This easy, delicious and creamy Parmesan Risotto is easier to make than you think! Serve as a side dish or top with seared scallops or shrimp for a delicious gourmet meal in your own home!
Parmesan Risotto is one of those restaurant dishes that just feels elegant. It’s easily one of my top picks when dining at a nice Italian restaurant and for good reason. When cooked right, it has a dreamy creamy texture and is full of delicious Parmesan flavor.
If you have only had Parmesan risotto at a restaurant or haven’t even tried it at all, we need to fix that. While this dish does require a fair share of hands-on time, it is actually really easy to make.
This creamy dish is made with Arborio rice, Parmesan cheese and simple ingredients you likely have on hand already. It also doesn’t require any fancy cooking skills. If you can stir, you can make this dish.
Achieving a perfect risotto requires you to cook the Arborio rice in a flavorful broth while continuously stirring. It does require you to stay at the stove, but the effort is highly worth it!
I love to play music, sip wine and stir up this risotto with my hubby in the kitchen. The whole process is fun and we can take turns stirring too.
This Parmesan risotto recipe is perfect for date night meals, impressing dinner party guests, or making those special occasions extra special. I especially love making this creamy rice dish for romantic Valentine’s Day or anniversary dinners.
Serve this delicious risotto as a side dish, or add veggies and a delicious protein like scallops, shrimp, chicken breast, or steak and you have the perfect meal.
Ingredients in Creamy Parmesan Risotto
- Broth: chicken or vegetable, if you wish to keep it vegetarian. Use a delicious, flavorful broth for this recipe as the rice will soak up all of the flavor, resulting in the tastiest dish.
- Olive oil: use a good quality olive oil.
- Onion: finely diced.
- Arborio rice: this short-grain rice is needed to make this a creamy dish.
- White wine: Use a delicious, dry white wine or replace the wine with more of the broth.
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese: grated. For the smoothest risotto with the best flavor, grate your own Parmesan cheese.
- Seasoning: salt and black pepper.
- Parsley: optional garnish.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
Can you use a substitute rice for Arborio rice?
The key to a creamy risotto is in the starchy, short-grain rice that it is made with. Arborio rice is an important component in making this dish and many other rice varieties like Jasmine rice or Basmati rice, for example, won’t create the texture required for a creamy risotto.
Arborio rice can be found in most grocery stores in the rice aisle or the ethnic aisles. If you are wondering what else you can use it for, it makes a great Rice Pudding!
How to make Parmesan Risotto
- Warm the broth. In a saucepan, bring broth to a simmer on low heat. This saucepan will continue to simmer, keeping the broth warm while the risotto dish is being cooked.
- Saute the onions and rice. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes or until the onion begins to soften. Add the rice and continue to saute for 1 minute.
- Add the wine. Add the white wine and cook while stirring until it evaporates.
- Add broth and stir until the rice is cooked. Add 1/2 cup of the warm broth and cook while stirring the rice for a couple of minutes until the water is evaporated. Continue adding broth and stirring until it is evaporated, repeating this until the rice is cooked. This will take about 20 minutes. Note: If your broth is running low, add more broth or add water to the simmering saucepan to ensure there is enough warm liquid to use.
- Finish the dish. Once the rice is cooked, turn off the heat. Add the butter and Parmesan and stir to incorporate. Taste the risotto and add salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan before serving, if desired.
Tips for Making Creamy Parmesan Risotto
Tip #1: Use good Parmesan! I recommend buying a wedge of good Parmesan and grating it yourself. This will help ensure it melts beautifully into your creamy risotto dish. You can also shave off a little to top your risotto before serving. Many of the pre-grated cheeses you buy from the store are covered in a starch that prevents them from clumping. This can affect how the cheese melts into the dish.
Tip #2: Use a flavorful broth and wine. The rice will absorb the flavor of these ingredients so its important, making this a delicious dish. You only require a small number of ingredients for this recipe so its important they add good flavor.
Tip #3: Share the work. If you are making this for a date night, consider making the cooking process part of your date! My husband and I often make risotto for a special date night. We both work together in a kitchen to whip up our meal and it is actually much more fun this way. We play music, sip wine, and chat away as our dinner slowly starts to come together. Its a nice way to spend the evening and makes life easier as you can take turns stirring!
Tip #4: Add vegetables and protein to turn it into a main course. You can add veggies like peas or asparagus, for example or a protein like shrimp or scallops makes this a full meal. For more ways to serve this risotto, see the section below. Other optional add-ins include mushrooms or lemon juice.
Storing leftovers and reheating
Once cooled, leftover risotto can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.
To reheat the risotto, place it back in a saucepan and add a little broth or water to loosen it up again. Stir it over medium heat until it is warmed through. Alternatively, you can warm it in the microwave.
What to serve with Parmesan Risotto
Risotto can be served as a side dish or as your main course. Our favorite way to enjoy it on date nights is to top it with seared scallops. It also works well with shrimp, steak, and grilled chicken. Adding a vegetable side dish like asparagus is another great way to make it a complete meal.
Some other favorite recipes we love to serve alongside this risotto include Almond Crusted Salmon, Baked Breaded Pork Chops,
I hope you enjoy this delicious dish as much as we do! Whether you serve it as a side dish or a main course, Parmesan risotto is a great way to make meals extra special!
-Cathy
Looking for more elegant meal ideas? You may also like:
Creamy Lemon Herb Scallops
Creamy Seafood Pasta
Baked Herb Butter Salmon
Basa Fish Fillet with Lemon Brown Butter Sauce
Parmesan Risotto
Ingredients
- 6 cups broth chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup white wine or more broth
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon parsley optional for serving
- Parmesan shaved or grated, optional for serving
Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring broth to a simmer on low heat. This saucepan will continue to simmer, keeping the broth warm while the risotto dish is being cooked.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes or until the onion begins to soften. Add the rice and continue to saute for 1 minute.
- Add the white wine and cook while stirring until it evaporates.
- Add 1/2 cup of the warm broth and cook while stirring the rice for a couple of minutes until the water is evaporated. Continue adding broth and stirring until it is evaporated, repeating this until the rice is cooked. This will take about 20 minutes. Note: If your broth is running low, add more broth or add water to the simmering saucepan to ensure there is enough warm liquid to use.
- Once the rice is cooked, turn off the heat. Add the butter and Parmesan and stir to incorporate. Taste the risotto and add salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan before serving, if desired.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
This was yummy, creamy and delicious. My 2 year old loved it too!
Thank you, Andrea! So happy the family loved it! 🙂