Vegan Mushroom Risotto

This comforting vegan Mushroom Risotto is so flavourful, creamy and aromatic that you would never guess it’s actually vegan!

Risotto is absolutely not meant for those nights when you have to make something quick. This is a slow-cooked meal that may need a bit of patience. But, in the end, it’s one hundred per cent worth it!

Contents

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Storage
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

However, if you cook for a big family or group of people, this is THE dish for you! You can easily double my recipe below and serve a whole crowd! And I’m very positive, they’ll love it!

Without any further ado, let’s dive into this! Grab your passports and a bottle of wine and let’s fly to Italy! … Or your kitchen!

Ingredients

• mushrooms
• arborio rice
• vegetable broth
• white wine (optional)
• onion & garlic
• olive oil

Mushrooms: The best mushrooms for this vegan risotto are field, brown or white button mushrooms. But feel free to try a different kind, too! Maybe you’ve got a flavourful local mushroom growing in your area?

I prefer slicing the mushrooms, however, you may choose to simply cut them into quarters. This might be an idea especially when you’ve got small mushrooms!

Arborio Rice: Arborio Rice, also called Risotto Rice, is an Italian short-grain rice that has a higher starch content than others. This causes the creaminess! If you like to try something else, have look at the “substitution” section for some ideas.

White Wine: Always make sure the wine is vegan and preferably preservative-free! The wine does make a difference in the taste, but if you don’t drink alcohol, you may leave it out.

Additional Ingredients

Herbs: I like adding some fresh or dried herbs if I can, such as rosemary, thyme or oregano. I like to add them when I start to cook the rice so they can fully release their flavours.

Nuts/Seeds: I absolutely love toasting pine nuts beforehand! They’re such a treat, the cherry on top of the cake! You could also stir in chopped walnuts or almonds at the end for some crunch.

Vegan Cheese/Butter: You could add some vegan cheese or nutritional yeast if you want your risotto to have a cheesy flavour and for added creaminess (in case you use vegan cheese that “melts”).

I like neither nutritional yeast nor vegan cheese, so I can only guess what you’ll need: I reckon about ½ cup/40-50g of grated cheese or 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

For a creamier mushroom risotto, you may add a big piece of vegan butter or margarine. I simply leave this out because I find the risotto to be creamy enough as is.

Instructions

Step One. This recipe is completely done in one pan! That means, less cleaning up afterwards, yay!

We start by toasting the pine nuts which is, of course, optional but highly recommended!

Add pine nuts to the frying pan and heat over medium heat, stirring every now and then. Once the pan is hot, you’ll need to stir frequently so they don’t burn. Fry until golden. Then, set aside but keep the pan on the hot plate.

Step Two. Meanwhile, dice the onion, chop or slice (whichever you prefer) the garlic cloves and slice the mushrooms or cut them into quarters.

Step Three. Using the same pan as before, add about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and turn up the heat to a medium-high setting.

Add the mushrooms and fry until browned and cooked. They don’t need to be fully cooked through. Once done, set aside.

Step Four. Again, use the same pan, and add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion turns translucent. You can now add the herbs as well if using.

Step Five. Add Arborio rice and pour in the white wine (if using; if not, use veggie broth instead) and allow it to boil and be absorbed into the rice. This takes about 2-3 minutes.

Step Six. Then you add about 50ml/¼ cup of the veggie broth and stir it in. Wait for the liquids to be fully absorbed by the rice, before adding the next lot.

Lower the heat to a medium setting that allows a constant, medium simmer; so nothing too bubbly or too soft.

Step Seven. Now, we continue in the same manner, adding about 50ml/¼ cup of broth every time the rice absorbed the liquids, for the next 25-30 minutes.

This is how we are able to 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.

Step Eight. Turn off the heat, add the mushrooms and stir them through. Leave the risotto in the pan on the stovetop for another 5 minutes.

If you were left with some extra liquids, these usually steam off a bit now or get absorbed into the rice.

Step Nine. Serve the mushroom risotto warm and garnish with fresh parsley and toasted pine nuts if you like.

Substitutions

Mushrooms: This recipe does work with any other vegetable too because we cook the risotto and mushrooms separately.

For example, you could make a vegan broccoli risotto (recipe from my blog), or roast pumpkin or beetroot!

Arborio rice: For this vegan risotto, you do want to use risotto rice because we rely on its creaminess! So, I don’t think plain white rice would do the trick unless you add some cream maybe?

If you want to try it out, you could make risotto with quinoa, brown rice or even cauliflower rice. But here again, you may not achieve the desired creaminess unless adding vegan cheese, butter and/or vegan cream.

Equipment

I just make this vegan mushroom risotto in a large, wok-like frying pan. Alternatively, you can simply use a large (deep) frying pan or a medium pot/saucepan.

We don’t need a lid for this recipe because we want the liquids to evaporate, so it doesn’t really matter which of the above-mentioned options you choose.

Storage

This vegan mushroom risotto keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for several days up to one week. Alternatively, you can also freeze it for up to 6 months.

However, keep in mind, that when you’re freezing it, it does lose a bit of that nice and creamy texture.

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