This baked Pumpkin Risotto looks thoroughly unimpressive when it comes out of the oven. But with a few big stirs, it miraculously transforms into a luxurious, CREAMY risotto with a magnificent colour that no one can resist!
And to think that you can make this without standing over the hot stove, stirring constantly……. Believe it. You CAN make an amazing, creamy risotto in the oven!
ULTRA CREAMY, ULTRA EASY PUMPKIN RISOTTO
For pumpkin lovers, for risotto lovers, for good food lovers everywhere – this Pumpkin Risotto recipe is for you.
If you’re new to the wonders of baked risotto, this will be a life changing recipe for you. It is truly creamy, it looks and tastes luxurious, and it doesn’t even have a drop of cream in it.
And yet, rather than standing over a hot stove, stirring constantly for 20 minutes, it’s just plonked in the oven. Take it out, give it a few vigorous stirs – and this is what you get:
And it tastes even better than it looks!!!
HOW TO MAKE THIS BAKED PUMPKIN RISOTTO
You are going to be amazed how easy it is to make risotto in the oven.
It starts on the stove like a normal risotto, with sautéed garlic and onion. We can’t skip this flavour base. Nor do we want to skip deglazing the pot with a touch of white wine (or broth or even water) and toasting the risotto lightly in the pot.
From here, the recipe changes completely from a traditional risotto recipe. Add the liquids and pumpkin, give it a stir, cover, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes
No stirring. Not even once. In fact, I forbid you to open that oven. If you do, you lose heat and you’ll disrupt the cooking process!
WATCH THE MAGIC HAPPEN
Open the lid, and you’ll be greeted with the sight of some seriously stodgy looking rice, about as far from a creamy risotto as can be. But have faith. This is where the magic happens. Give it a vigorous stir, watch as the soft cooked pumpkin disintegrates and transforms into a puree which creates the creamy pumpkin sauce for this risotto
It tastes savoury yet sweet from the pumpkin. The rice is perfectly cooked – al dente, just the way I like.
The risotto is creamy rather than stodgy and gluey. And we haven’t used a single drop of cream!
INGREDIENTS IN PUMPKIN RISOTTO
Astonishingly few ingredients in Pumpkin Risotto! The key ingredient to ensure you get right is the rice – see below for more information.
Other than this, the other ingredients are actually fairly simple and adaptable. Don’t have wine? No problems, just use water or broth. Prefer olive oil rather than butter? Go ahead. Switch sage with other herbs, use canned or fresh pumpkin (yes really), use chicken or vegetable broth, or water + stock powder.
WHAT RICE TO USE FOR RISOTTO
Risotto needs to be made with risotto rice. It has a higher starch content which is what makes the creamy “sauce” without using cream.
There’s a few varieties but the most common at supermarkets is Arborio which is what I use.
OPTIONAL CRISPY SAGE LEAVES & BROWN BUTTER
I’ve garnished this Pumpkin Risotto with crispy sage leaves because pumpkin and sage are great mates, and it provides great texture.
The added bonus is that the butter used to crisp up the sage leaves turns into brown butter which is an incredible finish for any risotto. Just one or two teaspoons is all you need to elevate it to another level of luxuriousness.
But… this is optional……(she says, unconvincingly)
Let’s put it this way. It’s ok to skip it for an everyday meal. But it’s mandatory for company! – Nagi x
SUGGESTIONS: THINGS TO SERVE WITH PUMPKIN RISOTTO
-
Add chicken and spinach – see recipe notes
-
Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast or quick Crispy Garlic Chicken Thighs
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Crispy Pan Fried Fish or Garlic Prawns/Shrimp – super quick and easy
-
Meatloaf – instead of the usual mashed potatoes!
-
Salmon Patties, Rissoles, Zucchini Fritters and similar
MORE RISOTTO RECIPES!
-
One Pot Baked Risotto with Lemon Chicken
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Baked Creamy Pumpkin Risotto
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp / 50 g unsalted butter , divided
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice (risotto rice) (Note 1)
- 1 onion , diced
- 600 g / 20 oz pumpkin (weight after peeling and deseeding) , diced into 1.7cm/2/3" cubes (about 4 heaped cups) (Note 2)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (or water or broth)
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock/broth
- 2 tbsp sage leaves, roughly chopped (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese , finely grated
- Salt & pepper
Crispy Sage & Brown Butter (optional)
- 50 g / 3 tbsp butter , salted
- 12 - 20 sage leaves
To Garnish
- Grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Melt 1 tbsp / 20g butter in ovenproof pot (preferably with a lid) over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent.
- Add chopped sage and cook for 1 minute.
- Add rice and stir so all the rice grains are coated with the butter and semi translucent.
- Add white wine and cook until the the liquid evaporates - about 1 minute.
- Add pumpkin and broth, stir. Let the liquid heat up but do not bring to simmer.
- Put lid on (or cover tightly with foil) and place in oven for 25 minutes, until rice is just cooked (firm but not raw) - don't worry if there's excess liquid. If rice is still uncooked, return to oven for 5 minutes.
- Add remaining butter and parmesan cheese.
- Stir vigorously until the pumpkin turns into a puree and blends into the risotto. If it's too thick then add a splash of hot tap water. Should have a porridge like consistency so it sags a bit when served (see video), rather than staying in a tall, firm pile.
- Spoon into serving bowls. Garnish with crispy sage, 1 or 2 teaspoons of brown butter and parmesan cheese. Devour immediately!
Crispy Sage:
- Melt butter in a small pan over medium high heat. Once foaming, add sage leaves and stir gently.
- Cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until crispy.
- Immediately remove sage onto paper towel lined plate and pour butter into a heat proof jug (butter should be brown by now).
Recipe Notes:
- Salt - It is important to remember to season at the very end and not at the beginning as you never really know how strong the salt from the stock/broth is once absorbed into the rice.
- Leftover Brown Butter - It's unlikely you'll use it all. But you can't use less otherwise it's too hard to crisp the sage leaves (I tried). Drizzle leftovers on almost any protein, pasta, omelettes, onto soups. Just a tiny drizzle adds an extra element of luxuriousness to anything!
- Servings: Even though there is only 1 1/2 cups of rice, this makes a lot (because of the 3 cups of pumpkin). It will feed 4 hungry people or 6 normal servings.
- Baking time - if you are using a heavy cast iron casserole pot with a lid, then the cook time should be 25 minutes because it retains heat so well. If you are using a lighter weight pot covered with foil, then it might take closer to 35 to 40 minutes.
- Add protein: Turn this into a complete meal by adding chicken and spinach. Chop chicken, season with salt and pepper (add herbs if you want too). Add the chicken when the onion is translucent and cook until white (still raw inside). Then follow the directions of the recipe. When you stir the butter and parmesan into the cooked risotto, add the spinach as well - you can add as much spinach as you want, but 3 packed cups is ideal. The residual heat from the risotto will wilt it quickly. You may need to add a splash of water to loosen it up a bit.
- Veganise it by omitting the parmesan (check the salt level by taste) and using vegetable rather than chicken stock.
5. Leftovers - Risotto doesn't keep well, it thickens. But leftovers make brilliant Arancini Rice Balls! Here's a baked one, here's a fried one. 6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 1 tsp of brown butter, excludes parmesan garnish and crispy sage (because I don't know how to calculate nutrition for that).
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Well, at least he’s out having fun in the water while suffering the indignity of Halloween dress ups…..
Thank you, Nagi.
Love just sticking the risotto in the oven and not having to stir. I can see why you cook the pumpkin in with the rice because it goes creamy but I find the texture of pumpkin a bit furry and I prefer the risotto without the pumpkin mixed in. Next time I make it I will bake the pumpkin and risotto separately and simply serve pumpkin on top.
Just made this and it was amazing! Great way to use up leftover pumpkin. Very easy to make a dairy free version.
I LOVE this recipe!
And can I say it freezes fine (I LOVE how fluffy leftover risotto is, but that’s me!)
Would you suggest any other veggies that could be added in also?
The whole family enjoyed this – easy to make and turned out as promised – creamy and tasty.
made this tonight! flavours were great and instructions clear however my pumpkin just wasnt cooked enough even with an additional 10 minutes. i used a cast iron pot with a lid and had the oven at ~200C fan forced. ended up trying to speed it along by putting it on the stove and using a fork against my spoon to mash up the pumpkin. after another ~10 minutes on the stove actively mashing it was creamy-ish but still with chunks of pumpkin. still tasty but allow extra time to cook!
One of my fave recipes! I’m doubling this to serve 10 in a large cast iron pan. How would you adjust cook times? Better to split it into two pans? Thank you!!
I was so impressed at how well this worked. I looked into the oven half way through and it just didn’t look like it was going to come together, but then after exactly 25 mins I took it out and watched the magic happen! I added some dried thyme with the onions then some toasted pumpkin seeds and pine nuts at the end to add a bit of different texture. The taste and texture were both spot on! Thank you for the recipe and for helping me to learn a new risotto technique (may I say a game changing one?)
Squeel…….how fun is the MAGIC stirring! From the unappealing blah that comes out of the oven to a golden halo.
This is something I will no longer pay for at a restaurant…..
Ditto, can’t wait to make Arancini Balls with leftovers tomorrow night.
This was excellent. An acquaintance was giving away pumpkin and I didn’t want to stir for hours. However I am making it again this week as it was so good and I’ve just acquired some generic pumpkin/squash to use so I’m just wondering why the recipe says no butternut squash? I’m nervous some squashes might be too hard to cook down in the oven and require a pre cook?
Made this for the family tonight and it was a massive hit! Everyone loved it. I like that your recipes are so well written with clear directions. I didn’t have any sage, so I used thyme instead and it really worked. Thanks so much, you are awesome.
AWWWWWESOME. Old man wasn’t too happy that it was meatless but he does love risotto and soon changed his tune once tried. Dog hooked into the small amount of leftovers. Tip Top
Incredibly delicious
Soo good, I
Couldn’t get my hands on sage however was still so yummy 😋
Made this last night and it was so good. So much flavour. Served with sautéed mushrooms. will definitely make again and again.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Holy moly. Risotto is that one dish that I just can’t get right, but this baked method was PERFECTION. I veganised it super easily and the flavours and textures are just spectacular in a beautifully harmonious and comforting way. Thank you! 10/10 and already planning on making this bowl of comfort-food perfection again soon <3
Love it. Even better, the kids loved it too.
I love this recipe – it’s become a favourite staple. I love so many of you recipes I come to your site when looking for ideas. Thanks 😊
Made it for myself one cold Monday night. Loved it.
Made it again to share with a friend. She loved it.
Simple, delicious, amazing……
Easiest and best risotto I’ve ever made. But then again I’ve never cooked a bad recipe from your repertoire 🙂
Excellent dish. Thanks for the idea
I’ve made this so many times and every time it’s absolutely delicious! Thanks for such a perfect risotto recipe ^-^