Is there anything more comforting than risotto? When my husband and I moved into our first apartment together, we had a restaurant down the street from us that had the most delicious butternut squash risotto. It was the first time I had ever tried risotto and I was instantly hooked…until I found out that you had to stir forever while making it. It’s honestly not that much work, but it’s too much work for me. So what do I do? I just make rice in the instant pot and call it risotto. Will a chef scoff at this technique? Absolutely. But I’m incredibly lazy when it comes to my cooking style so here we are.
I also rear ended a car in front of that restaurant while trying to parallel park, as everyone was enjoying their brunch. Can we just get take a moment to remember the days before back up cameras? Thank you, back up camera. You have saved my bumper more times than you know.
Is anyone else experiencing this pumpkin shortage that seems to be occurring? I think a lot of people want to pretend they aren’t basic AF and don’t love pumpkin as much as everyone else does. But based on the canned pumpkin shortage and sugar pumpkin shortage I’m experiencing at all stores I walk into…everyone loves pumpkin. There’s no getting around it. We all want those pumpkin pie bars and pumpkin donut holes and pumpkin cupcakes. WE WANT IT ALL! Which made creating this recipe very challenging. Maybe it’s just a Denver thing? I hope this shortage ends soon because I have a new pumpkin pie recipe I want to create in time for Thanksgiving. And based off 2020, Thanksgiving will be here by tomorrow or maybe in 7 years. It’s hard to gage at this point.
I’m kind of crapping myself about the holidays. They are going to be here SO.DAMN.FAST and I don’t feel ready whatsoever. This year is the shortest and longest year in the history of time so I really have no understanding of time at this point. But I do know that I need to plan presents ahead of time because I SUCK at giving gifts. I’m good at coming up with gift ideas for strangers, but personal gifts overwhelm me. Then I just turn to gift cards like a complete dud. I forget to use my gift cards 99% of the time. What a waste. So this year I’m hoping to be ahead of schedule of online shopping like a champ. Doesn’t that sound lovely? To be done shopping for everyone by November? If I had it my way, we wouldn’t give gifts at all and we would just give to animal charities, but I can’t seem to talk my family members into that. Lame. Anywho, if you have any gift ideas for strangers, send them my way!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutrs
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the rice
- 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 3 cups chicken bone broth
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
For the pumpkin sauce
- 14-ounce can of pumpkin puree (fresh roasted pumpkin is even better!)
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more, if you prefer a more salty taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
For the toppings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 fresh sage leaves
- 4 ounces goat cheese or dairy-free soft cheese
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Place ghee or olive oil in the basin of an instant pot and press the Sauté button. Add shallot and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until shallot becomes translucent. Press cancel then add rice, chicken broth, white wine vinegar, dried thyme, salt, black pepper, and the bay leaf. Mix together then close the lid and press the rice function. The rice function should set the pressure to high pressure and time to 12-14 minutes, then press start. One the timer goes off, let the pressure slowly release for 10 minutes before quick releasing the remaining pressure.
- While the pressure slowly releases, add the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, chicken broth, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg to a large nonstick pan and whisk together until combined. Let come to a very low boil then leave on low heat.
- Once the pressure is released from the instant pot, remove lid and add all of the rice to the pumpkin mixture in the pan and mix to combined.
- Lastly, add olive oil to a small nonstick pan over medium heat. Then add sage leaves to fry up and become crispy and fragrant. Top the pumpkin risotto off with the crispy sage, soft cheese, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans!
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I can’t wait to make this one!! Looks to die for! As always thanks for the delicious recipes. They are always a hit at this house!
of course!! thanks for the love, Christie!
Ohhhh!!! Adding this to my Thanksgiving and Christmas menu! Always looking for yummy and different sides. Going to make it this weekend too, because ……YUM!!!
Happy Thanksgiving! I made this dish tonight for my first Thanksgiving alone (stupid COVID). It was delicious!
Hi Juli, what’s the nutrition information for this recipe?
i’m not sure, but you could easily plug it into a nutritional calculator to get those details!
We had the canned pumpkin shortage here too, but I’m glad to say this week, the stores had it back in stock. Our Fred Meyer even put out cases, so I stocked up to make sure I didn’t run out again through the holiday season.
This was amazing! I made it as a side with red wine braised short ribs…I can’t think of the last time that my meal was that heavenly! Perfect for a chilly Colorado evening!
that sounds AMAZING!
yum yum yum!!! I want to make this RIGHT NOW! What do you recommend serving this with? Chicken? Seafood? Sausage? My mouth is watering….
all three would be delicious!!
I ended up sautéing some prawns in white whine and garlic butter-damn it was delicious!!!
Juli, this was great!! So simple and delicious. I love an easy clean up! Threw in some leftover chicken, as well as dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds on top (didn’t have nuts on hand), and it was so so good. Toddler friendly too! Thanks for this seasonal special 🙂
so glad you liked it, MG!!
This was superb! So freakin delicious! Thank you for the great recipe!
yay!! so glad you liked it!
Would this work with cauliflower rice?
the instant pot part, no. could you use cauliflower rice instead of rice, sure. will it be the same as good? sadly no. but feel free to try it out and let me know how it goes! i’m sure others would like to know, as well!
Unfortunately no canned pumpkin here in the commissary on the base I’m on in Japan so roasted some sweet potato and puréed them as substitute. Can’t wait to get back to US and make with pumpkin! Served with chicken breasts pounded thin and pan fried, then did a pan sauce with a fruit jam to top, so delicious!
Was so pumped to make this for Thanksgiving! Had to toss, because it was SO spicy. Not sure why cayenne had to be an ingredient in a pumpkin based recipe, but I’ve never been led astray here before so just kept following the recipe. I’ll definitely make again, but just omit the cayenne. Maybe my family and I are just wimps but it was very hot!
so sad to hear that, Bridget! i haven’t had anyone else complain about the spice level yet, i’m sorry you experienced that. i like things pretty damn spicy so you’ll notice that the more you cook my recipes and may want to cut that spice amount in half
Absolutely Juli! Love everything else I’ve ever made! Just wanted to warn anyone who sweats and cries even thinking about mild salsa 😂. Didn’t mean to come off as rude or unappreciative; hope you didn’t take it that way. Like I said, I think my family (and me) are just wimpy 🙂
hahaha i totally get it!
I had no idea risotto could be made in the instant pot. I omitted the cayenne pepper because my kids are wimps when it comes to spice and served this with some seared scallops. The rice turned out so good that my family thinks I’m an amazing chef now because of your recipes 🙂 And this was so easy for a fancy dinner on a weeknight!
amazing!! so glad you liked it!!