Healthy mushroom risotto made with brown rice is creamy comfort food at it's finest! Make this cozy vegetarian risotto traditionally on the stovetop or make it quick and easy in the Instant Pot! (gluten-free, vegetarian)

healthy mushroom risotto in a white bowl with a gold spoon.

What is your ultimate comfort food meal? One of my favorites is a delicious, creamy bowl of risotto. The way it takes so much care to stir consistently and the smooth, luxuriously creamy texture without the need for cream. It's the perfect embodiment of a cozy meal. I make mine healthier using whole grain brown rice and lots of umami-rich mushrooms. While it may take longer to cook into velvety risotto, that just means more 'me time' to enjoy a glass of wine while I stir!

Why You'll Love This Mushroom Risotto

This mushroom risotto is amazingly creamy and comforting, yet surprisingly healthy. It's full of savory, earthy mushrooms, and it's made with whole-grain brown rice, making it a deeply nourishing meal that's just perfect for cold winter nights. Finished with a good quality cheese, it gets a really nice flavor boost. If you're the kind of person that likes to relax in the kitchen by making a slow, methodical meal, then you'll love the process of making risotto, especially brown rice risotto. It feels so special (perfect for date night!) and makes enough for lots of leftovers in the days to come.

The Ingredients

overhead view of ingredients needed to make brown rice mushroom risotto.

Broth - I like to use low sodium or homemade broth for more control of the sodium level. Chicken, vegetable, or even beef broth work here. Use vegetable broth to keep the dish vegetarian.
Mushrooms - I like baby bella mushrooms. Cremini (white) mushrooms work, too.
Onion & Garlic - To enhance the savory flavor.
Brown Rice - Short grain brown rice is more in the traditional style of risotto, but regular long grain works just fine.
White wine - Use a dry white wine, such as pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, or chardonnay. If you'd rather, you can use more broth instead.
Salt & Pepper
Cheese - Slightly nutty gruyere is my favorite to use in risotto, but if you can't find it, use a high quality parmesan that you grate from the block.

How To Make It

9 image collage showing steps for making mushroom risotto.

Keep the broth warm in a saucepan on the stove. This will make the process faster and easier, I promise.
Chop the onion and garlic and slice the mushrooms.
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until softened.
Add the rice, salt and pepper and cook for a couple of minutes to toast the rice.
Add the wine, and cook, stirring, until it is completely absorbed.
Now comes the fun part - all the stirring! Lower the heat to maintain a simmer. Add broth to the rice half to one cup at a time, stirring and letting the rice fully absorb the liquid before adding more.
Repeat, adding more broth and stirring, until the rice is fully cooked, thickened and creamy. This will take around an hour. It may seem like it will never get cooked, but it will. Keep stirring. I suggest pouring yourself a glass of that wine while you wait and stir.
Finally, once the rice is done, stir in the grated cheese.

Can I Make Risotto In the Instant Pot?

Stirring for hours not your thing? You can make cheater's risotto in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker!

Reduce the wine to ¾ cup and the broth to 4 cups.
Follow the instructions, using the sauté function on the Instant Pot.
Once you've added the wine and deglazed the pot, and the rice has absorbed the wine, add all of the broth.
Close the lid and the vent. Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes.
Carefully release the pressure by opening the vent (away from your face and with hands protected!).
Stir in the cheese and serve!

What To Serve With Mushroom Risotto

If you want to keep it vegetarian, serve risotto alongside a salad (try my Kale Caesar or Pine Room Salad Copycat) and warm, crusty bread.
If you want to add some protein, this risotto is delicious with my Balsamic Braised Short Ribs, Rosemary Garlic Pork Tenderloin, or even some seared scallops.
For a wine pairing, this dish is super flexible. The hearty mushrooms hold their own against a smooth, bold red, such as cabernet sauvignon or malbec, but it's also delicious with a dry white like chenin blanc or chardonnay. Or meet somewhere in the middle with a dry rosé!

overhead view of brown rice mushroom risotto in a white pot with a wooden spoon lifting some out.

How To Store & Reheat Leftovers

Store leftover risotto in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to reheat it over low heat on the stove, stirring and thinning with a little broth or milk.

More Healthy, Cozy Comfort Food Recipes

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the comments!

Healthy Mushroom Risotto with Brown Rice

brown rice mushroom risotto in a white bowl with a gold spoon beside it.

Print Recipe

Author: Kaleigh
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 75 minutes
Yield: about 12 cups 1x
Category: side dish
Method: stovetop
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale

6-8 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (8oz) containers mushrooms, sliced (I like baby bellas)
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
2 cups brown rice
1 cup dry white wine
¾ cup gruyere or good quality parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

In a saucepan, keep broth warm over low heat.
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms. Sauté until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
Add rice, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until rice is toasted, about 2 minutes.
Add wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan by scraping the browned bits with a spoon. Turn heat down to medium low and stir until liquid is absorbed.
Add broth, about half a cup at a time, stirring until liquid is just absorbed each time. Keep adding liquid and stirring until rice is fully cooked and creamy. It will take about an hour to an hour and a half.
Once rice is fully cooked and creamy, stir in grated cheese.
Serve hot.

Notes

It may seem like the rice will never soften. It will. Keep stirring.
If you run out of broth before the rice has softened all the way, add water to the saucepan to keep warm and use it to continue cooking the rice.
For vegan, omit the cheese and use vegetable broth.

Instant Pot Instructions:

Reduce liquid measurements to ¾ cup of wine and 4 cups broth.
Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode on Normal. Press +/- buttons until time reads 10 minutes.
Add olive oil to bottom of pot. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring until vegetables are softened.
Add rice, salt and pepper to pot. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom. Add wine and continue to deglaze bottom of the pot. Add all of the broth.
Close lid and set vent to “Sealing.” Set pressure to High and press +/- buttons to reach 35 minutes.
Once timer goes off, carefully release pressure by turning vent to “Venting.” Remove lid once valve has dropped.
Stir in cheese. If you need to thin the risotto, add broth or milk as needed. If risotto is too thin, heat on Sauté mode, stirring until thickened.

Keywords: healthy mushroom risotto, brown rice mushroom risotto

This post was originally published December 2016 and has been updated.