This tasty vegan Broccoli Risotto is perfect on a cold and rainy day when you need a bit of warmth and comfort. It’s wonderfully aromatic and creamy (although it’s vegan and made without cheese)!
Risotto is definitely not for those busy, hectic weeknights because it takes some time to cook and you have to keep an eye on it. You can’t just put it on and leave.
However, it’s easy enough and when it’s finished and sits in front of you, steaming and smelling so delicious, you know it was worth the effort.
As with all recipes, I’ll give you some options to tweak it or change it a little bit, so this vegan broccoli risotto pleases your liking.
Ingredients
- broccoli
- Arborio rice
- vegetable broth
- white wine (optional)
- onion & garlic
- olive oil (and vegan butter, if you prefer)
Broccoli: I find a small to medium-sized broccoli is enough but you can use a bigger one as well. Especially, if you only like eating the florets. I use the whole broccoli, even the leaves—everything is edible, no need to cut anything off!
Arborio Rice: Arborio Rice, or Risotto Rice, is an Italian short-grain rice that has a higher starch content than others. When cooked, the grains become creamy yet firm and chewy. See substitutions for alternatives.
White Wine: make sure the wine is vegan! Alternatively, you could just add more broth or you could try this risotto with alcohol-free white wine if you don’t drink!
Additional Ingredients for this vegan broccoli risotto
Herbs: I like adding some herbs such as rosemary, thyme or oregano. I just chop fresh herbs and add them when I start to cook the rice.
Nuts/seeds: For some crunch and added taste, I often toast some pine nuts or stir in chopped walnuts at the end.
Cheese: If you want your risotto to have a cheesy flavour, you could add some vegan cheese. Though, I would only roughly know how much you need or which kind to use because I’m not the biggest fan of vegan cheese.
So this is only a suggestion: I reckon about ½ cup of grated cheese and any vegan cheese that melts would be a good choice here.
Equipment
You can cook this vegan risotto in a large (deep) frying pan, a wok or a medium pot or saucepan. We won’t need a lid so it doesn’t really matter which of the above-mentioned options you choose.
I prefer making it in my wok-like frying pan because, especially for this broccoli risotto, it distributes the heat a bit more efficiently. I like my broccoli rather steamed, not cooked, and in a wok, this works very well.
Instructions
Step One. If you like to add toasted seeds or nuts later as a topping, do that first. You can simply heat the large frying pan you’re gonna use for the risotto over medium heat. If you’re gonna use a pot/saucepan you might want to use a small frying pan for toasting the seeds instead.
Toast seeds or nuts, stirring quite frequently so they don’t burn, until golden. This can take a few minutes. Once done set aside.
Step Two. Meanwhile, dice onion and chop or slice (whichever you prefer) garlic cloves and if using, chop about 2 twigs of fresh rosemary (or other herbs). Cut broccoli into florets and dice the stalk.
Step Three. Heat about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan, saucepan or pot. You can also use vegan butter (sub 2 tablespoons of olive oil with butter) if you want to add a rather buttery taste. I usually just use olive oil.
Add onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
Step Four. Add Arborio rice and stir frequently for about 2-3 minutes. If you like to add some herbs, this is the time to add them.
Step Five. Pour in white wine (if using. If not, use veggie broth instead) and allow it to boil and be absorbed into the rice. Then you add about 50ml / ¼ cup of broth and stir.
Now, for the heat, we want a constant, medium simmer; so nothing too bubbly or too soft. You may need to lower your heat a bit down to medium (this depends on your pot or pan and your stovetop).
Step Six. We continue adding about 50ml / ¼ cup of broth for the next 25 minutes. So every time we add the broth, we stir quite frequently and wait until the rice fully absorbs the liquids before we add the next ‘load’ of broth.
In this manner, we slowly cook the rice. Once all the broth is used up, try the rice if it’s tender enough. If not, add some more broth and/or cook for a bit longer.
You may even end up with some leftover liquids which is absolutely fine. Don’t worry about it.
Step Seven. When you add the broccoli is totally up to you and how cooked you like it. For cooked, soft broccoli, add it to the risotto after 10 minutes (of those 25 minutes of rice cooking).
If you rather prefer it lightly cooked (or steamed), add the broccoli around the 20-minute mark. I just leave it pretty much sitting on the top and only stir it through at the last minute.
Step Eight. Turn off the heat and leave the risotto in the pan/pot/saucepan on the stovetop for another 5 minutes. If you’re left with some liquids, they usually steam off a bit or get absorbed now.
Top your vegan broccoli risotto with toasted nuts or seeds, garnish with parsley and serve hot.
Substitutions
Broccoli: this recipe will work with any other vegetable too because we kinda cook the risotto and broccoli separately. You could also add other veggies here too (I love adding mushrooms).
Arborio rice: I wouldn’t recommend using regular white rice because it won’t be so nice and creamy. But you could try.
I know you can make risotto with quinoa, brown rice or even cauliflower rice. So you may want to try these variations.
Storage
This vegan broccoli risotto keeps in the fridge for several days. Alternatively, you can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 small to medium broccoli
- 1 brown onion
- 3-5 garlic cloves
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil or sub half with vegan butter
- 220g / 1 cup Arborio rice (risotto rice)
- 125ml / ½ cup white wine optional, see notes
- 625ml / 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
- a handful toasted pine nuts optional
- 2 sprigs rosemary optional (or other herbs)
Instructions
- Dice onion and chop or slice (whichever you prefer) garlic cloves and if using, chop about 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or other herbs). Cut broccoli into florets and dice the stalk.
- Heat about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan, saucepan or pot. You can also use vegan butter (sub 2 tablespoons of olive oil with butter). Add onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
- Add Arborio rice and stir frequently for about 2-3 minutes. If you like to add some herbs, this is the time to add them.
- Pour in white wine (if not using, use more veggie broth instead) and allow it to boil and be absorbed into the rice. Then you add about 50ml / ¼ cup of broth and stir.Now, for the heat, we want a constant, medium simmer. You may need to lower your heat a bit down to medium.
- We continue adding about 50ml / ¼ cup of broth for the next 25 minutes. So every time we add the broth, we stir quite frequently and wait until the rice fully absorbs the liquids before we add the next ‘load’ of broth.
- In this manner, we slowly cook the rice. Once all the broth is used up, try the rice if it’s tender enough. If not, add some more broth and/or cook for a bit longer.
- When you add the broccoli is totally up to you and how cooked you like it. For cooked, soft broccoli, add it to the risotto after 10 minutes.If you rather prefer it lightly cooked (or steamed), add the broccoli around the 20-minute mark.
- Turn off the heat and leave the risotto in the pan/pot/saucepan on the stovetop for another 5minutes. If you’re left with some liquids, they usually steam off a bit or get absorbed now.
- Top your vegan broccoli risotto with toasted nuts or seeds, garnish with parsley and serve hot.
Notes
- make sure the wine is vegan! Alternatively, you could just add more broth or you could try this risotto with alcohol-free white wine if you don’t drink!
- This vegan broccoli risotto keeps in the fridge for several days. Alternatively, you can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
