down and totally make it a mess.
Slowly add the chicken stock. Adding to much chicken stock to the risotto will cause the creaminess that comes from the starch being released from the rice not to happen. You want to wait until all the first amount of stock is absorbed before adding any more and continue that way until you have added all of the chicken stock.
Cook at the right temperature. It is important that you keep a small simmer going while you are making risotto the whole time. It will also help if you are using a pot that fit on your burner with out any being over the size of the burner.
Adding veggies. If you are adding veggies like mushrooms or spinach to the risotto cook them in a separate pan and then add them after all of the risotto is finished cooking.
Best Rice for Risotto
It is best to use arborio rice but you can use white rice it just will not be as creamy as if you use arborio rice. The only rice that you really need to avoid when making risotto is long grain rices like jasmine rice. It does not have enough starch to get the creaminess that you are wanting when you make risotto.Â
What is the best cheese for Risotto?
The best cheese to use when you are making risotto is parmesan. It is best to shred or grate the cheese yourself instead of using the packaged cheese that is already shredded.
Parmesan Risotto Recipe Ingredients
- arborio rice. This is the Italian short grain rice that is best to use when you are making parmesan risotto.
- olive oil.
- shallots. You want them to be thinly sliced.
- garlic cloves. You can use fresh garlic or preminced garlic for the minced garlic in this recipe.
- chicken stock. You can use store bought chicken stock or homemade chicken stock. If you do not have chicken broth or chicken stock you can also use vegetable broth.
- Seasonings. Salt and pepper are all the seasonings you need for this recipe.
- Parmesan cheese. The cheese needs to be grated, you can use store bought that is already pregrated but it is best to grate it fresh.
How to Make Parmesan Risotto Recipe
In a large saucepot pot or Dutch oven sauté the shallots and garlic with the olive oil until the onions have softened. In a small pot bring your chicken stock up to a boil while your onions are cooking.
Stir the rice into the onion mixture and cook for one minute while stirring.
Pour 1 cup of the hot chicken stock into the rice making sure to stir every now and then, once the first cup is absorbed stir in another cup.
Stir occasionally until the liquid is absorbed and repeat this until all of your chicken stock has been used in all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese and continue to cook until the rice is al dente.
Easy Side Dish Recipes
- Parmesan rice
- Microwave Sweet Potato
- Roasted Asparagus
- parmesan asparagus
- Garlic Rice
- Green Beans with Bacon
- Easy Roasted Cauliflower
- Twice Baked Potatoes
Parmesan Risotto Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
- 40 ounces chicken stock
- Salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- In a large saucepot pot or Dutch oven sauté the shallots and garlic with the olive oil until the onions have softened. In a small pot bring your chicken stock up to a boil while your onions are cooking.
- Stir the rice into the onion mixture and cook for one minute while stirring.
- Pour 1 cup of the hot chicken stock into the rice making sure to stir every now and then, once the first cup is absorbed stir in another cup.
- Stir occasionally until the liquid is absorbed and repeat this until all of your chicken stock has been used in all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.
- Stir in the Parmesan cheese and continue to cook until the rice is al dente.
Comments & Reviews
Mary Jo says
This recipe was easy and delicious! My family loved it and said it tasted like restaurant risotto!