Instant pot butternut squash risotto
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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Risotto
This delicious combination of creamy Arborio rice and tasty butternut squash makes a great meatless main dish, or a side dish for your favorite protein. Your Instant Pot makes quick work of this version of classic risotto, freeing you up for other last-minute dinner details. A salad and crusty bread complete this easy and flavorful meal. Garnish with additional fresh sage, if desired.
Ingredients
Directions
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Heat broth in a microwave-safe container on High, about 5 minutes. Leave in the microwave until ready to use.
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Turn on a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot®) and select Saute function. Melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add onion once butter bubbles gently and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Mix in rice, sage, and garlic, stirring to coat. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and allow most of the wine to evaporate, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add hot broth and butternut squash. Season with salt and pepper. Close and lock the lid. Cancel Saute function.
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Select high pressure according to manufacturer’s instructions; set timer for 6 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.
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Release pressure carefully using the quick-release method according to manufacturer’s instructions, about 5 minutes. Unlock and carefully remove the lid. Remove sage. Stir in Parmesan cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add a teaspoon or two of water, if risotto is too dry. Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts
about 3/4 cup
2 starch, 1 fat, 1/2 vegetable
Cook’s Notes
For a vegetarian risotto, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Your Instant Pot(R) may take more or less time to come to pressure. A larger capacity pot will take more time to release pressure.
Instant Pot Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto
There’s nothing as satisfying and warming as a nice hot risotto suffused with fall flavors like butternut, sage, and Parmesan. But it can often take a lot of time and attention to cook. However, the Instant Pot cuts it down to an extremely doable 25 minutes. Use a nice, drinkable white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc—and not cooking wine—to give it the fullest flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chopped leek (from 1 large leek)
- 1/4 cup chopped shallot (from 1 large shallot)
- 3 garlic cloves (1 Tbsp.)
- 2 teaspoons ground sage
- 2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 4 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 1 (16-oz.) pkg. fresh cubed butternut squash
- 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Shaved Parmesan cheese
- Leaf sage
How to Make It
Set Instant Pot to sauté. Add olive oil and butter; heat until butter is melted. Add leek, shallot, garlic, and sage; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add rice; cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Stir in wine and cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth and squash. Cover Instant Pot and fasten lid. Lock and seal steam valve. Set to HIGH PRESSURE for 6 minutes. Release pressure naturally. (Steam is fully released when pressure valve drops.) Uncover and turn off Instant Pot.
Stir in grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Garnish with shaved Parmesan and leaf sage, if desired.
Nutritional Information
- Calories 356
- Fat 7g
- Satfat 2.5g
- Unsatfat 3g
- Protein 9g
- Carbohydrate 64g
- Fiber 5g
- Sugars 3g
- Added sugars 0g
- Sodium 733mg
- Calcium 10% DV
- Potassium 9% DV
VEGAN BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO
Traditionally, it is common to add parmesan cheese to this recipe, but I skipped that part for two reasons. One is that there is plenty of vegan alternative cheese available and the second reason is that I was never a fan of the parmesan flavor. Adding the cheese alternate would be another flavor contribution.
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Instant pot butternut squash risotto can be broken down into 4 simple steps, once you gather all the ingredients. Unlike the traditional version, you do not have to constantly watch the pot to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom and burning. The Instant Pot takes care of that problem.
Step 1- Chop the butternut squash, peel the skin and deseed. Then chop into cubes.
Step 2 – Press saute mode then add olive oil to the inner pan. As the oil heats up, add chopped garlic and onions. Saute for 3 minutes.
Step 3 – Add cubed squash, arborio rice, black pepper, Italian seasoning, dried sage, salt, vegetable broth, and white wine. Give it a nice stir.
Step 4 – close the lid on the pot, and turn the valve from venting to sealing position. Cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Wait for Natural pressure release before opening the lid.
CAN I MAKE RISOTTO WITHOUT WINE?
The answer is yes, If you prefer to cook risotto without wine for any specific reason, you can prepare risotto without wine. As an alternative, you could add a splash of lemon juice to the mix. That makes up for the acidity you need to balance the sweetness from butternut squash.
ROASTED OR UNROASTED SQUASH RISOTTO
For this recipe, you can roast the arborio rice at the beginning with a little oil. It gives additional toasted flavor to the risotto. But that is not a necessity. I prepared this recipe without roasting the rice. It really depends on your taste preference.
WHAT CAN I SERVE WITH A SIDE OF RISOTTO?
This is likely the most common question that arises for a dish such as this one. Especially so, if you have never tried Risotto before. Usually, a bowl of tomato basil soup and/or a simple salad pairs well with the risotto.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO IN INSTANT POT WITH CRANBERRIES & PECANS
Add a festive touch to your butternut squash risotto with some tangy dried cranberries and earthy pecans, as well as lovely warm spices. Made in the Instant Pot, this butternut squash risotto can be cooked with any type of sweet winter squash or pumpkin and it’s perfect as a side dish on a Thanksgiving and Christmas table or as a special main dish for a family dinner. It’s vegetarian and gluten-free, with a vegan option.
We love making Instant Pot risotto because, for something that’s so hands-off and fuss-free, the dish always turned out perfectly creamy and delicious. No stirring or gradual adding of stock; you simply add all ingredients and set it to cook. Plus, it’s much quicker than on the stovetop.
You can get pretty creative with your pressure cooker risotto recipes. We’ve made a beetroot and goat’s cheese risotto, vegan cheese-free version, budget-friendly pea and celery and many more. So, in the leadup to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, we’ve decided to get a little festive.
We’re taking advantage of seasonal pumpkins and winter squashes and adding a few touches like herbs, spices, dried fruit and nuts to make an Instant Pot risotto with a twist. We call it the Thanksgiving risotto (or Christmas risotto), although you can make it any time of the year. We hope you enjoy our butternut squash risotto with cranberries and pecans, let us know in the comments what you think if this combo.
REHEATING & USING LEFTOVER RISSOTO
You can store leftover risotto for a day or two, not much longer as rice doesn’t keep that well in general. The cold risotto will get thick and stodgy as all that cheese and creaminess will firm when refrigerated. The best way to turn it back into that creamy consistency is by adding ½ cup of vegetable stock, wrapping it in cling film and microwaving for 1 minute and 30 seconds (we used 1000 Watt microwave). Then stir through and it will be as good as new!
Our other favourite way for using up leftover risotto is to add extra grated Parmesan cheese and a little flour to the cold rice to make arancini balls or patties. Pan-fry these in a bit of oil until crispy and you serve with a side salad or a lovely tomato dipping sauce or aioli. Great as finger food, lunch or a brand new meal!
INSTRUCTIONS
- Turn the Instant Pot on and press the Sauté function. Once hot, add the olive oil, onions, carrot, celery, and salt and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften.
- Add the rest of the cooking risotto ingredients and stir through. Press Keep Warm/Cancel to stop the Sauté function.
- Pop the lid on top, close and set to Pressure Cook/Manual for 5 minutes. After 3 beeps, the Instant Pot will start to build up the pressure. Once cooking finishes, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then use the quick release (QR). Please note, don’t let the pressure release naturally for more than 5-7 minutes as the risotto keeps cooking during this time and might lose some of its texture.
- While the risotto is cooking, prepare the finishing and serving ingredients.
- Open the Instant Pot and stir the butter, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice into the risotto. Taste for salt and pepper.
- Serve with extra cranberries and chopped pecans on top. Garnish with extra Parmesan and some herbs like rosemary, thyme or sage.
