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This gluten free Instant Pot Brown Rice Risotto with Mushrooms is an easy recipe that can be made in any electric pressure cooker. It’s a simple dish that can be made for dinner tonight or for special occasions when you want to impress.
While this is not the traditional way to cook risotto, it is a way to enjoy the flavors and texture of risotto and still maintain a healthy lifestyle with whole grains. This easy mushroom risotto cooks quickly in the Instant Pot and is seriously delicious!
Why I love this Risotto
When I think of traditional risotto recipes, I think of standing in front of a stove and stirring for an hour… not fun. Also, traditional risotto is made with arborio rice, a superfine short grain white rice that is high in starch. To make it healthier, I used short-grain brown rice, but trust me guys this is still creamy and delicious, with no stirring.
Enjoy!
– Becca
Ingredients for Instant Pot Brown Rice Risotto with Mushrooms
- Olive oil
- Shallots: While a member of the onion family, shallots are milder in flavor and grow in clusters like garlic cloves.
- Mushrooms: Loaded with antioxidants and B vitamins, mushrooms are a vegetable you should be eating. Some of my favorite kinds for this recipe are cremini mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, or a mix of wild mushrooms.
- Asparagus: Help regulate blood sugar, are loaded with antioxidants, and can help stabilize digestion due to high amounts of protein and fiber.
- Chicken thighs: I prefer the way chicken thighs cook in the Instant Pot over breasts. Make sure to get boneless skinless thighs.
- Short grain brown rice: Short grain brown rice works well as a substitute for arborio. It is similar in texture and has a creamier texture than long grain.
- Chicken stock: I prefer homemade chicken broth for this recipe. It gives you some extra nutrients and a stronger flavor. However, if you purchase it, make sure it’s low sodium.
- Parmesan: Grab a better quality wedge of parmesan from the refrigerator section and shred it yourself. The shelf stable pre-grated variety does not melt nicely, and has additional ingredients to stop clumping.
How to cook this Instant Pot risotto recipe
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function and add olive oil to the bottom of the pot. Once your oil is hot, add the chopped shallots, sliced mushrooms, and chopped asparagus.
- Stirring frequently, cook until the shallots become fragrant and translucent. Transfer the veggies to a plate and set aside.
- Add your frozen chicken breast to the hot Instant Pot and sear on all sides. Turn off the Instant Pot, add black pepper, rice, and broth.
- Close and lock the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select High Pressure Cook and set the cook time for 25 minutes.
- Once the cooking time is complete, do a natural release of the pressure. This means don’t touch the sealing valve–just give it 15-20 minutes to slowly release on its own and finish cooking.
- Once the pressure valve drops remove the lid and shred chicken thighs with two forks. A stand mixer can be used to make shredding easier.
- Turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting and stir in cooked shallots, mushrooms, asparagus, and parmesan cheese.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and serve immediately. For meal prep, see the tips section for freezing and reheating instructions.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe is incredibly versatile, you can swap veggies out for ones you like better than mushrooms and asparagus if you’d like.
- This recipe is delicious and hearty even without the chicken. If you don’t want meat in your parmesan risotto, leave it out. If you do this, I’d use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- If you have trouble finding shallots, you can replace it with 1/4 cup chopped onion and a clove of minced garlic.
- This recipe is perfect for meal prep. Freeze any leftover risotto in individual serving sizes in an airtight container for up to 2 months. To reheat, microwave thawed serving for 2 minutes.
Healthy Eating Plans
Weight Watchers:
Using chicken breasts or thighs, each serving is 4 Points on the 2025 Plan.
21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix:
- For the entire recipe: 6 Yellow Containers, 3 Green Containers, 4 Red Containers, 1 Blue Container, 6 Teaspoons.
- Per ¾ cup serving: ½ Yellow Container, ¼ Green Container, ⅓ Red Container, ½ Teaspoons.
2B Mindset:
Add a side of vegetables for a complete lunch.
More healthy Instant Pot Recipes
If you tried this recipe for Instant Pot Brown Rice Risotto or any other recipe on my site please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
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Instant Pot Brown Rice Risotto with Mushrooms
Approximate Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Servings 12 servings
This healthy Brown Rice Risotto is an easy Instant Pot recipe! Gluten free short grain brown rice with chicken, mushrooms, and asparagus pair together for a healthy dinner recipe.
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Sealing Rings
- Kitchen Knife
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot diced
- 1 lb mushrooms sliced. I used a gourmet blend, but baby bellas work as well
- 1 cup asparagus chopped
- 1 lb chicken thighs frozen, boneless, skinless
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ cup brown rice short grain
- 5 cups chicken broth low sodium
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese shredded
Optional: salt to taste
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté and add olive oil to the bottom. Once your oil is hot add chopped shallots, mushrooms, and asparagus. Stirring frequently, cook until the shallots become fragrant and translucent. Transfer the veggies to a plate, and set aside. 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 shallot, 1 lb mushrooms, 1 cup asparagus
- Add your frozen chicken thighs to the hot Instant Pot and sear on all sides. Turn off the Instant Pot, add black pepper, rice, and broth. 1 lb chicken thighs, ½ tsp black pepper, 1 ½ cup brown rice, 5 cups chicken broth
- Close and lock the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook (high) and set the cook time for 25 minutes.
- Once the cook time is complete let the pressure release naturally. Once the pressure valve drops remove the lid and shred chicken thighs with two forks. A stand mixer can be used to make shredding easier.
- Turn the Instant Pot to sauté, and stir in cooked shallots, mushrooms, asparagus, and parmesan cheese. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and serve immediately. For meal prep, see the notes and tips section for freezing and reheating instructions. 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 95mg | Potassium: 375mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg
Make This Recipe?
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I made this last night. Like another commenter said, their was very little flavor besides chicken and chicken broth, and mine came out liquidy. I did not mix the rice and some floated on top, uncooked once I opened the pot after the natural pressure release.
Next time I am going to do the mushrooms and onion seperately in half the shallot in a pan on the stove. I will use 1 Tbsp of oil, half the shallot, a few cloves of garlic in the instant pot before adding the chicken. I will make sure that the rice is fully submerged in the broth, only using 4.5 cups, and add some onion powder and salt before cooking and after the release. Will update this comment if it goes better.
Thanks for letting me know about this – please keep me updated on your next attempt :)
Can this be done in a crockpot?
I haven’t done it, but I bet it can! :) I’m sorry I can’t offer more guidance.
This recipe was wonderful. I used chicken thighs, (always do :) I oven roasted the asparagus ( always do) and followed everything else as written. Really enjoyed it. Made me excited to use an instant pot again! Thank you!!
Definitely trying this one! It looks so creamy and delicious. Thank you for sharing.
As my husband said, “this is a keeper.” Next time I will use more asparagus (personal preference) and probably some cheese on top. As a previous reviewer said, it took a really long time for the valve to release naturally, but worth the wait.
Thanks for posting!