How to Make an Easy Curry Risotto

If you've ever wondered how to make risotto, this risotto recipe is totally for you. An easy vegan risotto recipe is just what cold and stormy days need to warm you up for the inside out.

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Risotto Is Comfort Food

This easy curry vegan risotto is completely soul-warming.

Next time you are in the mood for a bowl of comfort food. This risotto recipe is the perfect thing to whip up.

You probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry and freezer especially, if you've downloaded my Kitchen Essentials Grocery List.

If you haven't, you should grab it today. Having a well-stocked kitchen makes pulling dinner together on the fly ultra-easy.

Who doesn't like a rich, creamy bowl of risotto?

Maybe you think because I am a professional food blogger that I would always know what to make for dinner.

Wouldn't that be nice? Let me tell you, creating recipes every single day can leave me with a lot of random leftover ingredients that don't always seem like they would go together and first glance.

A lot of nights I feel a bit like I'm on an episode of Chopped.

I'm staring into my refrigerator and pantry, and it feels like I'm on the clock to bring a batch of random ingredients together to make a delicious and presentable meal, for the judges, in less than 3o minutes!

This easy recipe is a result of one of those nights.

Another challenge that I face when meal planning for the week is that my daughter is a vegan, my husband is Mr. Meat and Potatoes, and I love healthy animal protein, but not too many potatoes.

Maybe you don't have all this going on, but I'm sure if you're a mom (or dad) running the dinner game, you have a picky eater or two living in your presence. It can be hard to figure out a healthy, hearty meal that everyone will eat and enjoy. I have to get creative.

I created this curry risotto one night when I was looking in the fridge and cupboard for inspiration.

I should mention that there are many varieties of curry.

This recipe uses a yellow curry and has Indian curry flavors. I feel like an Indian curry risotto has a warm soul-satisfying feeling to it.

What Ingredients do you need

• Mirepoix: Just a fancy name for carrots, celery, and onions
• Arborio rice: A short-grain rice with high starch content. The starch is released during cooking, giving risotto it's creaminess.
• Vegetable broth: You can use vegetable or chicken broth for this recipe.
• Frozen peas
• Canned chickpeas
• Yellow curry

On this particular night, I happened to arborio rice in my panty. I typically have rice of some variety.

You could make this risotto recipe with another type of rice.

However, arborio rice is the best. Arborio rice is higher in starch that is essential for building in the creaminess that is typical of a well-done risotto recipe.

Step by Step Instructions

1. SAUTE any raw veggies in a little oil or butter.
2. RICE add rice and toast lightly.
3. BROTH add one ladle full at a time until absorbed, then repeat. (Classic risotto also has a little wine in it.)

Recipe Tips

There are just a few tricks to keep in mind that will ensure you get the creamy texture that you are craving.

• Warm the broth in a separate saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Keep the broth on a low simmer, so it stays warm.
• After you add the rice to the saucepan, you will start adding the broth to the rice a little at a time.
• When you build a risotto, the key to getting a nice creamy texture is to encourage the starch out of the rice slowly.
• Building the creaminess is done by adding small amounts of warm broth a cup at a time.
• And the broth and then begin stirring the rice for 1-2 minutes, which encourages the starch to be released into the broth.
• Each time you add broth, you stir until the rice absorbs the liquid. Once absorbed, you add a bit more broth.

While this may seem like a lot of stirring, it doesn't take that long. It's an excellent way to decompress - to give your brain a break - after a long day. Stir, Stir, Stir - Think of it as a form of meditation.

Recipe Variations

Once you learn the basic formula for building a risotto, you can go crazy — some of my favorite risotto recipes I have created on the fly.

I've made Butternut Squash Risotto.

This one has browned butter and sage, which is a classic and delicious flavor combo.

Mushroom Risotto is another tried and true flavor.

I like to get the mushrooms brown and season them with thyme before adding the rice. I also use a little wine in most of the risotto recipes that I make.

For the Curry Risotto, I didn't add any wine.

I also have memories of a fantastic Lobster Risotto.

What is not to like about lobster risotto?

One of my absolute all-time favorites is a simple risotto recipe that uses ham, peas, and a little parmesan. Yum!

I hope that you not only give this curry risotto recipe a try but that you will be inspired to try some other versions of risotto. I love taking a dish like this that seems intimidating and fancy and making it approachable. Starting with a simple risotto based on the classic gives you the confidence to try a more complex risotto recipe later on.

Enjoy this recipe, and if you do, make it tag me @foodologygeek. I would love to see it and celebrate your risotto mastery. And don't forget to grab the Kitchen Essentials, Grocery List.

You can also check out some of my other freebies HERE.

Other Vegan Recipes That You Might Like:

• Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
• Vegan Alfredo with Butternut Squash and Kale
• Easy Cous Cous With Black Lentils
• Tomato, Garlic & Rosemary Foccacia
• Gazpacho
• Paleo Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Warm Spiced Pumpkin Oats
• Overnight Oats Four Ways
• Dairy-Free Chai Latte Chia Pudding
• Vegan Lentil Stew
• Fresh Raspberries with Coconut Cream
• Barley with Mushrooms and Onions

And a few other comfort food recipes

• Warm Spicy Yellow Curry Noodle Bowls
• Spam Fried Rice
• Easy Homemade Dumpling Noodles
• Furikake Fried Chicken
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Puerto Rican Dirty Rice