With only 6 basic ingredients, this Parmesan risotto recipe delivers surprising depth and a restaurant-quality creaminess. If you’ve struggled to make perfectly rich, velvety, and tender risotto in the past, this easy recipe will have you cooking like a true Italian in no time.
This Simple Italian Dish Doubles as a Side or Main
From fettuccine alfredo to cacio e pepe, Italians are the masters of cheesy, comforting pasta dishes that use minimal ingredients for maximum reward — and so am I.
This risotto is no exception, using just 6 ingredients to create a silky, savory dish that can be served as a hearty side or simple main. The main ingredient is Aroborio rice that, when cooked, creates a sublime pasta-like texture, due to its high starch content, which absorbs liquid and infuses flavor.
It’s a classic recipe that comes from my copy of The New James Beard Cookbook, published in 1981, which I picked up long ago from a second-hand store. His version doesn’t include wine, but I love the slightly fruity undertone it adds, so I always use it.
I’ll warn you now: Risotto is one of the simplest Italian dishes to make, but it does require a bit of attention with constant stirring for 20 minutes or a bit more. On the bright side, that stir time gives the cook some extra time for a sip or two of the white wine you’re cooking with — it’s the cook’s reward, after all!
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Choose a quality wine you’d happily drink. I suggest using a dry white wine or sherry rather than a buttery California chardonnay, which has a stronger flavor that might overpower the delicate risotto.
Don’t rinse the rice or your risotto won’t be as creamy. Arborio rice contains a high amount of starch, and it is this starch that makes for a perfectly creamy risotto. If you rinse the rice, lots of that starch will go down the drain instead of into your risotto.
Warm your stock to avoid shocking the rice. If you add cold stock to the rice, you’ll lower the temperature of the entire dish, and the cook time will increase drastically. Warm the stock in a separate saucepan to encourage even cooking.
The 6 Ingredients You’ll Need
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken stock — Since the ingredients list is so simple, I strongly suggest making your own chicken stock. It will make the risotto taste even richer and deepen the flavor overall.
- Butter — You’ll be toasting the rice in butter before stirring in the stock to add richness. Extra butter is stirred in at the very end for extra creaminess, too.
- Yellow onion — Can be swapped with shallots. This is the only aromatic we’ll be using so the flavors of the Parmesan, butter, and white wine can really shine.
- Rice — Risotto is traditionally made with Arborio rice, a type of medium-grain rice that delivers a tender but firm bite. If you can’t find arborio rice, gluten-free carnaroli rice or a long-grain Carolina rice can be used instead.
- White wine — The wine is added to the toasted rice and simmered so the alcohol can cook off while leaving its fruity flavor behind.
- Parmesan cheese — Freshly grated Parm is key to a smooth and creamy risotto. If you use grated Parmesan from a green can, your risotto will turn out bland and lumpy.
Recipe Variations
- Add mushrooms to make a creamy mushroom risotto.
- Add asparagus, leeks, and peas for a spring risotto.
- Stir in a few cloves of roasted garlic for a sweet, mellow garlic flavor.
- Add 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to make a lemony risotto.
- Stir in cooked crab at the very end to make a crab risotto.
- Top with meatballs (plain, no tomato sauce!) for a heartier meal.
- Top with shrimp scampi or brown butter seared scallops for a special occasion dinner.
How to Make Parmesan Risotto
- Sauté the onion and arborio rice. Toasting the rice in a few pats of melted butter deepens its flavor and firms it up. This critical step slows the starch release as the rice cooks in the stock, which in turn makes for a creamy — rather than mushy — risotto.
- Deglaze the pan with wine. You’ll know it’s time to add the chicken stock when the wine has evaporated (don’t worry, the rice will have soaked up all that flavor!).
- Warm up the chicken stock. Add the stock to a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering, reduce the heat to keep the stock warm but not actively bubbling. I’ll usually pop the stock onto the stove as I’m toasting the aromatics and rice so that it’s ready to go by the time the wine has evaporated.
- Add the warm stock to the risotto 1 cup at a time. If you were to dump all of the stock into the rice in one go, the rice wouldn’t release all of its starch and your risotto wouldn’t be very creamy. Adding just a little broth at a time ensures maximum creaminess.
- Stir the risotto every 20 to 30 seconds to release its starches. This is a bit of a Goldilocks dish, where stirring the risotto constantly will make it gluey and stirring it too little will prevent it from releasing its prized starches.
- Once all the liquid has been absorbed, add another cup of stock. If you’re cooking the risotto over medium heat as instructed, the rice should absorb each cup of stock in 2 to 4 minutes.
- Add a little more butter and the Parmesan. You’ll know the risotto is done once all of the stock has been absorbed and the rice is tender yet has a firm bite to it.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Risotto Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 ½ cups Arborio rice or long-grain Carolina rice
- ½ cup white wine
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Minced Italian flat leaf parsley, optional
Instructions
- Warm the stock and cook the aromatics. In a saucepan over medium-high, bring 4 cups chicken stock to a simmer, then lower so the stock stays warm. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium. Add 1 small finely chopped onion, and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 more tablespoons butter, melt, and stir in 1 ½ cups Arborio rice until well coated. Add ½ cup wine, stir, and cook until evaporated.
- Add warm stock to the rice 1 cup at a time. Add 1 cup hot chicken stock to the rice mixture, stir in well, and cook over medium heat until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding the stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the previous liquid is absorbed before adding more.
- Cook the rice just until tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, between 25 and 30 minutes.
- Add more butter, Parmesan cheese, and serve. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and more Parmesan cheese if desired. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
FAQs
Use a medium-grain rice with a high starch content. Arborio rice is the traditional choice.
I’ve also tested this recipe with long-grain Carolina rice and had good results.
Your cue to add another cup of chicken stock to the risotto is when the rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Another cue is to run your spoon through the middle of the rice to make a valley; if the rice holds its shape and the valley doesn’t immediately refill with stock, it’s time to add more.
Has the rice absorbed all of the stock you heated up? Is it creamy in texture? Do the rice grains have a little bite to them, yet feel deliciously tender?
If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, you’ve just made risotto!
What to Serve With Risotto
Storage, Freezing, and Reheating Tips
Risotto is best enjoyed right away since the high starch content of the rice makes it firm up considerably once refrigerated. However, you can refrigerate leftover risotto for up to 4 days and either use it to make crispy fried arancini, or you can reheat it gently in a saucepan over low heat. You’ll need to add a splash or two of broth to loosen up the rice.
I don’t suggest freezing risotto, as the rice grains become grainy once frozen.
More Classic Italian Pasta Recipes to Master
We send good emails. Subscribe to FoodieCrush and have each post plus exclusive content only for our subscribers delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for more FoodieCrush inspiration.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
Rate & Comment