This Parmesan Risotto Recipe is wonderfully delicious and perfect for an impressive dinner. If you follow my instructions, you will have a spectacularly creamy, delicious, cheesy risotto in no time.
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I love risotto. It’s one of those incredibly simple Italian dishes, like Bucatini Cacio e Pepe or margherita pizza that doesn’t require a lot of fancy ingredients, just high quality ingredients and a good technique.
This parmesan risotto is so simple and also versatile. It’s easy to enjoy as a side dish with some Chicken Marsala but it can also be the main dish when you add some Garlic Chicken to the mix.
Risotto is one of my favorite dishes to cook because it’s taught me a lot about the chemistry of cooking, and how important technique is. Making your risotto can actually be pretty easy as long as you follow these best practices and tips from my post below!
Check out this post for more suggestions on What to Serve With Risotto and save any leftovers for Arancini!
Recipe Origins
It’s unclear when the first risotto was made, but rice has a long history in Italy. It is particularly popular in the Lombardy and Veneto regions where the climate is ideal for producing short grain rice. Rice was brought to Italy by Arab traders who occupied Sicily before the 14th century.
The first recorded risotto recipe, Risotto alla Milanese, was written in the 16th century, but the dish has evolved many times since then. Its versatility has made it popular in many regions, each with their own spin on the ingredients and spices used.
Why Make This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: Risotto doesn’t have to be complicated. High quality ingredients are the secret to making a perfect dish.
- Slow and Relaxing: The key to perfect risotto is patience. Take your time to let each scoop of broth melt into the rice to achieve the perfect, creamy texture. This is not a quick meal or a meal you can set and leave, but the effort is worth it!
- Taste of Italy: Risotto has become a signature dish of Italy. This parmesan risotto is a great risotto recipe to start with as it pairs perfectly with so many additional spices and flavors.
What Ingredients are In Parmesan Risotto?
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Butter
- Onion: White or yellow onion is best
- Garlic: Fresh will give the best flavor and I highly recommend it for this recipe!
- Arborio rice: This is a thick, short-grained rice.
- White wine: This gives the dish a lot of flavor, so choose a white wine you enjoy. If you do not like wine, feel free to substitute more broth instead. I do not like wine, but the flavor is subtle enough that I enjoy it in this recipe!
- Chicken broth: You can use broth or stock. You can also substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian option
- Grated parmesan: It’s always best to grate your own cheese. Freshly grated parmesan will melt beautifully into this dish.
Tools
- Deep skillet
- Small pot: This will be useful to keep your broth warm
- Ladel or measuring cup
How to Make This Recipe
Step One: Saute your garlic and onions until translucent.
Step Two: Add the rice and stir until toasted
Step Three: Add the white wine and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
Step Four: Continue adding warm broth one scoop at a time, stirring and cooking until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Continue until the rice is cooked through.
Step Five: Add your parmesan cheese and serve!
Should the Stock be Hot or Cold for Risotto?
When cooking your risotto, make sure that your stock is at least room temperature, if not heated up all the way. Adding cold stock into your pot reduces the temperature of the entire dish, making for an uneven and frustrating cooking process.
If you leave your stock at a low simmer on the stove next to your risotto and then add in hot stock as you work, your risotto will be almost guaranteed to turn out better.
Should I Stir My Risotto Constantly?
There is a delicate balance when making risotto. Not stirring it at all means that you’re really just boiling your rice. The classic, creaminess of risotto would not exist without some stirring to activate the starches in the rice.
However, if you stir the rice too much, it will become over-sticky and turn almost gluey. This is undesirable as well.
The best option would be to stir the risotto each time you add stock into the pan. Stir briskly for about 25 seconds, then allow the risotto to sit for a while. Stir occasionally until the stock is used up. Then add more stock and repeat.
When Should I Add Cheese into my Risotto?
Make sure not to add your cheese into your risotto until you’ve completed cooking the risotto entirely. As soon as you add the cheese, your risotto will thicken, so we’ll want to save this step for the end.
Because the cheese will thicken the risotto, you’ll want to ensure that there is a little extra liquid in your risotto that the cheese can soak up without entirely ruining the texture. Make sure that you have left a little extra liquid in your last round of broth before adding the cheese, as this will keep the parmesan risotto from getting gluey.
What Goes with Parmesan Risotto?
This parmesan risotto is absolutely delicious all on its own. However, if you want to make this dish part of a larger meal, there are plenty of things that you can add into it to beef it up a little. No matter what you add into the risotto, make sure that you cook it separately, and then add the pre-cooked additions into the pot.
Options you can add include:
- Peas
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Shrimp
- Cooked chicken
Expert Tips
- The key to this dish is to be slow and steady. Don’t try to rush adding too much broth at a time or you will not be able to achieve the creamy, chewy texture you want. You also don’t want to overstir your rice. Take your time, stir as you add broth and enjoy the process.
- Arborio rice is thick and chewy. It is very important to this recipe.
Recipe FAQs
You should cook your risotto uncovered. Because you’re going to be stirring your risotto pretty consistently, the lid of your pot can stay off. This will also allow the liquid to evaporate from your pot, allowing you to add your next round.
You need to choose a short-grain rice for this dish. Arborio has just the right starch content to achieve the perfect risotto. Unfortunately long grain white rice or jasmine rice will not work for this recipe.
Did you like this recipe for Parmesan Risotto? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
If you tried this Parmesan Risotto Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Parmesan Risotto
Equipment
- Deep Skillet
- Small Pot
- Ladel or Measuring Cup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ white onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp chopped garlic
- 2 cups arborio rice
- ¾ cup white wine
- 5 cups chicken broth, i added another cup and a half of broth
- 1 cup grated parmesan
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat butter on the stove. Add onions and garlic and saute until the onions turn translucent– about 5 minutes.
- Add the rice into the pot and stir for about 5 minutes, until the rice starts to toast. Do not allow the rice to burn.
- Add the white wine into the pan to deglaze. Allow the wine to reduce by half.
- Once your wine has reduced, add the chicken broth into the pot, ½ cup at a time. After each addition, stir the rice until the liquid is absorbed. Once the liquid is absorbed again, add another ½ cup liquid. Continue this process until the rice is cooked through.
- You know the rice is done when you run a wooden spoon through the center of the pot, and the rice slowly moves back to fill the space.
- Adding cheese may thicken your risotto a bit, so make sure it has a little extra liquid than you desire before adding the cheese. Once desired consistency is achieved, add the parmesan into the risotto.
- Enjoy! Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you think!
Notes
- Onion: White or yellow onion is best.
- Garlic: Fresh will give the best flavor and I highly recommend it for this recipe!
- White wine: If you do not like wine, feel free to substitute more broth instead.
- Chicken broth: You can use broth or stock. You can also substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian option.
- The key to this dish is to be slow and steady. Don’t try to rush adding too much broth at a time or you will not be able to achieve the creamy, chewy texture you want. You also don’t want to overstir your rice. Take your time, stir as you add broth and enjoy the process.
- Arborio rice is thick and chewy. It is very important to this recipe.
Donna says
I just made this recipe. It is delicious! I substituted a tablespoon of olive oil because I only had 2 tablespoons of butter. I also added spinach and it is so tasty. This is my first time making risotto and I am quite happy with the result. Great recipe and instructions!
The Foreign Fork says
I’m so glad you liked the recipe Donna! Adding spinach is a great choice and I think i’ll have to try it next time 😉