Although risotto is not the timeliest dish to make, this vegan mushroom risotto is incredibly tasty and quite thrifty at under $10 CAD for 4 servings! Risotto is a bit of a labour of love and a dish that requires your full attention but it's perfect for a special occasion.
Incredibly creamy
Full of flavour
Ready in 1 hour
And perfect for date night
How To Make Vegan Mushroom Risotto
If risotto is a new dish for you, Taste Of Home has a great blog post on risotto and how it's traditionally made. I especially like how this post explains that traditional risotto usually includes dairy butter and cheese but those additions are not what necessarily makes risotto creamy. The slow cooking process allows the arborio rice to slowly release its starch and that is what creates the great creamy texture.
Risotto is quite simple to make but it does require some multi-tasking!
I like to make this recipe with three pans on the go:
- One pot keeps vegetable broth at a simmer
- A saute pan cooks the rice
- And a second saute pan slowly caramelizes the veggies
*If you only have one saute pan; you can cook the veggies first, remove them from the pan, keep them warm, and use the same pan to cook the rice.
- First, warm the vegetable broth until it reaches a gentle simmer. Maintain a low heat on the broth so that it stays hot but doesn't boil vigorously.
- Add arborio rice to a saute pan. Toast it for 1 minute. Splash in white wine and cook for about 30 minutes gradually adding ½ cup hot broth at a time. Allow the rice to absorb the broth before adding another ladle full.
- Meanwhile, slowly caramelize onions, garlic, and mushrooms in a separate pan. You could cook the veggies with the rice if you prefer. However, I find they have better flavour and texture if cooked separately and added near the end of the cooking time.
Ingredients
The main ingredient you need for risotto is arborio (or Italian style) rice. I always like to suggest as much flexibility as possible with my recipes but this particular recipe will not be the same with another variety of rice.
Arborio is typically easy to find and not usually pricey. Although you may have to make a specific trip to the grocery store, it should be simple to pick up.
Other than arborio rice, this recipe requires:
- Vegetable Broth (use homemade veggie broth for extra savings)
- White wine
- You can buy a lower priced bottle for this recipe. Or omit the wine if desired and use more broth in its place.
- Onion, garlic, mushrooms, and spinach
- Fresh thyme if you have it!
And some additional seasonings that are always in our pantry.
- Tamari or soy sauce
- Vegan worcestershire sauce (can replace with more tamari)
- Nutritional yeast
- And tahini
If some of these seasonings are unfamiliar to you, take a look at our pantry tips page to read about why we always have these flavour boosters on hand.
Tamari (or soy sauce), vegan worcestershire sauce, and nutritional yeast all add a great salty, savoury depth to this vegan mushroom risotto. Nutritional yeast also has a "cheesy" flavour which is a great replacement for the parmesan cheese that is often incorporated into risotto.
Tahini - The Creamy Star Of This Dish
Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds and most commonly used to make hummus. This sesame paste contributes extra protein to my vegan mushroom risotto, intensely creamy texture, and great flavour.
If you're wondering if the tahini flavour is overpowering in this recipe I'm happy to tell you that it is not! I am not the biggest fan of the taste of tahini on its own. Here though, it adds a really subtle flavour that makes this dish extra special.
Recipe Cost
One way to really save a few dollars in the kitchen is to make your own broth!
This vegan mushroom risotto serves 4 and costs us under $10 CAD using our homemade vegetable broth. Using store-bought broth brings this recipe over $15.
Take a look at my Nearly Free Vegetable Broth for all my tips on how to give your vegetable scraps new life as a tasty broth that you can always have on hand.
And if you're wondering if this vegan mushroom risotto costs any more than a traditional risotto:
My nutritional yeast as a cheese substitute costs me roughly $0.80 CAD vs. $1.00 or more for ¼ cup parmesan cheese.
Let me know in the comments below if you make this extra creamy vegan mushroom risotto and how you like it.
Make sure to use your leftover arborio rice for a comforting dessert! My vegan Portuguese Sweet Rice - Arroz Doce is one of my favourite treats from my childhood and made with arborio rice!
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Extra Creamy Vegan Mushroom Risotto With Tahini
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The creamiest vegan mushroom risotto perfect for a date night. Tahini adds protein and amazing creamy texture without being overbearing!
