Zucchini Risotto
This easy, zucchini risotto recipe has no cheese and is naturally gluten free. It’s a great summer side dish. Serve it with your favorite prot for a healthy dinner, or have it on its own for a delicious vegan meal.
Why I love this zucchini risotto recipe
On the nights that my husband has a hockey game, he is usually gone by 4 or 5 p.m. which leaves me alone for dinner. I usually just make a peanut butter and jelly to bring with me to the game or I eat whatever leftovers we have in the fridge. Sometimes, I’m in the mood for something a little more substantial, and this is usually my go-to.
It’s a great way to use up that one last zucchini you have in the fridge. Plus, it can be a full meal for just one or two people. It’s also a great side dish for four. Since zucchini is plentiful this time of year, I thought now would be a good time to share tasty little dish.
If you’ve never made risotto before, please don’t be intimidated by this dish. In fact, risotto is one of the simplest things to make. It’s just a matter of taking your time and letting each addition of liquid absorb before moving on. And, all that stirring releases the starches from the rice, making it unbelievably creamy.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
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How to make zucchini risotto
Sauté the onion. Heat a large skillet to medium high. Add the olive oil and onion. Sauté until the onion is soft, stirring as often as you need to prevent sticking.
Add the rice. Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil. Let the rice cook until it absorbs any excess oil.
Add the liquids. Starting with the wine, add 1/2 cup of liquid at a time. For each addition, let the rice simmer and absorb all of it before adding the next 1/2 cup.
Stir in zucchini. While the rice cooks, shred the zucchini with a box grater. When all the broth has absorbed, add the zucchini to the pot and all it to cook. Liquids will come out of the zucchini, so let them get absorbed, too.
Season and serve. Before serving, stir in the nutritional yeast (you can also use vegan parmesan) and adjust the seasoning with salt & pepper, to taste.
FAQS and tips for making vegan risotto
Typically risotto has parmesan or some type of grated cheese in it, and sometimes melted butter. But, you don’t need dairy to make a creamy risotto. The starches released while you’re cooking creates a beautifully creamy texture for vegan risotto.
Yes. You can use vegetable stock in place of chicken for risotto. It’s a great way to make any risotto vegetarian or vegan.
You definitely don’t want to rinse risotto before cooking it. That would remove the starches, and make your risotto less creamy.
More zucchini recipes:
- Creamy zucchini soup
- Zucchini muffins
- Chocolate zucchini muffins
- Potage aux legumes (creamy vegetable soup)
- Chicken and vegetable coconut curry
- Minestrone soup with meatballs
This zucchini risotto would be a great side for:
- Pan fried lamb chops recipe
- Pecan crusted salmon
- Pork osso buco
- Stuffed pork chops
- Roast pork loin with fennel & apples
Zucchini Risotto
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This easy, zucchini risotto recipe has no cheese and is naturally gluten free (use GF broth). It’s a great summer side dish. Serve it with your favorite protein for a healthy dinner, or have it on its own for a delicious vegan meal.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced (about 1/2 – 3/4 cup)
- 1 1/2 cup arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 small zucchini, grated
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (or 2–3 tablespoons vegan parmesan)*
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Sauté onion until translucent and add rice, allowing it to absorb any remaining oil.
- Pour the white wine into the pan and allow it to absorb.
- Add broth – a 1/2 cup at a time – allowing each addition be fully absorbed before adding the next, stirring frequently.
- Once broth is incorporated, stir in shredded zucchini. Allow any liquids from the zucchini to absorb into the rice.
- Stir in nutritional yeast and stir to incorporate.
- Before serving, season with salt & pepper, to taste.
Notes
*To make the original dairy-based version of this recipe, use 2 – 3 tablespoons grated pecorino or parmesan cheese.
- Category: Sides
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 232
- Sugar: 1.8 g
- Sodium: 1516.3 mg
- Fat: 11.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.8 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 4.2 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
Keywords: zucchini risotto, vegetable risotto, vegan risotto, vegetarian risotto, easy risotto recipe
Last Updated on December 2, 2021 by Melissa Belanger
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Im so thankful for a new zucchini recipe! We always have so many in our garden and never know what to do with them all! Thanks!!
Made this last night…amazing!
Maybe a silly question, but I have only made risotto one other time. Do you precook the rice before adding to the recipe?
Not a silly question at all! No you don’t cook it ahead of time. It slowly cooks as you add the liquid.
Silly me! I mistakenly used long grain rice instead of arborio. It turned out to be very yummy anyway. Not quite as creamy as risotto, took more liquid and an additional 10 minutes to fully soften. But the end product was really good. I can’t wait to try this again as risotto, maybe add slivered almonds for some crunch
Lemon zest finished this dish to perfection
★★★★★
This recipe was so so good! Used 1tbsp nutritional yeast AND 3 tbsp vegan parmesan and it is so “cheesy” and creamy. Yum. Thank you!
★★★★★