Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto

Name: Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (or white onions); 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 1/3 cups medium-grain rice (or arborio rice); 1 cup dry vermouth (or dry white wine, divided); 3 cups chicken broth; 2 ounces fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (, divided); 1/2 teaspoon salt

October 8, 2020 by Stephanie Manley, Last Updated July 23, 2022 88 Comments

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My Instant Pot is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. It makes amazing risotto. It makes effortless risotto. You can make this creamy Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto for a classic rice dish quickly.

overhead view of Parmesan Risotto in a serving dish

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I have had an Instant Pot for many years now, and it’s one of my favorite kitchen appliances that I use weekly. It makes many dishes, including this effortless and amazing risotto. You can make this creamy Instant Pot risotto recipe, a classic rice dish, in no time at all.

Table of Contents

What Is an Instant Pot?

An Instant Pot is a popular multi-cooker with a ton of different functions. It’s a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, warmer, steamer, and sautéer, all in one appliance. An instant pot saves time and space in your kitchen and takes the place of multiple other kitchen appliances. Some Instant Pots even work as yogurt makers or sterilizers of baby bottles.

How to Make Risotto With Your Instant Pot

This Instant Pot risotto recipe is very easy to make. Traditional risotto is very time-consuming because you have to stand over the pot and stir continually. Using your Instant Pot, you will prep your ingredients, actively stir everything together for a couple of minutes, put the lid on, and then in about fifteen minutes, voila! – you have instapot risotto. It’s almost like magic!

Rice for Risotto

To make this pressure cooker risotto, you can use arborio rice or medium-grain rice. Either kind of rice has a lot of starch, which makes the dish creamy. This recipe is not suited to long-grain rice. If you have long-grain rice, try my rice pilaf.

I use vermouth in this instapot risotto recipe, but you can use a dry white wine like a chardonnay. Vermouth is dry, and since it is fortified, it won’t oxidize once opened like white wine. I always keep a bottle on hand for cooking. You can find vermouth where wine is sold. It will be near other fortified wines such as sherry or marsala.

I also use shallots in this recipe. You can substitute chopped white onion if you can’t find shallots – it’s up to you.

What to Do if Your Instant Pot Doesn’t Come to Pressure

It’s not unknown for an Instant Pot not to seal sometimes. What I do when this happens is make a quick evaluation. Do I need something to come to pressure, or can I wait for it to cook longer? What I do is either leave it alone (just cook it longer), or I carefully remove the lid and check that there is about a cup of liquid in the pot. If not, I add more liquid. Then I carefully look at the silicon seal (sometimes the silicon ring slips), make sure it is in the correct position, and try to see if the pot will come to pressure.

For some more advice on fixing common Instant Pot problems, click here.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need:

Butter
Shallots
Garlic
Medium grain or arborio rice
Dry vermouth or dry white wine
Chicken broth
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt

Ingredient Notes

This recipe has 1 semi-unique ingredient. You can use arborio rice, or you can use medium grain rice. Medium grain isn’t the most common rice sold at your average grocery store, but it is sold there, read the label.

You will need either arborio or medium grain. I have not made this recipe with long grain rice. Have long grain rice? Try my easy rice pilaf recipe. Please do not use long grain rice. Either arborio or medium-grain rice prepares rice with a lot of starch which makes the dish creamy.

I use vermouth in this recipe. You can use white wine (I would use something dry, not sweet, like a chardonnay). Julia Child often substituted Vermouth for white wine.

Vermouth is dry, and since it is fortified it won’t oxidize like white wine. I always keep a bottle on hand for cooking. You can find it where wine is sold. It will be near other fortified wines, so look where the sherry or marsala wine is sold.

I also use shallots in this recipe. You can use chopped white onion if you can’t find shallots. It’s up to you.

How to Make Parmesan Risotto in an Instant Pot

Place the Instant Pot on sauté, add butter, and when the butter has melted add the shallots.
Sauté the shallots until they have become translucent.
Add garlic and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant.
Add rice and stir until the rice is coated with the melted butter.
Cook rice for about 1 minute.
Add half of the vermouth and stir to combine with rice.
When the vermouth has been absorbed by the rice, add the remaining Vermouth, chicken broth, half of the cheese, and salt. Stir to combine thoroughly.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and cook for 8 minutes on high pressure.
Allow it to release naturally or you can manually release the pressure.
Add the remaining cheese before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Are you interested in the Instant Pot? You can check out the Latest Model Instant Pot Ip-lux60-enw Stainless Steel 6-in-1 Pressure Cooker with Mini Mitts on Amazon.com.

Parmesan risotto in a blue serving dish and a serving spoon

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Be sure to check out more of my easy Instant Pot recipes and the best side dishes to make for dinner.