This low maintenance vegan Instant Pot mushroom risotto is honestly amazing. Easy to make in an Instant Pot, it’s hearty and the perfect plant-based weeknight meal. No constant stirring and ten core ingredients
The First Mess Cookbook
Looking for more nourishing and delicious vegan meals made with whole foods? My cookbook is filled with options!
I thought I’d slide in with a quick and delicious vegan (and naturally gluten free) dinner for you. This recipe for vegan mushroom risotto is done in 40 minutes, and it may just entice you to pick up/finally use your Instant Pot!
I use mine to cook beans from scratch, large batches of steel cut oats (and other grains) that I can reheat throughout the week, extremely fluffy brown basmati rice, flavourful vegetable stock, and quickly steamed butternut squash for silky soups. In addition to this vegan mushroom risotto, I have a couple more vegan Instant Pot recipes on the site: Instant Pot Chana Masala and spicy Buffalo-style refried pinto beans.
Does the IP actually cook things in an instant? Not exactly. Most recipes need a good 15 minutes to come up to pressure in addition to the stated cooking time. Does it save me time despite the lack of true instantaneousness? 100% yes. Can you actually make a creamy and delicious risotto in an Instant Pot? Oooooh yes.
If I’m using this recipe as an example, once I cook the shallot, creamini mushroom, white wine, thyme, and toasted arborio rice base, I seal the pot up, and get my remaining ingredients ready. I’m on easy street for the next 15 minutes before the timer goes off. I don’t have to stir and babysit the risotto constantly. This is very worthwhile from a convenience perspective!
I will say that this version of risotto is not precisely as creamy as the hand-stirred variety, but the time trade-off is worth it. You could also just make the base risotto without the mushrooms and add whatever roasted/sautéed vegetables that you like on top. It’s a good weeknight back pocket recipe for all types of eaters. Leftovers of this risotto reheat easily on the stove with an extra splash of vegetable stock.
Let me know if you try this easy vegan mushroom risotto and what you think. Curious to ALSO know what plant-based things you’re all making in your Instant Pots! In case you were wondering, I have a very basic 6 quart one that I got on a Black Friday sale a few years ago.
Easy Vegan Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
LARGE BATCH VEGAN “PARM”
- 1 cup sliced & skinned almonds (for nut-free version, try a mix of sesame, hemp & raw sunflower seeds)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
INSTANT POT MUSHROOM RISOTTO
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided
- 1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 shallots, small dice (about ½ cup diced shallots)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 teaspoons thyme leaves, minced
- 2 cups arborio rice
- ¼ cup white wine
- 5 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons light miso (I used chickpea miso)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter (optional)
- 3 cups baby spinach, packed
- the vegan “parm”
Equipment
Notes
- I used Bon Appetit’s mushroom-forward vegetable stock for this recipe.
- Finishing with a vegan “parm” sprinkle is essential in my opinion.
- I like to make the recipe in this large batch format to have on hand for all the things that need a little extra flavour/saltiness.
Instructions
- Make the large batch vegan “parm.” In a food processor, combine the almonds, nutritional yeast, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Pulse the mixture until you have a fine meal, similar to almond flour. Store the “parm” in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a month.
- Make the Instant Pot mushroom risotto. Turn the Instant Pot to the SAUTE function. Pour in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add all of the mushrooms at once and leave them alone for 1 full minute. Stir them up and then leave for another full minute. Once the mushrooms are glistening and letting off lots of liquid, season them with salt and pepper. Keep sauteeing them and stirring them occasionally until all of the liquid is evaporated and the mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes. CANCEL the SAUTE function. Transfer all of the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.
- Carefully remove the insert from the Instant Pot and thoroughly wipe it out with a damp cloth. Return the insert to the Instant Pot and turn on the SAUTE function again. Add the remaining oil to the pot.
- Add the shallots to the pot and stir. Saute the shallots until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme to the pot and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the arborio rice to the pot and stir. Cook/toast the rice until the edges of the grains have turned translucent, about 2 minutes. Avoid actual browning here. If the rice is sticking or you’re noticing browning, add more oil.
