Creamy Mushroom Risotto

Creamy Mushroom Risotto for mushroom lovers. This vegetarian mushroom risotto has three types of mushrooms, it’s creamy, delicious and filling. Perfect comfort food for Autumn.

There is nothing nicer on a chilly Autumn evening than a big bowl of creamy mushroom risotto. Top that off with even more mushrooms and hey, I’m in heaven. This creamy mushroom risotto is not a quick dinner but it is easy to make and will impress fellow mushroom devotees. It’s great for a cosy weeknight dinner, if you have time, my family love it!

How to Make Creamy Mushroom Risotto – Step by Step Guide

1. Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl of just-boiled water. Leave them for about 20 minutes until they are soft. Then drain them and chop them.
2. Cook the onion in some olive oil, add the garlic and sliced chestnut mushrooms.
3. Add the rice, let the rice soak up any juices. Pour in the wine and stir, it should sizzle up. Once the rice has soaked to the wine stir in the porcini mushrooms, thyme, sea salt and cracked black pepper.
4. Stock, start adding the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time. Stir the rice often, once the rice absorbs the liquid add another ladle. This should take 20 to 30 minutes.
5. While the risotto is doing its thing, fry up those wild mushrooms. I always use real butter for this bit, it really gove the best flavour to the mushrooms.
6. Finally, add butter and stir vigorously until the butter has been incorporated. Then stir in the creme fraiche if using. Now turn off the heat and stir in the cheese. Serve immediately topped with the fried wild mushrooms, some cracked black pepper, a sprinkling of chopped parsley and some freshly grated vegetarian parmesan.

Tips for Making your Best Creamy Mushroom Risotto:

• Rice – arborio rice is the best rice to use for this risotto, you will get the best results from this. It is high starch rice that lends itself well to strong flavours. Arborio rice will also give you that lovely creamy texture you want from this risotto.
• Mushrooms – chestnut mushrooms (brown mushrooms) are the best mushrooms to use here, they have more flavour then button mushrooms, however, if all you can find is button mushrooms then go ahead and use them. You will still have a lovely creamy mushroom risotto. You can omit the wild mushrooms if you wish. If you do use them make sure and buy good quality wild mushrooms. If you can’t get your hands on wild mushrooms then girolle mushrooms (chanterelle) or any other wild mushroom will work well too. I have served this without the wild mushrooms and it is still a lovely risotto.
• The onions – it is really important to give the onions at least 10 minutes to cook, they should be soft but not brown.
• Toasting the rice – turn up the heat when you add the rice to the onion, make sure the rice gets a good toasting but doesn’t brown or burn, stir it often.
• Wine – I use a good dry white wine for this risotto. The rice must be hot when you add the wine and it should sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. You may leave it out if you wish if you are avoiding alcohol or want to serve this to children. I have made this without wine, I substitute a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and it still tastes great.
• Stock- I use a low sodium vegetable bouillon to make the stock fo this. Any good quality vegetable stock works perfectly. I always add the stock one ladle at a time and stir continuously, this will release starch from the rice helping to make it creamy.
• Butter – adding butter will make your risotto super creamy. As soon as you add it you must stir the risotto vigorously.
• Cheese – I use a vegetarian parmesan for this risotto. Take the risotto off the heat when you add the cheese and again stir quite vigorously.
• Creme fraiche – this is optional, but it does make this risotto extra creamy and decadent. Again I use full-fat creme fraiche. I add it at the very end.

Storing and making ahead

While this creamy mushroom risotto is best enjoyed made fresh and eaten straight away, if you do have any leftover it can be kept in the fridge. Because this is a rice dish it is important to reheat the risotto fully before you eat it. Rice must be kept covered in the fridge and I would not keep it longer than a day. I don’t recommend freezing risotto, the rice will become hard and the risotto can become grainy.

What to do with Leftover Risotto

I make arancini if I have any of this risotto leftover. I add some feta to the centre of mine. To find out more about this do check out my friend Christina’s arancini recipe, she really is an expert on Italian food.

