We’ve come back from Italy after 9 amazing days. The food was AWESOME and it’s so easy to find vegan food there. We’re going to miss it so much, but today we have an Italian-style recipe for you guys, this delicious vegan pesto risotto.
I could eat rice all the time and risotto is one of my favorite rice dishes, that’s why we have posted so many risotto recipes on the blog. If we also add pesto, which I absolutely love, it’s the perfect meal, so creamy and tasty.
This recipe is for Italian food lovers, you really need to make it and enjoy this delicious dish.
Did you like this vegan pesto risotto? Check out these recipes: vegan mushroom risotto, fat-free vegan risotto, vegan butternut squash risotto, cauliflower rice risotto and vegan risotto balls.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below, rate it or tag a picture @simpleveganblog on Instagram and hashtag it #simpleveganblog. We’d love to see what you cook!
Vegan Pesto Risotto
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Cuisine: Vegan, Italian
This vegan pesto risotto is so creamy, tasty, low in fat and also oil-free. If you like Italian food, you need to give it a try.
Ingredients
For the vegan pesto:
- 2 cups fresh spinach (60 g)
- 1/4 cup walnuts (30g )
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (4 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 clove of garlic
- The juice of one lemon
For the risotto:
- 1/4 onion, finely chopped
- 3 and 1/4 cups vegetable broth or water (815 ml)
- 1/2 cup arborio or short grain rice (100 g)
- 1/2 cup white wine (125 ml)
- Sliced radishes on top (optional)
Instructions
- To make the vegan pesto, you just need to blend all the ingredients in a food processor or a blender until smooth. Set aside.
- Cook the onion with 1/4 cup of broth or water (65 ml) over medium-high heat until translucent.
- Add the rice and the white wine and cook over high heat until the liquid is absorbed.
- Reduce the heat to medium-high and add warmed vegetable broth or water, 1/2 cup or 125 ml at a time and stir frequently. Add broth until the rice is cooked, but al dente. It takes about 20 minutes. Depending on the type of rice you’re using, you’ll need to add more or less broth or water.
- Turn off the heat, add the pesto, stir and let the risotto stand covered for at least 5 minutes. If you prefer your risotto more dry, cook it for a few minutes more or add the pesto before.
- Serve with some sliced radishes on top (optional).
- Keep the risotto in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
- You can use basil or any other fresh herb instead of the spinach and pine nuts or any other nuts instead of the walnuts.
- This recipe is oil-free, but you can use it instead of the tahini and water and also sauté the onion in some oil. We used oil-free vegetable broth, but feel free to use any broth you want or even water.
- The wine is not essential, you can use some broth or water instead.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 of the recipe without the sliced radishes
- Calories: 439
- Sugar: 4.2 g
- Sodium: 352.3 mg
- Fat: 11.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 60.4 g
- Fiber: 13 g
- Protein: 23.9 g
This was great! I would definitely make it again. The only change I would make would be to measure out the lemon juice instead of adding it based on 1 lemon. I added juice from 1/2 a lemon (although my lemon was very juicy), and the lemon juice was too powerful. Next time I do it, I’ll add 1 tbsp of lemon juice instead. I added 15g of thai basil to 55g of spinach since I had it on hand, and it added a nice touch of flavor. I cooked my risotto in organic low sodium vegetable broth, and it was excellent.
★★★★★
Hi Melanie! Sounds great 🙂 I’m glad you liked it!
Looks good but am surprised there is no basil.
Hi Sherry! Thanks a lot 🙂 Feel free to use basil if you want, I prefer spinach because it’s so inexpensive. Have a nice day!
This is awful! I can’t print the recipe without the ads.
Hi Kathleen! You can close the footer ad and the ad inside the recipe won’t show in the print format. Have a nice day!