- Pour in the white wine and stir. Cook until the wine is almost totally evaporated, about 1 minute. Add the vegetable stock and stir. CANCEL the SAUTE function.
- Secure the lid to the Instant Pot, ensuring that the release valve is in the SEALING position. Select the MANUAL pressure cooking option and set it to 4 minutes at HIGH pressure. Once the time is up, hit CANCEL, and immediately (and carefully) release the pressure valve.
- Once the pin drops, open the lid and stir the risotto. Add the miso and vegan butter (if using) to the pot and season the whole thing with lots of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the reserved mushrooms and spinach to the pot and stir. Close the lid and allow the spinach to wilt for about 1 minute. Serve the Instant Pot mushroom risotto hot with vegan “parm.”
I’d love to see this recipe adapted for brown rice!
Hello! I’m wondering if the risotto will freeze well. Thanks!
Hi Nydia!
I generally find that the texture of mushrooms suffers after freezing. I also think that the rice would get super gummy and overly mushy after thawing and reheating.
-L
Generally speaking, risotto is best eaten fresh. It’s not even as good as leftovers the next day.
But if you have leftovers you can roll them into balls and fry them in a little oil. SOOOOO yummy!
Made for friend and kids and it was a hit. We added vegan parm to olive oil and balsamic for the best bread dipper I’ve had in a very long time (and I’m not vegan). So yummy, Thank you for both recipes
Made this last night. So, so good!!! Thank you for ANOTHER fantastic recipe that will be on heavy rotation!!
I made this last night. Delicious, easy, leftovers were wonderful. Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe.
Made this tonight. It was so so good. I used kale instead of spinach and put it in with the stock. That overcooked it, so next time I will put it in with the mushrooms when they’re about half way done.
I will also put the miso in with the stock next time. I found it very hard to get it to mix in at the end, and ended up getting mouthfuls of miso. I love miso but not that much.
Would this parm work with almond meal? I’m having hard time locating skinned almonds :)
Excited to make it!!!
Skin on sliced almonds would work fine as well! Or pine nuts, sunflower seeds, raw cashews even. I don’t think almond meal would work great though.
-L
This was wonderful for a chilly Sunday night! I was a little short on both mushrooms and spinach but added some frozen peas at the end. Very easy and the miso added a really nice flavor.
Will most definitely make again. Simple enough for a weeknight meal. I didn’t even add the extra butter and it was still great!
Thank you! This recipe is so good! Since you offered variations for the parm, I figured it would be ok to use half cashew, half sunflower seeds and it turned out great. I used a half tablespoon salt and was glad I did because I thoroughly seasoned everything else. I had frozen spinach which I lightly sautéed prior to adding to the finished risotto and it worked well. This is going to be in rotation in our house. Thanks again!
Hi, love this recipe. If I double the ingredients do I need to double the cook time on the pressure cooker?
My family absolutely loves this dish! It’s so easy and hands off. Thanks so much for the recipe.
This was so excellent! I did not use wine as I’m trying to do dry January and did not wan to open up a bottle of wine and be tempted! LOL. So used all vegetable stock and it was fine, I will use wine next time though. I also used arugula instead of the spinach. Topped with the veg parm and also sprinkled a bit of truffle salt on top at the end. I’m vegan and truly felt this was just as good or better than it could have been if it had dairy. It was so creamy and perfectly cooked. My husband LOVED it too. I cannot wait to make more of your recipes as I just not found your blog! Thank you
the mushrooms take wayyyyyy longer than 5 minutes to cook out all of the water.
This was SO good and so easy to make! Only change was that I mixed in 1/3 cup of the vegan “parm” alongside the vegan butter. A hit!
Well I don’t have an IP but I love your recipes. So when I found this one, I decided to adapt it to our palate and my Dutch oven and it turned out delicious. (Less miso, more liquids, chopped parsley at the end and lots of fresh milled pepper) And I totally agree with you for the vegan parm, it just adds a “je ne sais quoi” :) XXX