Vegan Mushroom Risotto Recipe

Mushroom risotto will always stay one of my favorite kinds of risotto. It is one of these dishes that I’ve experimented with countless times and where I’ve arrived at a favorite way of preparation that I am super happy with. This mushroom risotto is vegan but still super creamy and loaded with flavor. It is quite simple to make, and I’m sure you guys will like it! In an Italian fashion, I like to keep a bit of bite on the rice. My special twist: Cooking the risotto in a mushroom stock to infuse the rice with flavor through and through!

Ingredients for making Vegan Mushroom Risotto:

• Fresh mushrooms
• Risotto rice
• Celery
• Carrots
• Yellow onions
• Garlic
• Dried Mushrooms
• Vegan parmesan substitute
• Vegan butter
• Olive oil
• White wine (dry)
• Salt & pepper
• Parsley (fresh)

For this recipe, the quality of ingredients matters a lot. There is lots of room for customization to this dish. The taste of this risotto will depend on the mushrooms you use. I am using fresh button mushrooms and a mix of dried wild mushrooms today, which tasted fantastic. Making this recipe with fresh wild mushrooms such as porcini or chestnut mushrooms is delightful as well.

One of the most important ingredients for risotto is, in my opinion, the stock that is used. It is responsible for so much flavor and gives the dish its depth. I love making vegetable stock myself for risotto. It won’t add too much preparation time and for me, it is worth the effort every time. Also, the stock is super easy to make and gives you full control over the flavor. We will use celery, carrots, onion, parsley stalks, and dried mushrooms to make a delicious simple stock for this risotto.

Lastly, I like using a quality vegan butter substitute without a strong margarine taste for this recipe for some extra creaminess. I’d recommend using some that you would also enjoy eating on bread. If you don’t have one come to mind, substitute it for more olive oil in this recipe. Regarding the olive oil, choosing a quality virgin olive oil is advisable.

Lastly, we will need a parmesan substitute for this vegan mushroom risotto. It’s a combination of nutritional yeast, cashews, and a few spices that work fantastically in risotto. Check out the recipe if you are new to this vegan cheese substitute.

Vegan Mushroom Risotto Recipe:

Preparing the Vegetable Stock:

Firstly, we can get started preparing the vegetable stock. Let the dried mushrooms soak in hot water for 10 minutes and discard that water. Once soaked, you can add them to the vegetable stock. Cut the stems from your parsley, and chop the celery, carrot, and onion into chunks. Add them to a pot with 1.5 liters of water and bring to a simmer. This is a pretty basic mushroom stock that will infuse the risotto with a lot of flavor. You can customize the stock using other vegetables following my vegetable stock recipe as well. The stock can simmer at a low temperature for 20 minutes. In the meantime, we can get started with the risotto and mushrooms.

Cooking the Mushrooms:

I like to cook the mushrooms and risotto separately. It gives the best texture to the mushrooms, and the risotto will still infuse with a lot of mushroom flavor through our vegetable stock. While it is a bit more effort and dishes to do, it is worth the hassle! I like to do the cutting for each cooking step at once, so the ingredients are ready mise-en-place-style!

Finely dice two onions and mince the garlic. We will use half of each for the risotto rice and the other half for making the mushrooms. Next, clean the mushrooms and cut them. You can use a mandoline slicer if you have one. I sliced each mushroom in half before cutting them into bits.

Start sautéing the onions until turning translucent, then add the garlic. After a minute, add the mushrooms and some salt, and sauté the mushrooms on high heat. They will lose a lot of liquid. While the mushrooms are cooking, you can start with the next step, which is cooking the risotto.

Once the mushrooms have lost most of their liquid, you can reduce the heat but continue cooking until they develop some good color.

Cooking the Risotto:

Add two tablespoons of olive oil to your pot and sauté the onions with a touch of salt until turning translucent. Next, add the garlic and sauté for another minute before adding the risotto rice. Toast the rice for another 3-5 minutes. It adds a lot to the flavor and consistency of the risotto. Deglaze the pot with a sip of white wine.

Next, we will need the vegetable stock. Puree the stock using an immersion blender until no pieces of vegetables are visible anymore. Check for seasoning. Now, you can start adding ladlefuls of mushroom stock to the risotto. Continuously stir the risotto, which will help develop the desired creamy consistency.

Cook the risotto like this until nicely creamy, but some bite remains on the rice. I like finishing it with some more white wine for acidity, which pairs nicely with the mushrooms.

Once you are satisfied with the texture, add the remaining olive oil, vegan butter substitute, and half of the parmesan substitute, and mix it in. Also, add half of the sautéed mushrooms to the pot.

Serving the Vegan Mushroom Risotto:

This vegan mushroom risotto is best served right away. The texture is one of the most important factors for a perfect risotto, and we want to have it nice and creamy.

After plating a layer of risotto for each plate, I garnished each with fresh parsley and the remaining mushrooms and vegan parmesan substitute. For these dishes, I like to add a touch of additional extra-virgin olive oil when serving. Delicious!

If you have some extra risotto left over, I can recommend using it to make Arancini from it the next day. They are such a satisfying snack!

Mushroom risotto will always be one of my favorites. Let me know what you think of this recipe below in the comments, and enjoy!

Some Recipe Suggestions:

• Spinach risotto
• Roasted pumpkin risotto
• Vegan layered risotto
• Mushroom congee
• Pappa al pomodoro
• Porcini bruschetta
• Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino

Print