Have you ever had risotto? This vegan risotto is so creamy and decadent you’d struggle to believe it doesn’t contain any butter or cheese (as the traditional recipes often do). Best of all, this recipe is really easy to make at home using a single pot.
That’s right! Additionally, this creamy risotto is made using fresh, wholesome ingredients, including mushrooms, onions, asparagus, and arborio rice. All it really takes is a little bit of patience to keep an eye on your dish, but it’s not especially difficult and the whole meal can be ready in 30-45 minutes.
Key Ingredients
- Arborio rice. This Italian variety of short-grained rice is a perfect medium for carrying the variety of flavors that this dish contains. Arborio has a higher content of amylopectin starch compared to other types of rice, which gives it the unique, creamy texture when cooked.
- Mushrooms. An excellent source of deep, earthy flavor, mushrooms fit perfectly within this vegan risotto recipe.
- Asparagus. Fresh and fibrous, asparagus compliments the mushroom flavor and brings balance to the texture of this dish.
- White wine. An element of traditional risotto making process, white wine lends the dish a little bit of acidity to counteract the richness of the rice.
- Nutritional yeast. Traditional risotto is often made with butter and Parmesan cheese. Nutritional yeast is a great way to imitate those flavors in plant-based cooking. Moreover, manufacturers often enhance nutritional yeast with Vitamin B12, an essential supplement for anyone eating a vegan diet.
How to Make Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto
1. First, prep your veggies. Chop some onions, garlic, mushrooms, and asparagus.
2. Heat some oil in a large pot and saute the onions, garlic, and asparagus for a few minutes until the onions start becoming translucent. Make sure to stir the veggies regularly to stop them from sticking.
3. Once your onions and asparagus are a little bit soft, throw the mushrooms into the pot along with some thyme, salt, and a splash of white wine. Let them cook until they release their moisture.
4. Then, add a cup of uncooked arborio rice and cook until the rice is evenly coated and slightly shiny. You’ll know it’s ready when it starts to make little popping noises.
5. Once the rice is coated, add some vegetable broth (about 1/2 cup at a time), stirring frequently and allowing the rice soak up all the liquid before adding more. About halfway through it will look like this:
6. Once you’ve added almost all of the broth (about 3 cups total) and the rice is nice and soft, stir in some spinach, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Cook until the spinach is fully wilted and vibrant in color.
7. Serve immediately and try to convince yourself there’s really no fat in this dish. It’s insane.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
- The risotto doesn’t get super creamy until about 3/4 of the way through, so be patient – you’ll be rewarded! And if you don’t get the desired consistency even after you used the entirety of your broth, just add some water.
- If you’re avoiding alcohol for any reason, don’t worry, the white wine is optional! You can use a little bit of white wine vinegar as a substitute, or skip this ingredient all together.
- If you have access to saffron, a small pinch of this indulgent spice can add an extra dimension to your vegan risotto dish!
- Out of spinach? No problem! Feel free to add kale, box chop, or green leeks instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many servings does this recipe lend itself to?
It depends whether you serve it on its own, or alongside other dishes. Generally speaking, this recipe makes 2-4 servings, but you can easily double or triple the ingredients for meal prep!
Is this vegan risotto allergen friendly?
Believe it or not, this creamy dish contains no soy, nuts, or gluten. And since it’s vegan, naturally it doesn’t contain allergens like eggs, dairy, or shellfish. Furthermore, this recipe is refined sugar free and comparatively low in fat.
What is the best way to store this dish?
Risotto is best served fresh out of the pot. However, if have any leftovers, you can store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. To serve, reheat it in a saucepan with a little bit of extra broth or water. Make sure to bring your risotto to a simmer before you serve it!
Serving Suggestions
- Fall Harvest Salad. To cut through the richness of the risotto, try pairing it with a salad full of fresh greens and seasonal veggies.
- Steamed veggies. The royalty of healthy side dishes, steamed vegetables would go perfectly alongside this mushroom and asparagus risotto.
- White wine. Why not elevate your dining experience with a glass of high quality wine?
Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 onion diced
- 4-6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb asparagus usually one bunch from the grocery store; woody stalks removed and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
- 8 oz mushrooms about 15 or so if you use crimini, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp thyme dried
- ½ – 1 tsp salt to taste
- ½ cup white wine optional
- 1 cup Arborio rice uncooked
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups spinach chopped
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast optional
- ¼ tsp onion powder optional
- 1-2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and asparagus and heat, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 5-7 minutes).
- Add mushrooms, thyme, salt, and white wine, and heat until mushrooms are softened, another 3-5 minutes or so.
- Add rice and stir until rice is well coated and starts to make small snapping noises (like Rice Krispies).
- Add vegetable broth 1/2 – 3/4 cup at a time, stirring well, and allowing the rice to soak up all the liquid before adding more; this takes about 3-5 minutes or so each time.
- Once you've added almost all the broth, add the spinach, nutritional yeast, onion powder, lemon juice and the rest of the broth and stir until the spinach is wilted (2-3 minutes). Taste, and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice if needed. Serve immediately.
First time making risotto and so glad that this was the recipe I started with. My husband loves it and it’s so simple, tasty and very filling. I use green beans (as not a fan of asparagus) and sometimes add in peas alongside the spinach. Can’t go wrong either way. This is regularly made in our home, thank you!
We’re so glad you liked it! Those are perfect substitutions/additions, too.
This recipe was amazing! First time cooking a risotto and it came out so nice and flavourful! Honestly would really recommend!
Love this recipe regularly make it its foolproof and do easy to do!!!
