I continue to be inspired by the Instant Pot. Yes, it does make beans in a flash like these Pinto Beans and Black Beans, but it is very versatile. I have even seen pasta made in the Instant Pot. So this beautiful spring dish of Butternut Squash Risotto with Basil Pesto was a natural for the Instant Pot. Don’t feel like cutting the squash up? Some markets sell it pre-cut into cubes! Just get about 20 oz worth and that should do the trick and make your life easier.
This is a great dish to serve for a spring celebration and making it in the Instant Pot frees you up to concentrate on the other dishes in your meal. Don't miss my new green soup made with asparagus, peas, and zucchini. It's super delicious made with lite coconut milk, but you can you non-dairy milk if you prefer.
For the recipe, you just throw the ingredients into the pot and saute them a little before turning it on. Although if you don't have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, I've included stovetop/oven directions below the recipe in the Notes section. And, while it's cooking, you can make the basil pesto in the food processor. Because we're not using any cheese in this dish as most risottos do, I think it's super important to have this basil pesto topping. It has just the punch of flavor you want to complement the creamy somewhat neutral flavor of the risotto. I like to make extra pesto and to save for other meals.
This basil pesto is awesome made into a dressing by adding a little fresh orange juice. The orange juice really complements the basil. In fact, you could make a salad to go on the side with the risotto and top it with this Orange Basil Dressing. How about my Arugula, Apple, Beet Salad or Kale Brussels Sprouts Salad.
As a side note in case you're wondering, I've never made with this with brown rice or regular white rice. To get that creamy texture of risotto, arborio rice is the best but if you try it with a different rice, let me know how it goes.
A healthy meal, plant-based, and savory. Add a few more to your list:
- Classic Basil Marinara with Angel Hair Pasta
- Chili Topped Potatoes with Corn Salsa
- Moroccan Stew with Kale
- Pasta Puttanesca with Spinach
This Butternut Squash Risotto with Basil Pesto has all the wonderful plant-based nutrition you need, as well. With the addition of spinach for your greens, the beautiful orange squash, and medicinal mushrooms you're getting a healthy dose of nutrition in this meal.
I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Butternut Squash Risotto with Basil Pesto Recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Instagram page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won't miss it!
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 6 minutes |
Servings | people |
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 Tbl garlic crushed
- 4 cups butternut squash peeled, seeded and large diced
- 2 cups Arborio rice
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional but adds a great flavor. Add more water if you don't use it.)
- 1 8 oz package Baby Bella mushrooms sliced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp dried parsley
- 1 5 oz bag baby spinach
- 1 1/2 cups fresh basil tightly packed
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley tightly packed
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbl light miso
- 3 Tbl nutritional yeast
- 1/8 cup toasted pine nuts
- 2 Tbl fresh lemon juice
- 2-4 Tbl water more or less depending on desired consistency
Ingredients
Basil Pesto
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- Add 1/4 cup water to the Instant Post. Hit “Sauté.” Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes so it softens and just lightly browns when the water runs out. Then, add the butternut squash and stir with the onions for another 1-2 minutes. The squash will still be very hard but will soften.
- Add the mushrooms, stir and cook for another minute. Finally, add the garlic, stir with everything else and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Add the white wine and once it bubbles, let it do so for another 2 minutes so some of the alcohol burns off.
- Add in the rice and mix it in with everything in the pot.
- Add the broth, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, Italian seasoning and dried parsley. Stir well, deglazing (scraping) the bottom of the pot and then place the spinach on top (but do NOT mix in with everything else – just let it rest on top.)
- Secure the lid, hit “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” and High Pressure for 6 minutes. Use the quick release when done and stir the spinach in with the risotto.
- Make the basil pesto and serve with a dollop.
- Blend basil, parsley, garlic, miso, nutritional yeast, pine nuts and lemon juice in food processor.
- Slowly drizzle in water while machine is running to desired consistency.
*Stovetop/Oven Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the rice and 4 cups of the vegetable stock in a Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, along with the seasonings. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. In the meantime, place the onions, squash and the sliced mushrooms (keep them separate) on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes along with the rice. If you need to, use 2 baking sheets, but you may not have room for two and therefore, need to roast them separately from the rice. Remove the onions, squash, and mushrooms when the squash is tender. Continue to bake the rice for the 45 minutes. Transfer the squash to a bowl and mash with a fork. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid and is al dente, remove from the oven and place over medium heat. Add an extra 1 cup vegetable broth (not in the Instant Pot version), the spinach, the wine, salt, and pepper, and stir until the rice is thick and creamy and the spinach is wilted. (Another option is to cook the rice with the wine instead of adding it later.) Add the onions and butternut squash and stir again to heat through about 2-3 minutes.
