Other dinner recipes
Easy Vegan Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 600 g chestnut mushrooms
- salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 onion white/brown/red, diced
- 250 g risotto rice arborio or carnaroli
- 50 g dry red lentils optional
- 1 litre hot vegetable stock (from a stock cube or homemade)
- 125 ml white wine optional – see notes below recipe
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp thyme leaves fresh or dried
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Slice half of the mushrooms and grate the other half of the mushrooms on the coarse side of a box grater.600 g chestnut mushrooms
Cook the sliced mushrooms:
- Add the 300g sliced mushrooms to a wide, deep frying pan or skillet with a pinch of salt. Cook over a medium heat, sitrring occasionally, until they've released all their liquid and are starting to brown. Add 1 tbsp oil and keep cooking until they've caramelised. Remove from the pan to a plate and set aside.2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil, salt
Make the risotto:
- Return the empty pan to the medium heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp oil. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to turn golden, 7-10 minutes.1 onion
- Add the risotto rice and stir for a couple of minutes to toast the rice.250 g risotto rice
- Stir in the red lentils (if using) and the 300g grated mushrooms.50 g dry red lentils
- Combine the stock, wine (if using), soy sauce and thyme. Pour a ladleful (around 150ml) of this into the frying pan, stirring slowly but continuously, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue in this manner until all liquid has been added. It should take around 15-20 minutes to reach this point.1 litre hot vegetable stock (from a stock cube or homemade), 125 ml white wine, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp thyme leaves
Check the risotto for doneness & seasoning:
- Taste some of the rice, it should be holding its shape with some slight resistance when you bite into it but shouldn't be crunchy or chalky. If it is crunchy/chalky, continue to cook the rice, sitrring in water as needed if it seems too thick/dry. You want the risotto to be liquidy enough where it settles into a flat puddle and the rice grains are surrounded by a visible, creamy liquid. Check for seasoning (salt/black pepper) at this point and season as needed.Black pepper, salt
- Once the risotto is ready, serve it immediately by dividing between bowls and topping with the sliced mushrooms you cooked earlier.
Notes
- Chestnut mushrooms (600g): £2.16
- Olive oil (2 tbsp): £0.21
- Onion (1 piece): £0.33
- Risotto rice (250g): £1.20
- Red lentils (50g): £0.06
- Vegetable stock cube (20g): £0.17
- White wine (125ml): £0.58
- Soy sauce (1 tbsp): £0.06
- Fresh thyme (10g): £0.20
Cost per serving: £1.24
Nutrition
Top tips for the best mushroom risotto
Slice half your mushrooms & grate the rest
To get as much mushroom flavour into this risotto without needing any dried mushrooms, we ended up grating half of the chesnut/white mushrooms and cooking them in with the rice. This helps infuse the mushroom flavour into the liquid as the risotto bubbles away, letting the rice absorb all that flavour. We sliced and sauteed the other half of the mushrooms to add as a garnish so that you also get distinct mushroom pieces for concentrated flavour and a different texture. Best of both worlds!
Stirring the risotto
Stirring risotto can seem like a complete pain in the arse but it’s worth it for that signature creamy texture. As you stir, the spoon is whacking into those rice grains, helping to release the softened starch from the outside of the rice into the stock. This is what forms a rich, starchy sauce around each grain of rice. This is why you need to almost continually stir the rice during the 20-ish minutes that it’s cooking away.
If you don’t stir your risotto (e.g. oven baked risotto or slow-cooker risotto), it’ll be fine but you won’t get as creamy a texture in the saucy part of the risotto.
Adding the right amount of liquid
This is something that is SO important to us when making a risotto. Dare we say it but we’ve had many a thick, claggy risotto here in the UK. This makes us sad!! Risotto needs to have enough liquid added so that when you ladle some of it into a bowl, it will settle into a flat-ish puddle. You shouldn’t be able to mound it up, okay!? Trust us. Try adding more liquid so that you can see the rice is surrounded by a flavoursome sauce, and remove the risotto from the hob juuuust before the rice grains are fully cooked and you’ll end up with restaurant-quality risotto every time.