Listen. There’s a multitude of things that I could have done wrong. Maybe it was the brand of vegetable broth I used. Or the wine. Or that I used frozen asparagus. Whatever it was, this recipe just was not…good. It lacked flavor, kind of tasted like…dirt (and yes I washed my vegetables). I would definitely not make this again, and hope I forget ever making it. I do not recommend you try.
did you use frozen spinach? that ruins just about any dish possible.
Absolutely love this recipe! It’s perfect for a date night in, tastes delicious and leaves me and my husband feeling full and happy. 10/10 would recommend if you’re debating whether or not to cook this.
So glad you enjoyed it, Caitlin!
Required an additional cup of broth. A resounding HELL YES. That was delicious, and we have a very full household.
Exceptional recipe, always fall back on it!
I just made this and it was exactly what I was looking for! Delicious!
Wowww!such a wonderful recipe
I know this is years after the post but I just found it!!! Do you think I could get away with using jasmine rice? Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Fantastic flavours, everyone loved it includind my daughters carniverous boyfriend.
I absolutely love this recipe. I swear by it.
I’m gluten and lactose free and finding foods I actually enjoy eating is so hard. I make this risotto ALL the time!
Love it.
Hi Jessica,
I made this recipe last night and it is amazing! (Currently enjoying it for lunch today, too!) It gave my arms a good workout, but it was certainly worth the time and effort. I let my dad try it and he didn’t believe there was no cheese in it. I will definitely be adding this into my recipe vault 🙂
I made this the other night and it was so delicious that I have printed the recipe and given it to my friends. I added loads of mushroom (im obsessed with mushrooms) and just ate some leftovers and it tasted even better today.
Love love love!!
Have been making mushroom risotto for my hubby for years – gave this a try last week and WOW! Is now his new favorite!! Thank you , thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Great Recipe– Just made for dinner– had zucchini on hand so subbed out for the asparagus and used brown rice. Also threw in some frozen peas, sage and rosemary. Yummmmm. Will def make again!!
Tasted amazing! 🙂
I like this recipe, but I would add the asparagus later in the cooking process. I think they become overcooked when added in the beginning. They really only need maybe 10 minutes near the end to get tender, and they avoid becoming too mushy that way.
Great point! I never found mine to get particularly mushy, but adding them at the end is not a bad idea at all.
This recipe is divine and so simple to make! Plus minimal mess to clean up at the end. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I just wanted to THANK YOU for sharing this recipe. I followed it exactly as written and have made the risotto twice now. I used portabella mushrooms and it is my favorite vegan recipe so far. It’s a hit in my house!
This recipe is delicious! I rarely cook, but it was so easy. Thanks!
I made this tonight and oh my goodness! It was absolutely incredible! Our daughter was recently diagnosed with allergies to wheat, eggs, cows milk , and numerous tree nuts. She’s eleven years old and has eaten those things ( other than tree nuts) all of her life. She asked me how I got it so creamy without milk. She was very happy with it and my husband said that it tasted like the risotto that we’ve had in nice restaurants. I am so thankful for this recipe. Thank you!!
Do you have serving size information for this recipe? Just wondering how much I can eat and not feel guilty! 🙂
I’d say it’s about 4 servings, which is 250 calories (there’s 1000 calories in the whole thing, so divide it up however you like!)
Making this right now… it smells and looks divine! Can’t wait until it’s done!!! Thank you so much for sharing an awesome vegan recipe!
I made this and it was freaking awesome!!!! great recipe thanks!
I just found your website today and made this recipe along with the Vegan Buffalo Wings (both versions) for my husband and I.
I used to be a vegetarian and want to get away from eating meat because I love animals so much and it just doesn’t seem right to eat them.
This was our first time having risotto so we didn’t have anything to compare it to but it was very good. My husband had several servings. Thanks for the inspiration to become more vegan with all of these awesome recipes.
The next two things I plan to try are the Taco Salad and the Colcannon. I felt like I wanted to try so many of your recipes at once. I wish I would have had all day to cook today.
Thank you sooo much for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it out tonight! Looks delicious.
Just made this now and it was delicious 🙂 I used mushroom stock to give it a more mushroomy flavour.. my boyfriend was definitely impressed! Now I just need to find a recipe to make him like greens… 😉
Sounds so delicious! Me ad my family love mushrooms and asparagus, but I never combined them together for some reason. Thanks for sharing!
I just made a spinach risotto for dinner, slightly different than the recipe here but I never would have thought of it if I had not seen this post a few months ago. I mean, I don’t think I was even clear on what risotto was before reading this. So thank you for the food inspiration, it was wonderful! Though I’ll have to add mushrooms next time for sure.
I made this for supper tonight – it was incredible! I had picked up asparagus at the farmers’ market this week and wanted to try something different with it. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks for the tips, too!
I made this last night for dinner with a minor addition. I added a Tbsp. of Dijon mustard at the very end for an extra kick. It was great even before that though. Best cheese-less risotto recipe yet!
i made this tonight and it was WONDERFUL! thanks for sharing!
this looks wonderful–i want to try this with the barley we have on hand! thanks 🙂
I’ve been craving risotto something fierce the last couple of weeks, and this looks incredible! Yum!
Yum. I made a mushroom beer risotto a few months ago – it was insane.
I swear that risotto should be a food group all on its own – and you’ve added two of my favourite veggies to the mix! Risotto takes a bit of time to make but the end result is always worth it!
Oh yum! I recently found a non vegan recipe for asparagus risotto that looked good and I was going to try and “veganize” it. Looks like you did the work for me 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!