Ingredients
- 50g dehydrated gourmet mushrooms (or 225g fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced)*
- 6 cups vegetable broth (homemade for extra savings)
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, whole but crushed with flat of knife
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ cups arborio rice
- ⅓ cup white wine (vegan wine if preferred)
- ½ tsp salt and pepper
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- ½ tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce (or more tamari)
- 2 cups spinach, packed*
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp tahini
- optional toppings: chilli flakes and toasted sesame seeds
*Fresh ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
*This recipe does require some multi-tasking and for you to have three pans on your stove. You can sauté the onion and mushrooms before you cook the rice and use just one sauté pan. But to save time, I cook the onions and mushrooms in one pan while the rice cooks in another. A pot of vegetable broth will also be kept at a simmer.
*Feel free to use cremini or baby bella mushrooms. If using dehydrated gourmet mushrooms, rehydrate the mushrooms according to the package before getting started and save some of the soaking liquid to use as part of the broth!
- Pour the vegetable broth into a pot and bring it to a low simmer. This broth will simmer for the entire time you cook the rice. Make sure steam is coming up off the broth but avoid having your broth boil as too much can evaporate while you cook the rice.
- As the broth comes to a simmer, slice the onion by cutting it in half lengthwise and then thinly slice it so you get nice long strips. Thinly slice the mushrooms and crush the garlic cloves.
- Heat two sauté pans over low heat with one tablespoon of oil in each.
- Add the sliced onion and crushed garlic cloves to one pan, sprinkle with some salt and caramelize the onions over low heat for 10 - 15 minutes. Stirring periodically.
- Meanwhile, add the rice to the other pan with the warmed olive oil and stir to toast the rice for 1 minute. Make sure the pan is on low heat so that the wine doesn’t evaporate when it hits the pan and add the white wine. Allow the rice to soak up the wine, stirring periodically.
- Add the sprigs of thyme to the rice and sprinkle the rice with salt and pepper.
- Next, ladle ½ cup of broth at a time into the rice, stir, and wait for the broth to be absorbed by the rice. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, add another ladle of hot broth. Continue in this way for about 30 minutes as your rice slowly cooks in the hot broth.
- Once the onions and garlic have been caramelizing for 10 - 15 minutes and the garlic has good colour on it, remove the garlic cloves from the onions and add them to the rice. The garlic will soften in the rice and you can eventually mash the garlic up to incorporate it fully into the rice (this way you won't have big cloves in the finished risotto).
- Add the (sliced or rehydrated) mushrooms to the onions and if using cremini, cook the mushrooms down for about 5 minutes until they have released water and started to brown. Add the tamari and worcestershire to the mushrooms and onions. Cook for another 3-5 minutes then scoop half the mushrooms and onions into the rice and keep the other half in the same pan.
- Add 1 cup spinach to the rice and 1 cup to the reserved mushrooms and onions. Once the spinach with the mushrooms and onions wilts, turn off the heat to the pan and keep those veggies warm for the topping.
- With the last two ladles of broth for the rice, carefully remove the sprigs of thyme and stir in the nutritional yeast and tahini.
- When the rice has soaked up all the broth it should still be just slightly al dente but super creamy. Turn off the heat and if you think your rice is still slightly too firm, just put a lid on the pan for about 5 minutes and the steam will cook the rice through a tiny bit more.
- Serve right away by spooning risotto into serving bowls, top with the reserved veggies and sprinkle with chilli flakes for a bit of heat or your favourite vegan parmesan.
Notes
Approximate Cost: $9.63 CAD using homemade vegetable broth and just over $15 using store-bought broth. Using dried wild mushrooms adds less than $1 to the recipe cost. Replacing the traditional parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast in this recipe costs me roughly $0.80 vs. $1.00 or more for just ¼ cup shredded parmesan.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Italian
Eric
Woah the tahini makes this so creamy! I've tried a few vegan risottos and I always miss the cheese but this one gets that creamy factor in there. Cool idea!
Kathryn Alexandre
It really does doesn't it! I add tahini to my oatmeal for a boost of protein and it makes the oatmeal so creamy so I thought I would try it in risotto and it worked. I'm so glad you like it and thank you for the great star rating!
Maria
Wow! This is delightful! I strongly encourage anyone making this risotto to use dried mushrooms. I don’t think that fresh will be as flavourful. I also warmed the liquid from rehydrating the mushrooms and combined it with the homemade veggie broth as you suggested. This recipe gets an A+ from my family
Kathryn Alexandre
Thank you so much for trying it and letting us know that you all enjoyed it! I agree that the dried mushrooms pack in more flavour and texture than fresh mushrooms. Thank you for taking the time to leave a lovely star review!