Get ready for the best, creamiest, most decadent vegan risotto! This luscious dish is bursting with sautéed mushrooms and umami flavor. You’d never guess it was dairy-free!
I feel like risotto gets a bad rap! People seem to think of it as fancy or fussy — there was even a time when I did. But it’s totally not.
Risotto is usually a one-pot deal. This risotto recipe actually gives you the option of making it on one pot, so saving time by cooking it in two.
Also, the rice takes about 20 minutes to cook up, so unless you’re pairing it up with something that takes much longer, you’ve probably got a relatively quick meal on your hands.
So let’s talk about how to make this easy vegan risotto!
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What You’ll Need
- Olive oil. You could technically substitute any high-heat oil, but olive will give your risotto the best flavor. I don’t recommend skipping the oil in this one — mushrooms need quite a bit of oil to really sauté nicely!
- Fresh mushrooms. Good news! You can use just about any variety of fresh mushrooms for this recipe. I used a mix of button, oyster, and baby shiitake mushrooms. Regular shiitakes, cremini mushrooms, or even portobellos (chopped into small pieces) would work. You can use just one variety of mushroom, or a few, like I did!
- Shallots. Red onions will work as a substitute here if needed.
- Garlic.
- Arborio rice. You should be able to find this in most supermarkets, right where all the other types of rice are sold. I don’t recommend substituting another variety — arborio rice is what gives risotto it’s classic texture and creamy consistency.
- White wine. You can leave this out for an alcohol-free version of this recipe if you’d like. If you do use it, be sure to check with Barnivore to ensure the variety you use is vegan.
- Spices. We’re using dried thyme, rosemary, and rubbed sage. Want to substitute with fresh herbs? Go for it! Just double the amounts.
- Low sodium vegetable broth. Using low sodium broth gives you maximum flexibility to season the risotto as you see fit. If you only have regular veggie broth on hand, cut it with about 30% water.
- Full-fat coconut milk. You can substitute with light coconut milk or another variety of unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk, but full-fat coconut milk is what works best for giving you a super creamy vegan risotto.
- Miso paste. Look for miso in the international foods section of your supermarket. The recipe calls for white miso paste. Other varieties will work, but may alter the flavor slightly. Can’t find it? Leave it out! It adds flavor, but the recipe will be fine without it.
- Lemon juice.
- Truffle oil. This will add lots of savory, mushroom flavor, but it can be left out if it’s not available.
- Frozen peas. Thaw them out before you begin cooking. Leave them out if you’re not a fan of risotto with peas!
- Salt & pepper.
How to Make Vegan Mushroom Risotto
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d prefer to skip right to the recipe!
- Sauté your mushrooms. You can complete this step before making the risotto, using the pot you’ll cook the risotto in (to save dishes), or at the same time in a separate vessel (to save time). Either way, you’ll want to clean and slice your mushrooms, then cook them for few minutes on each side in a bit of olive oil, until they’re browned and tender.
- Tip: Don’t crowd the mushrooms in your pot when cooking. You want them in a single layer so they can sit in contact with the hot cooking surface (avoid stirring too much). This means you might need to cook them in batches.
- Cook the aromatics. Begin by sweating chopped shallots in a bit of oil. Once they soften up, add minced garlic and cook it very briefly with the shallots.
- Add the rice. Sauté the rice with the aromatics for a minute or two, until it starts to become shiny and translucent.
- Add the wine. Carefully pour it in with the rice. Add the spices at this time as well.
- Simmer. Stir it up and let the wine simmer until most of the liquid is gone.
- Cook the risotto. Start adding broth to the pot, about a half cup at a time, letting each addition cook off before adding more.
- Stir, stir, stir! Risotto needs to be stirred frequently to develop it’s creamy texture and prevent it from scorching the bottom of your pot.
- Add coconut milk. After about 20 minutes and a total of 3 or so cups of broth added to the pot, your risotto should be almost done! Time to stir in the coconut milk and miso paste.
- Finish. Cooked mushrooms go in last, along with lemon juice, truffle oil and peas. Now you can take the pot off of heat and season the risotto with some salt and pepper.
Dig in!
I like to top my risotto with a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan cheese!
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends! A few varieties of miso contain gluten, so just check to make sure yours is gluten-free and you should be good to go!
I couldn’t taste it at all, but feel free to use another non-dairy milk if you prefer. Just make sure it’s unsweetened and unflavored.
More Risotto Recipes
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Creamy Vegan Mushroom Risotto
Get ready for the best, creamiest, most decadent vegan risotto! This luscious dish is bursting with sautéed mushrooms and umami flavor. You’d never guess it was dairy-free.
Ingredients
- ¼
cup
olive oil
(or as needed), divided - ¾
pound
assorted fresh mushrooms,
cleaned and roughly chopped - ½
cup
chopped shallots
(about 2 shallots) - 3
garlic cloves,
minced - 1 ½
cups
arborio rice - ½
cup
dry white wine - 1
teaspoon
dried thyme - 1
teaspoon
dried rosemary - ½
teaspoon
rubbed sage - 3-4
cups
low sodium vegetable broth,
warmed - ½
cup
full-fat coconut milk - 2
tablespoons
white miso paste - 1
tablespoon
lemon juice - 1
teaspoon
white truffle oil - ½
cup
frozen peas,
thawed - Salt and pepper,
to taste
Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large nonstick pot or skillet* with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place it over medium heat.
When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms in as even a layer as possible. Only add as many mushrooms as you can fit without crowding. Cook the rest in one or more additional batches, adding oil as needed between batches.
Allow the mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until tender and browned, then remove them from the pot or skillet and transfer them to a plate.
Coat the bottom of a large pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place it over medium heat.
When the oil is hot, add the shallots. Cook the shallots for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they become soft and translucent.
Stir in the garlic and cook for about 1 minute with the shallots, until very fragrant.
Stir in the rice and cook it for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until it begins to turn shiny and translucent.
Stir in the wine, thyme, rosemary and sage. Bring the wine to a simmer and allow it to cook until fully absorbed by the rice, stirring frequently.
Begin adding the broth to the pot, about ½ cup at a time, bringing each addition to a simmer and allowing it to cook until fully absorbed by the rice before adding the next batch. Stir the rice frequently as it cooks.
After about 3 to 3 ½ cups of broth have been added (this should take almost 20 minutes) the rice should be very creamy and almost fully cooked, with just a bit if firmness at the center of the grains. At this point, stir in the coconut milk and miso. Make sure to fully incorporate the miso.
Allow the rice to continue cooking until the coconut milk has been absorbed. Test the rice for doneness and add a bit more broth and cook a few minutes more if needed.
Remove the pot from heat and stir in the cooked mushrooms, lemon juice, truffle oil, and peas.
Taste-test and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Notes
*In this recipe you’ll be cooking the mushrooms separately from the rice. You have the option of using a separate skillet for the mushrooms so that you can cook the mushrooms and rice simultaneously (to save time), or using the pot that you’ll ultimately cook the rice in, and cooking the mushrooms first (to save dishes).
Nutrition Facts
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Risotto
Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups (¼ of recipe))
Calories 563
Calories from Fat 212
% Daily Value*
Fat 23.6g36%
Saturated Fat 8.8g44%
Sodium 695mg29%
Potassium 553mg16%
Carbohydrates 74.7g25%
Fiber 5.1g20%
Sugar 5.1g6%
Protein 10.8g22%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 4.9mg27%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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