This easy creamy mushroom and spinach risotto is a lovely winter warming dish! Earthy mushrooms, wilted spinach and parmesan give the risotto a rich hearty flavour. Served with fresh herbs and a touch of lemon zest for a beautiful meal!

• Flavour: Creamy rice with earthy mushrooms and a hint of freshness from the fresh herbs and lemon zest.
• Texture: Creamy with soft al-dent rice. The mushrooms with be soft with slight chewiness to add some texture.
• Difficulty & Time: 2.5/5. This recipe is really simple, it just takes time and also knowing then the rice is cooked through. Risotto is a recipe where you need to be paying attention and stirring every 20-30 seconds. The stirring and time is important to result in a creamier texture.
• Versatility: Very! The basic risotto is simple and it can be customised to your preferences but also created into arancini balls (YUM!)

What ingredients are needed for Mushroom and Spinach Risotto:

• Stock powder vegetable, chicken etc. If you’ve been around my stream for a while you know, i’m a HUGE fan of stock powder. One day soon I’ll compile a list of the brands i use for specific ingredients but just know that not all stock powders are equal. Play around and find a flavour profile you like. I prefer Asian stock powders or bouillon because they have the spices and flavour profile I lean towards. Brands like Lee Kum Kee, Dasida and often continental are used in my house.
• Olive oil: Use oil just for cooking the onions rather than butter at this point because it won’t burn change flavour/smell when frying.
• Arborio rice: Arborio rice is special short-grain rice used specifically for risotto. The higher starch content creates a creamy consistency and slightly chewier texture. Other varieties of rice are suited to risotto but they are harder to find. If you can get your hands on them, go for it and let me know your results!
• Portobello Mushrooms: The older brother of the ‘button’ and ‘cremini’ mushrooms, these guys are just more matured mushrooms. They are larger in size and are more brown in colour. Yep, you can use most types of mushrooms, I like these because they tend to give a richer colour to the dish and they are easy to find. Want to go gourmet? Try a few varieties of mushrooms all together. Add the small, softer ones like enoki towards the end as they’ll break down too much in the cooking process.
• Garlic: Flavour flavour flavour! Fresh garlic contains a chemical called ‘Allicin’ that is activated when it is chopped, crushed etc. It is what gives garlic it’s distinct taste and aroma. I prefer to crush cloves with a garlic crusher to increase the amount of allicin as much as possible
• Dry white wine or brandy: Wine is often used to de-glaze the pan, wash off the sticky residue (AKA fond) on the pan and incorporating the wonderful flavour into the dish. Wine or brandy adds lovely acidity and flavour. Brandy will also add a little sweetness which is yummy too. Basically, use whatever you’ve got. I really don’t follow the ‘cook with fancy wine’ nonsense. I use $5-10 bottles in cooking for their acidity and sweetness and think the fancy stuff is better kept for your glass.
• Parmesan: dry-aged cheese adds a little hint of acidity to the dish and extra creaminess.
• Cream: Cream adds richness and the fat content help carry the flavour. You can substitute for butter or evaporated milk (but don’t bother opening a whole can just for this recipe).
• Spinach: A little pop of colour in short, to break up all the brown colour while also being a (maybe) healthy addition.
• Fresh Parsley: Herbs add a hit of fancy-ness but furthermore, add a pop of colour they also add fresh vibrant flavour. Fresh is always best for garnishing. If you haven’t tried the difference with fresh herbs, do yourself a favour! Grab the little sachets at the grocery store and use it in everything, then when i change your mind, start a little herb garden.
• Lemon zest: I know this might seem strange but lemon zest adds a hint of vibrancy and freshness. Its completely optional but I often also add a little juice too to ramp up the flavour and extra acidity to balance the dish.

How to make Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

• Make sure you keep your stock warm. Keep in simmering away in a another saucepan that is close by while the risotto is cooking.
• Slowly add the hot stock to your rice, one ladle at a time. Let it fully absorb into the rice before adding more.
• Stir, stir, stir! Stirring every 20-30 seconds causes the grains of rice to rub together, agitating them to release starch, which creates a creamier texture. You will also keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. It may seem like a big task (to stir for soo long)but you don’t need to be pedantic with it, don’t feel like you need to have motorised arms. I find it quite relaxing while I am listening to music or whatnot.
• Parmesan and a little cream are good for the soul. Both add flavour and give the risotto the delicious texture and consistency. Don’t be stingy now!
• Remove from heat before you add the final ingredients. Adding the fresh herbs, zest, lemon juice at the last minute helps keep the flavours fresh. Adding a little cream at the end creates a silky texture.
• Why do you stir risotto?: The constant stirring causes the grains of rice to rub together, agitating them to release starch, which creates a creamier texture.

Easy Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

Servings 4

Easy creamy mushroom and spinach risotto is a lovely winter warming dish! Earthy mushrooms, wilted spinach and parmesan give the risotto a rich hearty flavour.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Equipment

• 1 large saucepan
• 1 large deep fry pan or Dutch oven

Ingredients

 

0.5x1x2x3x

• 1 litre water
• 2-3 tsp stock powder vegetable, chicken etc
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large brown/yellow onion finely diced
• 400 g portobello mushrooms sliced
• ½ tsp fresh thyme stems removed
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• 1½ cups Arborio rice not washed
• 125 mls dry white wine or brandy
• ¼-½ cup parmesan finely grated
• 1-2 tbsp cream or evaporated milk
• ½ tsp lemon zest
• 1-2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 cups spinach chopped roughly
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley finely sliced
• 1+ tsp freshly ground pepper
• salt to taste

Instructions

• In a large saucepan, pour in the water and stock powder, stir to combine before bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to low and keep warm on stove.
• In a large deep frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onion until it becomes translucent and begins to caramelise.
• Add the thyme, mushrooms and garlic. Lower temperature and stir until mushrooms have softened and garlic cooks, around 7 minutes.
• Add the rice and toast for 2-3 minutes before pouring in the wine and simmer until is evaporates. Ensure that you stir constantly. Stirring every 20ish seconds causes the grains of rice to rub together, agitating them to release starch, which creates a creamier texture.
• Once the wine has evaporated, add the warm stock, one ladle (or a half cup) at a time. Stir as the rice fully absorbs the liquid before repeating the process until rice is cooked through but still firm. This should take around 30 minutes. Season to taste.

  The result should be a very creamy sauce even before you have added the cheese and cream.
• Stir through the lemon juice, zest, cheese, cream and spinach until just wilted.
• Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and parmesan. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 514kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 26mg | Sodium: 470mg | Potassium: 409mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1918IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 160mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Recipe Published: August 20, 2022 Last Updated: October 20, 2024

Hiya, I’m Lauren but you can call me Molly!

Former OR Nurse and self-taught home cook passionate about Approachable, No-Nonsense recipes to help you level up in the kitchen. Together with my husband Troy, we create simplified dishes for busy people with easy-to-find ingredients!
To learn more about us, our cooking show and more, click here!

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