How much miso added for pesto??
Woops, that’s 1 Tbl miso. Thanks for pointing that out. I updated the ingredient list. ????
How would you do this without an Instant Pot?
Good question. I’ll put the directions for cooking without an Instant Pot on the recipe itself in a day or so… In the meantime, here’s what I would try, although I haven’t tested the recipe using this method and can’t say how it’ll work. Risotto typically takes tending when cooking on the stove because you add the liquid a little at a time until it’s absorbed but I’ve read that you can make risotto in the oven without tending to it so I would try baking it separately along with the onions, squash, and mushrooms. This should speed up the process and add flavor.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the rice and 4 cups of the vegetable stock in a Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, along with the seasonings. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
In the meantime, place the onions, squash and the sliced mushrooms (keep them separate) on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes along with the rice. If you need to, use 2 baking sheets, but you may not have room for two and therefore, need to roast them separately from the rice. Remove the onions, squash, and mushrooms when the squash is tender. Continue to bake the rice for the 45 minutes.
Transfer the squash to a bowl and mash with a fork. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid and is al dente, remove from the oven and place over medium heat. Add an extra 1 cup vegetable broth (not in the Instant Pot version), the spinach, the wine, salt, and pepper, and stir until the rice is thick and creamy and the spinach is wilted. (Another option is to cook the rice with the wine instead of adding it later.) Add the onions and butternut squash and stir again to heat through about 2-3 minutes.
OK, fingers crossed that it works. One of my concerns is the amount of liquid to use. Let me know if you have any feedback.
I tried this, but it ended up with a lot of liquid left over and the rice was hard and did not fully absorb the liquid. I followed the directions exactly…any ideas? 6 minutes didn’t seem like enough time using the manual mode.
Hi Jonathan and thanks for the feedback. I’m sorry, I’m not sure what happened, but I will make this again to test it and get back to you.
I’m trying this tonight? Any insights on above “liquid” comment?
Hi Krista, I haven’t had a chance to retest the recipe, so I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I looked at a few other recipes out there. Most called for high pressure and 6 minutes, 1 at 5 minutes. If someone didn’t use arborio rice but brown rice instead, that might make the difference in cook time. As for the amount of broth, that varied a lot so I can’t say what to recommend now until I’ve retested. One note is that risotto is usually very creamy compared to a regular rice dish. Some recipes use cheese (which we don’t here) and that can help thicken the rice. The squash will become very soft during the cooking, by the way. Oh, and another note, this does make a large amount.
Lastly, I think the basil pesto really adds a nice punch of flavor as the other ingredients are very subtle flavors, at least for my taste.
I’ll be testing this recipe again soon and will have better answers for you then.
Made this last night with 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of broth, no wine, but a little water for that step. Worked well, rice was cooked nicely. When I opened the instant pot (after quick release) it looked like there was too much water left over, but once I mixed it, the consistency was right. Had it with an arugula and pomelo salad and it made a comforting but easy weeknight meal. Thanks for the recipe, if using softer vegetables, do you think lay them on top like the spinach, or would softer not work in the instant pot?
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad it worked well for you. I know the spinach and squash give off liquid, as well. I’m not sure about softer veggies. I’d worry they’d become too soft, but I you could give it a try.
I followed the recipe almost exactly but my instant pot kept giving me a BURN alert and I had to open up and add more liquid. Ended up adding 8 cups of broth. Not sure why it need so much more liquid! I did use frozen squash that was thawed out in water and drained, so maybe there was less liquid from the squash than it needed?
Hi Kat, I’m so sorry about that. I don’t know why that would happen as others have said there’s too much liquid. Maybe it depends on the rice if you happened to use something other than arborio. I wouldn’t think the frozen spinach would affect it as it usually has plenty of liquid. Did you use the mushroom, they have a lot of liquid. I’d better get cooking…this one I need to test again. Thanks so much for your feedback.
I got the burn alert as well! Weird, I thought I did everything to avoid it. Not sure what happened.
Well, that is weird. I wonder if it could be that different pressure cookers make the difference… maybe run hotter than others. Anyway, I’m sorry. It seems like the extra veggies would add even more moisture so I don’t think that’s it. It’s on my schedule to make next week so I can figure out this mystery. Thanks for the feedback.
I halved this recipe and left out the mushrooms (didn’t have any). I thought the rice was perfectly tender. The spinach was a little over cooked — I guess I could have just stirred it in at the end. Nice with the pesto on the top, this is a keeper — so fast. No issue with the burn message.
Hi Erika, thank you so much for the feedback. That’s super it worked out for you and that you enjoyed the recipe!! I’m started to think for people who are having trouble that perhaps it’s their Instant Pot. I can’t say for sure, but with this much variation, something’s going on.