Truffle Mushroom Risotto

Truffle Mushroom Risotto, a simple mushroom risotto with truffles (fresh or truffle oil!) that comes together in under 30 minutes. Italian mother-in-law approved!

Love truffles and mushrooms? Love risotto? Make a mushroom and truffle risotto! This simple risotto dish featuring fresh mushrooms and either real, fresh truffles or truffle-infused oil is super simple to make and comes together in less than 30 minutes. And the best part? My Italian mother-in-law (who lives in Italy and speaks no English) approves of this tasty recipe.

👉 Ready to learn how to make risotto with truffle and mushrooms? Let’s do it!

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🍄 Ingredients

• Risotto: A short-grain Italian rice, risotto becomes soft and chewy when cooked and mimics a pasta texture. My Italian mother-in-law and husband prefer Beretta Organic Farms arborio rice.
• Mushrooms: Any mushrooms will do, we chose button for this recipe but crimini or even shitake will work well
• Truffles or truffle oil: An Italian delicacy, truffles are a rare type of mushroom with a very distinct flavor that are revered in the culinary world. You can use real, fresh truffles or use truffle oil (we like La Tourangelle black truffle oil).
• Peas: Adds a pop of color and texture; we use frozen peas, but fresh peas work as well
• Cheese or nutritional yeast (optional): For a deeper flavor, add a bit of shaved pecorino or nutritional yeast if plant-based
• Broth: Vegetable stock is used to hydrate and cook the rice (try our homemade stock recipe made from foods scraps)
• Oil, salt, pepper: Oil for cooking the mushrooms, salt and pepper for flavor
• Lemon: A squeeze of fresh lemon juice adds a dash of citrus flavor to this earthy dish
• Recommended tools: knife, small pot, large pot or Dutch oven, wide wooden spoon

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🥣 How to make (step-by-step photos)

1️⃣ Step One: Wash and chop mushrooms

Before you start cooking the risotto, first wash and chop the mushrooms so they’re ready to cook.

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2️⃣ Step Two: Cook the mushrooms and peas

After cutting the mushrooms, heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add olive oil.

Then add in the chopped mushrooms and the peas and cook until they begin to brown and release their liquids.

👉 Flavor tip: Browning the mushrooms and peas makes for a much more flavorful risotto! The science behind it is called the maillard reaction, where the natural sugars in the vegetables create a brown color when heated and deepen their natural flavor.

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3️⃣ Step Three: Bring stock to a low simmer

You’re almost ready to cook the risotto! But first, warm up the stock in a small pot on another burner on your stove by bringing it to a very low simmer.

And at this point, grab a 1/2 cup measuring cup and have it nearby because you’ll need it handy when you cook the risotto.

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4️⃣ Step Four: Cook the risotto

It’s finally time to cook the risotto! Here’s what to do:

1. Add risotto to pot and stir to coat with vegetables, cooking about 1 minute until rice begins to dry.
2. Then add truffle oil to pot and allow rice to soak up the truffle flavor, about 1 minute.
3. When rice begins to dry out again, slowly stir in 1/2 cup warm broth to rice. Continue stirring rice until well coated. The key is to soak but not over-wet rice, allowing rice to slowly absorb liquid.
4. When rice begins to dry again, add more liquid and slowly stir. Keep stirring in small amounts of liquid and stirring rice for about 15-17 minutes.

👉 How to know when risotto is done: When the risotto is larger and beginning to get stickier, taste to ensure it is nearly al dente. The finished risotto should NOT be mushy, but have a firmness and slight crunch mouthfeel.

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5️⃣ Step Five: Add seasonings and serve

When the rice is almost at desired doneness, add another teaspoon of truffle oil, a pinch of salt, crack of pepper, and juice of one lemon. Then stir in cheese or nutritional yeast until mixed in the risotto.

Take risotto off heat, and serve immediately with a side of lemon and a small amount of grated cheese on top.

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🚫 Common risotto-making mistakes

1️⃣ Mistake #1: Not warming up stock before making risotto

Using warm broth is essential when making risotto, as the warm stock helps to cook the risotto quicker and helps to soften each rice grain so it sticks to other rice grains when stirred.

2️⃣ Mistake #2: Adding too much stock at once to risotto pot

It’s important to only add a small amount of broth to risotto at a time so that it has time to soak up the liquid and cook slowly. Adding too much broth means the rice granules are not sticking together to create the thick texture risotto is famous for.

3️⃣ Mistake #3: Not stirring risotto frequently

Stirring risotto frequently is very important to the cooking technique, as it allows the individual rice grains to have friction with the spoon – and other rice granules – and become sticky when cooked. So stir almost constantly, you’ll have very strong shoulder muscles after cooking risotto!

4️⃣ Mistake #4: Overcooking – and undercooking – risotto

There’s a delicate balance to cooking risotto, which is why it is famous for being hard to perfect. However, if you’re slowly adding broth and stirring consistently then you’ll know when risotto is done when the rice has become puffy and cooked, but not mushy. The risotto should be soft but firm, not mushy and not hard.

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❓ Recipe questions and quick tips

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🧊 How to store

1. Refrigerator storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, make sure to add a bit of water to the risotto (about 1/4 cup per serving) to rehydrate the rice, in the microwave or on the stove.
2. Freezer storage: Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one month. To thaw, place in the refrigerator 24 hours before reheating or place on the counter for 2 hours to thaw, then reheat in the microwave or the stove (adding water to rehydrate the rice). However, the texture of frozen and thawed risotto will be much softer than freshly cooked risotto.

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🍝 More plant-forward pasta recipes

Want more pasta recipes filled with plants? We’ve got you covered:

• Spicy Lemon Arugula Penne
• Carrot Top Pesto Pasta

UPDATE: This recipe was originally published in March 2018 and was updated for clarity and with new photos in October 2022.