Instant Pot Spring Risotto {with Mushrooms & Asparagus} - Healthy Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

Instant Pot Spring Risotto- You don’t need to stir the rice when you make risotto in the Instant Pot! How amazing is that? Have this creamy risotto loaded with spring veggies ( like asparagus, mushrooms, and peas) and Parmesan cheese on the table in a flash. {Vegetarian, Easily Vegan}

There are some things the Instant Pot does REALLY really well…Risotto is one of them! If you’ve made risotto on the stove-top before you know it’s an easy but fairly time-consuming process. You have to keep adding liquid to the rice and allowing each addition to fully incorporate before adding more liquid. It requires standing over the stove and stirring…and more stirring…and still more stirring.

Risotto in the Instant Pot is a completely different experience! You put the liquid and the Arborio rice (a must for creamy risotto) in the Instant Pot , Let the Instant Pot cook (not stirring!) for 6 minutes (followed by a quick release of pressure) and voila! Perfect risotto.

How to Make Instant Pot Spring Risotto:

1. Press the sauté function on the Instant Pot. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and allow to heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté over medium heat until shallots become softened (approx. 1-2 minutes).
2. Add Arborio rice, stir, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes or until rice begins to become translucent, stirring frequently. Add white wine and continue to stir until wine is absorbed (approx. 1 minute). Add 3 cups vegetable broth and stir, making sure to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
3. Turn off sauté mode (by hitting CANCEL). Lock lid and turn vent to sealing. Set Instant Pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK and cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes.
4. While rice is cooking, heat a large fry pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When hot add mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes until mushrooms are beginning to soften and brown. Add asparagus and continue to cook until asparagus is crisp tender (approx. 2-4 minutes). Remove vegetables from hot pan and set aside. (Asparagus will continue to cook for a few minutes after removing from heat , removing from hot pan will help keep it crisp tender).
5. Once rice cooking cycle is complete QUICK RELEASE pressure and hit cancel to turn off the Instant Pot. Stir in peas, lemon zest, butter (optional) and Parmesan cheese. Add mushroom/asparagus mixture and stir to incorporate. Add salt & pepper, to taste. Risotto should be hot and ready to serve. If you prefer risotto to be warmer you can set Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat to desired temperature (you may want to add a bit more broth ).

To serve: place risotto in bowls and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Recipe Notes:

What kind of rice to use for Instant Pot Spring Risotto? You'll want to use Arborio rice (found in most grocery stores). I like Lundbergs Arborio rice.

Arborio rice is a variety of short-grained rice that is primarily used for risotto. What makes this type of rice such a good fit for cooking risotto is that Arborio rice goes through less milling than ordinary long-grain rice which means it retains more of its natural starch content. Cooking Arborio rice releases the starch, giving risotto that extra creaminess.

Pan saute delicate veggies - I'm using a combo of fresh asparagus and mushrooms, and frozen peas for this recipe. The frozen peas can be added to the risotto at the end of the cooking cycle as they only need a minute or two to warm up. To keep asparagus crisp tender and mushrooms golden brown I'm opting to pan saute the veggies while the risotto is cooking and add cooked veggies after the completion of the cooking cycle.

If you truly want to make this a one pot meal, you could saute the veggies in the Instant Pot (on saute mode) removing them from the Instant Pot while making the risotto. Adding the veggies back in after rice has finished cooking.

Swap ideas:You can easily swap out or omit any of the veggies used in the recipe. Some other veggies that would work well in this recipe are: green beans, artichoke hearts, and spinach (stir in at the end of cooking cycle).

For Vegan Option -substitute Vegan Parmesan cheese for traditional Parmesan cheese.