recipes

15 Risotto Recipes to Make Your Heart Stir

Like creamy shrimp risotto, hearty barley risotto, and low-maintenance oven risotto.
Bowl of risotto on yellow floral tablecloth.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris

If cooking is your love language, there is no greater declaration of love than making risotto. Most risotto recipes instruct you to stand over the stove for upward of an hour, constantly stirring and gently ladling hot broth into the pot as it burps up steam. In short, risotto can be high-maintenance. But it doesn’t have to be.

Historically, the dish comes with its own set of rules—but here at Bon Appétit, we love to break rules. In fact, we believe that rules are made to be broken (well, some rules). Do you actually need to stir risotto constantly? Does it matter if you use a wooden spoon? And do you really need to buy that special type of rice? Well, that all depends on just how off-script you’re willing to go.

If you want a classic, just-like-nonna-made-it risotto recipe, it doesn’t get better than BA’s Best Risotto, made with medium-grain rice, dry white wine, and a good deal of elbow grease. But we’ve also got an entirely hands-off, oven-baked risotto; a riff that swaps toasted barley for rice; and a dish designed to use up Thanksgiving leftovers. Whether you’re a traditionalist or a free spirit, we’ve got a risotto recipe for you.

  • Four bowls of risotto each with a different topping including snap peas burst cherry tomatoes sauteed mushrooms and...
    Photo by Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh, Food Styling by Simon Andrews
    1/15

    BA’s Best Risotto

    There are countless ways to spin our best risotto recipe: top it with buttered snap peas in the spring, burst cherry tomatoes in the summer, crispy mushrooms in the fall, or lemony chive oil in the winter.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Aneta Florczyk
    2/15

    Tomato and Parmesan Risotto

    If you’ve got a haul of peak-season tomatoes, this is the place to use them. The natural sweetness of cherry tomatoes works with salty Parmesan and warming nutmeg to make a vibrant symphony of summer flavors.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Elizabeth Jaime
    3/15

    Pesto-ish Risotto

    Recipe developer Christian Reynoso calls this a “laid-back risotto.” It requires less cook time than a traditional risotto—the whole dish is ready in under half an hour.

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  • Photograph by Maya Visnyei, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Marina Bevilacqua
    4/15

    Miso-Mushroom Risotto

    Whisking miso paste into hot water creates a near-instant broth, which you’ll ladle gradually into the pot of rice. The ultimate texture should be almost soupy; the risotto will thicken as it sits.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens
    5/15

    Arancini (Stuffed Italian Rice Balls)

    As for that leftover risotto, turn it into crispy, cheese-stuffed rice balls, which might be the greatest thing to come out of your kitchen this year.

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  • Yossy Arefi
    6/15

    Oven Risotto with Kale Pesto

    Don’t want to spend the entire dinner party huddled over the stovetop? This self-sufficient risotto cooks in the oven (read: doesn’t require constant stirring).

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  • Photo by Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh, Food Styling by Simon Andrews
    7/15

    Risotto With Mushrooms and Thyme

    The Italian word for the ideal risotto texture is all’onda, or “like a wave.” This risotto should be fluid, but still thick and creamy.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris
    8/15

    Lemony Risotto With Fennel and Parmesan

    Fennel stalks and chopped anchovies practically melt into this luscious, creamy risotto, providing a base of flavor to build on. Save the fennel fronds for a delicate garnish.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott, Food Styling by Alison Attenborough, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski
    9/15

    Creamy Shrimp Risotto With Mascarpone

    Buy head-on, shell-on shrimp for this risotto recipe. You’ll use the heads and shells to make shrimp stock, then add the chopped shrimp to the pot at the very end of the cooking process.

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  • Peden + Munk
    10/15

    Ditalini Risotto

    Give short, tubular pasta the risotto treatment, letting it simmer in stock to soak up lots of savory flavor. Top the bowls with kale and mustard greens for a pop of freshness.

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  • 15/15

    Tomato Risotto

    The rosy liquid that drips out of squished tomatoes? It’s called tomato water, and it is actually liquid gold. Use it to add concentrated tomato flavor to your risotto recipe.

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Before joining the SEO team at Bon Appétit and Epicurious, Zoe spent 3 years working full-time in pastry. She churned ice cream at an artisanal creamery in Alabama, baked banana bread at an organic farm-bakery in Maui, and worked the line at a Michelin-starred restaurant in NYC. As someone who learned how to cook... Read more
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