Cheat the time over the stove with this slow cooker mushroom risotto. No more babysitting and endless stirring for hours. Just set and forget and come back to a creamy and rich risotto!
If there’s any dish that’s perfect for the slow cooker, it’s risotto. The last time I made risotto the traditional way was five years ago. I did not enjoy it. Standing over the stovetop for almost 20 minutes constantly stirring is no fun.
That’s why throwing everything in the slow cooker and letting it do its own thing for an hour and a half feels so good. That’s literally all I did. No babysitting. No hand cramps. Just set and forget.
And you’ll end up with this rich, creamy, earthy risotto which tastes like you lovingly slaved over it at the stovetop. No one will ever know the difference. Let’s start cooking.
SLOW COOKER MUSHROOM RISOTTO RECIPE TIPS
I used portobello mushrooms for this recipe because they’re my favorite but you can use others. Melt the butter and sauté your onions and mushrooms until the mushrooms cook down. It’ll release a little liquid and that needs to be cooked off too. Towards the end, add in your garlic.
Then we add some arborio rice. This short-grain rice is usually what is used for risotto. I found it easily enough at the grain aisle. If you can’t find any, sub another short grain. It won’t taste entirely the same but it’ll work.
Mix it all together and let the uncooked rice absorb the creaminess. Then transfer it to a slow cooker. Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray if it isn’t non-stick. Once the rice is added, pour in your chicken broth and add salt and pepper to taste. Then set it for an hour and a half on high.
Time may vary a little on your slow cooker so just eyeball it, and around the end of the time I suggested, see if the liquids have been absorbed by the rice and if the rice is al dente. I didn’t try this on low heat because I’m not sure if slow cooking rice too long would make it mushy. If you do try it out on low, let us know how long it took you and the result!
Once it’s al dente, mix in the peas and shredded Parmesan cheese. You’ll want to add the peas at the tail end or they might split. They’re very fragile. On that same note, stir gently when mixing the peas!
And that’s it! I served it with some lemon pepper salmon. Throw in a salad if that works for you. Enjoy!
MORE MUSHROOM RECIPES TO TRY
Did you make this recipe? Rate it!
♡ If you liked this recipe, giving it a star rating ★★★★★ in the comments below really helps! For more recipes, subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Slow Cooker Mushroom Risotto
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Cheat the time over the stove with this slow cooker mushroom risotto. Enjoy a homecooked, rich, creamy and easy-to-make risotto.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 8 oz. portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 shallot/ 1/4 yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 3/4 cups Arborio rice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup peas
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Melt the butter and cook mushrooms, shallots and garlic over medium high heat for 5 minutes or until mushrooms have browned and liquid has evaporated
- Add in rice, stirring to coat for 2 minutes
- Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray and add rice mixture
- Pour in broth and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Stir to combine and cook on high for 1 hour 30 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed
- Once it’s cooked, stir in peas and Parmesan cheese and mix well
- Dish and serve hot
Notes
Cooking times may vary a little depending on slow cooker brands. Some run extremely hot. For this recipe, I used Crock-Pot.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 45 mins
Comments & Reviews
Hello! This recipe looks fantastic. I would love to add shrimp into this – would you be able to advise on at what point to add the shrimp? My shrimps are frozen, but I can add them frozen or thawed. Thanks!
Hey Serena. I would thaw your shrimp and add it in 20 minutes before the end of cooking time while it’s cooking on high in step 5. Shrimp doesn’t need much time at all to cook. Once it’s cooked it will be opaque and pink. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!
Thank you so so much, I am making this for my family’s dinner tonight, can’t wait! I will report back! 🙂
Made this last night, tasted fantastic .. I left out the peas. It did take a little over 2 hours on high, but well worth it! Thank you for another great recipe, I am hooked!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome, Mandi 🙂 Thanks for trying this one out and for sharing!
Going to try this, but had a question or two before I did:
1- Are you using a gas stove? I’m concerned about burning the garlic and shallots before the mushrooms brown, if all are put in the skillet at the same time on an electric stove set at med. high.
2- You mentioned handling the peas gently “ because the _pods_ are delicate and might split” (sic). What pods? I can see no pods, simply peas. $o, do you mean the _skins_ of the individual peas will split? If you use frozen peas and add them a little sooner, they will defrost and warm through nicely. I add them to many dishes that way. The residual heat is enough to heat them through and they are blanched before they are frozen, so are partially cooked. Just use loose-packed, individually flash-frozen peas, not the ones in a block. The color is brighter nd they taste fresher than canned too-and there is no extra salt added to your dish. TIA for your help!
Hey Carol. I had an electric when I made this recipe. If you’re a little worried about the aromatics burning, feel free to add them in after. I did not have that problem on an electric. Also because the liquid from the mushrooms kept the aromatics from searing directly on the pan until it cooked down.
Yes, I meant the peas splitting. Belatedly realized peas in a pod actually are a thing, so I’m gonna change that part of the blurb soonish. Thanks for being one of the few that read the blurb; it takes time and effort to write so I’m glad when someone actually takes the time to read! Good luck!
Not sure what is up with my slow cooker, but this took about 3 hours to cook completely, give or take 20 minutes! But the end result was super tasty and this was so easy 🙂 I think it was just an issue with my own crockpot.
★★★★
Yikes, that’s quite long! It’s such a bummer that there isn’t a standard to crock pots and their heat settings. But I’m glad it turned out okay in the end for you!
I plan to cook this recipe next week! Do you think I could add red wine to it?
You should be able to. Just subtract the amount of red wine you add from the chicken broth, as being in the slow cooker it has no way of evaporating. Keep that in mind when you decide how much red wine to add in terms of flavor. It will not cook off. You’ll want to keep the liquid measurements as close to the recipe as possible to get the right consistency.