Adding warm liquid
It’s best practice to use hot stock to add to your risotto. This is because adding cold liquid will slow down the cooking process quite a lot as you constantly ladle the liquid into the pan, meaning the risotto will take longer to cook. You can use cold liquid but it’ll slow you down. We usually use stock made up from a cube with boiling water from the kettle so it’s not much of a faff in the end. If you’re using homemade stock, just microwave it or pop it into a small pot on the stove and warm it up until steaming before you start adding it to the rice.
Get ready to serve as soon as it’s ready!
Following on from the above point, serving the risotto ASAP is important to getting that creamy texture. The rice is hot so it keeps absorbing liquid, even after you remove it from the hob, making it thicker and less creamy the longer it sits around. So, for the best possible risotto experience, have those bowls ready to go so you can serve up immediately.
Add red lentils for a protein boost (optional)
We like to add a handful of red lentils to the risotto – they cook along with the rice and will pretty subtly blend into the dish (i.e. you won’t notice they’re there). This is a simple and cheap way to give risotto (a pretty low protein dish) a protein/fibre boost. If that’s not important to you, feel free to leave them out.
A drizzle of soy sauce makes all the difference
Ahh soy sauce, the essence of umami flavour. It compliments the flavour of the mushrooms, bringing out their rich, savouriness and giving your risotto a tasty je ne sais quoi.
Variations
- Pea & Mushroom Risotto – stir 250g frozen peas into the risotto when you’re adding the final ladleful of stock. The peas will defrost and warm up pretty quickly – just make sure you let the risotto also warm back up as the peas will cool it down quite a bit!
- Asparagus & Mushroom Risotto – snap the woody ends off 250g asparagus then cut into bite-sized pieces. Add to the risotto when you’re stirring in the last ladleful of stock. Asparagus cooks very quickly so it should only need a few minutes of simmering with the rice to become tender.
- Miso Mushroom Risotto – instead of the soy sauce, use 2 tbsp white or dark miso, mixed with a little water to help loosen it up, and stir in right at the end.
- Porcini Mushroom Risotto – if you’ve got dried, sliced porcini mushrooms (lucky you!), add 30g of them to the jug of hot stock and let them sit for 10 minutes so they can rehydrate. Use the stock as usual in the recipe, letting the slices of rehydrated mushroom pour into the pan as you add the stock to the rice.
- Wild Mushroom Risotto – have you been foraging and collected some fresh wild mushrooms? Fantastic! Brush off any loose dirt and then use them in place of the 300g sliced chestnut mushrooms in the recipe (the portion which gets fried in the first step then gets set aside to garnish the risotto).
FAQs
Can you make mushroom risotto without wine?
Yes. You can simply replace the wine with extra stock or water. If you do this, you may find a small squeeze of lemon juice, or splash of white wine vinegar will help bring some freshness to the risotto (as wine is quite acidic itself). If you don’t drink alcohol but want that wine flavour, try using a de-alcoholised white wine.
Can you keep risotto in the fridge?
Rice can be a tricky thing to store safely so if you plan on chilling it to have the next day, there’s a few things to keep in mind. First, you need to get the risotto to cool as quickly as possible – we do this by spreading it out on a tray or a large plate and letting it cool at room temperature until it’s tepid. Then transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for a maxiumum of 3 days. When ready to eat, stir in a splash of water and either microwave (stirring halfway through) or stir in a frying pan on the stove until it is piping hot all the way through.
Can you freeze risotto?
You can freeze risotto, however it’s not really recommended as the texture tends to become more claggy after freezing and reheating. If you do want to freeze it though, follow the steps described above for storing in the fridge but, once transferred to the airtight container, freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, let it defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as described above.
When should you add the mushrooms to a risotto?
We like to add the mushrooms in 2 stages: half of the mushrooms are grated and mixed into the risotto which helps their flavour infuse into the rice as it cooks. The remaining mushrooms are sauteed until golden and used as a garnish so that you get distinct pieces of mushroom, too.