Similar Recipes You May Enjoy

• Pasta with Mushrooms and Spinach
• Courgette Risotto
• Garlic Mushroom Bruschetta
• Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

Deliciously creamy and rich, this mushroom risotto is perfect for a chilly Autumn evening. Topped with tasty wild mushrooms this risotto is for all the mushroom lovers.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: 4

Calories: 633kcal

Author: Michelle Alston

Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (20g)
• ▢ 1 medium onion (185g) finely chopped
• ▢ 2 cups chestnut mushrooms (160g) wiped clean and sliced
• ▢ 2 cloves of garlic minced
• ▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 3/4 cups arborio rice (350g)
• ▢ 1/3 cup dry white wine (75ml) optional
• ▢ 4 1/2 cups vegetable stock (1.2L)
• ▢ 1/3 cup butter (75g) divided into two portions of 50g and 25g
• ▢ 1 1/3 cups wild mushrooms (100g) wiped clean, and cut in half if very large
• ▢ The juice of half a lemon, about 3 tablespoons
• ▢ 1/3 cup vegetarian parmesan cheese (30g) finely grated, plus more for serving
• ▢ 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• ▢ 1/2 tsp sea salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper plus more for serving
• ▢ 1 large tbsp creme fraiche optional, but recommended
• ▢ A small handful of flat-leaf parsley finely chopped. (optional)

Instructions

• Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with just-boiled water. Leave to sit for about 20 minutes. Until the mushrooms are soft. Once soft drain the mushrooms then chop them into slightly small pieces.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes, more if needed, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add the sliced chestnut mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.

  Turn up the heat to medium-high. Then add the rice. Stir it often, cooking for about 5 minutes.
• Pour in the wine and stir. Once the wine has been absorbed into the rice stir in the porcini mushrooms, thyme and  1/4 tsp each of sea salt and cracked black pepper.
• Now start adding the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time. Stir the rice often, once the rice absorbs the liquid add another ladle of stock. This will take about 20 to 30 minutes.
• Towards the end of cooking the risotto is a good time to fry up those wild mushrooms.

  Melt 50g of butter in a frying pan, add the wild mushrooms then cook for about 5 minutes over a medium to high heat. Try not to stir the mushrooms too much, just turn them once or twice, this will keep them nice and firm.

  Set these aside until you are ready to serve.
• Once all the stock has been added add the lemon juice then check the seasoning, I usually end up using about 1/2 tsp each of black pepper.

  Add the remaining butter and stir vigorously until the butter has been incorporated. Then turn off the heat and stir in the cheese, again vigorously.
• Finally, stir in the creme fraiche.

  Serve immediately topped with the fried wild mushrooms, some cracked black pepper, a little chopped parsley and some freshly grated vegetarian parmesan.

Notes

• Nutritional Information - is approximate and is calculated using an online nutrition tool.
• Rice - I use arborio rice for this risotto.
• Wine - is optional, but recommended. I have made this without wine and have added a tablespoon of white wine vinegar in its place. The result has been almost as good as if you use wine.
• Mushrooms - if you can't get wild mushrooms then don't worry I have made this without the wild mushroom topping and it was perfectly acceptable. I do however find that the chestnut mushrooms give the risotto the best flavour.
• Creme fraiche - is optional but I do recommend it for extra creaminess.
• Can I make this Vegan? To make this vegan, sub the cheese for a similar vegan cheese, and try a dairy-free creme fraiche. You will also need to cook the wild mushrooms in oil or a vegan butter. Please note I haven't tested this as a vegan recipe.
• Can I make this Gluten-Free? Just make sure the stock you use is gluten-free.
• Can I freeze this? No, I do not recommend freezing this dish.

Nutrition

Calories: 633kcal

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*This recipe was first published on this blog on October 9th 2019. It has now been updated with a step by step guide, new process photos and new photos. I have also included more nutritional information and some expert tips.