Recipe Roundup

23 Risotto Recipes for Silky, Creamy Dinners at Home

Turn any Tuesday into a night of luxury with these recipes for risottos with shrimp and asparagus, wild mushrooms and cheese, blistered cherry tomatoes, and more.
A shallow bowl of three seared scallops on a bed of risotto and garnished with micro basil.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Christopher Barsch

The best homemade risotto recipes turn a pantry staple (rice) into a restaurant-worthy meal. Beyond the base, our favorite risotto recipes bring an extra element to the plate: tender seafood that lends its briny flavor to the broth, bright green veggies, earthy mushrooms, or even a toasty—almost smoky—caramel sauce (save that one for dessert). Some are ideal for stirring together while you chat with a friend in the kitchen over a pre-dinner glass of wine; others skip most of that stovetop hang and opt for the oven instead. Read on for all of our favorite risotto recipes—including a choice move for the leftovers.

  • Risotto with lemon and basil in a white dish.
    Photo by Gentl & Hyers, Prop Styling by Ayesha Patel, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    1/23

    Risotto al Limone

    Some risotto recipes toss in a full farmers market haul, but this version of the classic Italian rice dish keeps things streamlined. There’s no chicken broth or chicken stock here, just a touch of dry white wine, olive oil, Meyer lemon, and Parmigiano Reggiano.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    2/23

    Wild Mushroom Risotto

    This low-stress recipe is company-worthy, and highly rated by our readers: “I made it twice in two weeks,” notes one reviewer.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    3/23

    Spring Risotto

    A last-minute addition of store-bought basil pesto turns creamy risotto into a bright bowl of warm-weather comfort food. The recipe calls for asparagus, English peas, sugar snap peas, and fiddleheads, but you can adjust for whatever spring or summer produce you can find.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    4/23

    Butternut Squash Risotto With Toasted Pepitas

    Savory miso and a paprika-packed squash purée make this dairy-free risotto hearty and satisfying. Double or triple the squash purée to cut down on your cooking time for other meals throughout the week—we like stirring it into broth for a quick soup or using it as a pasta sauce.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    5/23

    Risotto With Amarone and Caramelized Radicchio

    Risotto recipes often call for a little wine, but here that bottle takes center stage alongside the arborio rice and tender caramelized chicories. You’re not strictly required to use the hearty Amarone from Italy—any decent red wine will work.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Dana Bonagura
    6/23

    Oven Risotto With Crispy Roasted Mushrooms

    This recipe cuts down your stirring time—you’ll pop the pot in the oven alongside a sheet pan of mushrooms so that you’ll have a crispy-savory garnish by the time the risotto rice is creamy and tender. Your total time investment? Under an hour.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by John Bjostad
    7/23

    Lemony Risotto With Asparagus and Shrimp

    You’ll wait to add the shrimp until the risotto is nearly done cooking, so that it just warms through and retains a succulent bite. A nob of butter and a flurry of Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley rounds out the dish.

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  • Stacy Newgent
    8/23

    Salted Caramel Risotto

    The classic risotto technique can be used to make a luscious rice pudding for dessert. Serve it with homemade unsweetened whipped cream.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Aneta Florczyk, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou
    11/23

    Tomato and Parmesan Risotto

    Cherry tomatoes are decent even in the depths of winter, so this risotto can be made all year. Stir it up and serve with extra Parmesan and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    12/23

    Creamy Shrimp Risotto With Mascarpone

    Take an hour out of your Sunday to make the shrimp stock for this recipe—yes, it’s really worth it—and use it to make a deeply flavorful seafood risotto.

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  • Marcus Nilsson
    13/23

    Toasted Barley Risotto With Spinach and Herbs

    If you’re out of carnaroli rice, and you don’t have arborio or any other short grain rice on hand, you can make a creamy risotto with orzo, ditalini, farro, or barley. Really toasting the barley in the oven before simmering it over low heat with vegetable broth lends the dish an extra nutty flavor. Stir in a purée of spinach and parsley, and brighten with chopped tarragon and citrus.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    14/23

    Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto

    Yes, you can absolutely make legit risotto in your Instant Pot. Cut out the stirring and the slow ladling of stock!

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris
    21/23

    Lemony Risotto With Fennel and Parmesan

    Anchovies give this brothless risotto extra savory oomph; a touch of Pernod echoes the fennel flavor.

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  • 22/23

    Risotto ai Fruitti di Mare

    This seafood risotto is a feast of tiny clams, plump mussels, sweet sea scallops, and calamari. You’ll toast the rice over low heat with unsalted butter and olive oil, then cook with wine and stock until the rice has absorbed some of the liquid, then add the seafood and stir until the rice is al dente.

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  • Photo by Andrew Scrivani
    23/23

    Gina’s Arancini

    Once you’ve made one (or more) of these risotto recipes, you may be wondering what to do with any leftovers of that perfect risotto in an airtight container that you’ve stashed in the fridge. These crispy arancini are miles better than any mushy reheat—just jump into the recipe after Step 3, when the rice is cooled.

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Following stints at StarChefs and Saveur, Joe joined Epicurious in 2016 where he’s written about how to make the very best biscuits, the singularity of third-culture cooking, and the ultimate cream cheese frosting. Currently, he works across both BA and Epi as the senior SEO editor for cooking stories, which... Read more
Senior SEO Editor, Cooking
The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here.
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