How often should you stir risotto?
It’s best to stir almost constantly as you’re adding the liquid to the risotto. The reason you do this is to (A) stop the rice sticking/burning in the pan (B) help the rice absorb the liquid and, most importantly (C) to breakdown some of the outer layer of each rice grain, releasing starch into the liquid, forming that creamy sauce risotto is known for. It should take about 15-20 minutes to add all the liquid so this is roughly the amount of time you’ll be stirring for! You don’t need to stir aggressively, just consistently.
How can you tell when risotto is cooked?
The best way to test this is to taste a small amount of the risotto. The rice shouldn’t be mushy or super soft and will still be holding its shape. When you bite into it, you should feel a slight resistance but it shouldn’t be chalky, dry or crunchy as that indicates it needs a little more cooking time. We like to remove it from the heat when it’s very slightly underdone (‘al dente’) as it keeps cooking and absorbing liquid for a few minutes which means that by the time you’ve served it up and started eating, it will be the perfect texture.
Vegan Mushroom Risotto Ingredients – explained
- Chestnut or White Mushrooms – We prefer using chestnut mushrooms as they have more flavour. However, they are usually slightly more expensive than white mushrooms, so we use a mixture here. If you prefer to use all white or all chestnut mushrooms, go for it.
- Onion – this gets sauteed until golden to form the base of the risotto. You could use a leek or a few shallots instead.
- Risotto rice – there are a couple of types of risotto rice you could use here – arborio or carnaroli. They’re both white, shortgrain types of rice but arborio is more commonly found in UK supermarkets. Carnaroli is said to produce a creamier risotto but it’s a bit harder to find and tends to be more expensive.
- Dry red lentils (optional) – we add a small amount of red lentils to this risotto as they add a little protein & fibre boost to this recipe. If you don’t have them or don’t care, leave em out!
- White wine (optional) – wine adds a deepness of flavour and a hint of acidity which helps balance the creaminess of the risotto. However you can replace it with some extra stock/water if you prefer.
- Stock – a simple vegetable stock is great here. We use a stock cube (the OXO meat-free ‘chicken’ ones or just any vegetable stock cube) but you could use homemade veg stock if you have some.
- Soy sauce – adding a splash of soy sauce to the stock gives the risotto as rich, dark colour and highlights the flavour of the mushrooms
- Thyme – mushrooms and thyme are a match made in heaven, bringing out an autumnal freshness in this risotto. You can use fresh or dried thyme leaves here.
How to make vegan mushroom risotto – with step-by-step images
1. Slice half of the mushrooms and add to a skillet with a pinch of salt.
2. Saute the mushrooms until they start to turn golden, add a little oil and keep cooking until they’re fully browned. Remove from the frying pan and set aside.
3. Return the pan to the heat. Add the remaining oil along with the diced onion. Saute until golden, 7-10 minutes.
4. Add the risotto rice and toast for a couple of minutes, stirring often.
5. Grate the remaining mushrooms on the coarse side of a box grater.
6. Add the grated mushrooms to the frying pan.
7. Add the lentils to the risotto, if using.
8. Combine the stock, soy sauce, wine (if using) and thyme in a jug.
9. Add a ladleful (around 150ml) of the liquid to the frying pan. Stir over a medium heat until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue until all the liquid has been added. This should take around 15-20 minutes.
10. The risotto is done once all the liquid has been added and, when you taste the rice, it holds its shape and is very very slightly firm, not mushy. If it seems crunchy or chalky, keep cooking the risotto.
The texture of the finished risotto should be as shown in the image – see how it forms a flat ‘puddle’, it’s quite liquidy as you can see a creamy liquid surrounding the grains of rice. When you spoon some into a bowl it should flatten, not mound. If your risotto is too thick to do this, stir in some water until you get the right texture.
Risotto continues to thicken as it sits so serve it up as soon as it’s ready!
11. Garnish the risotto with the sauteed mushrooms you set aside earlier and serve.
