One of the goals for my current challenge of eating from the pantry was to devise some new recipes that would work beyond “being in a pinch.” I was hoping to come up with a few that I could prepare easily with what I would ordinarily have on hand, but also be able to include with our tried and true meals. So far, I’ve had three successes and one failure. One of them being pesto risotto!
Since it’s Monday, we’re starting with the most raved and enjoyed of the three successes. This way you’re armed and ready with an easy meal if you have nothing planned, or if you forget to make rice too. We’ll save the laughable epic failure for tomorrow.
My risotto skills are lacking. Gordon Ramsey made risotto seem easy on Hell’s Kitchen, and my step-mom makes an amazing risotto too. Unfortunately, my personal experiences have been completely hit and miss. My thought process when I came up with pesto risotto went something like this:
I’m not that great at risotto, but pesto risotto is delicious. Maybe if I combine the two it’ll taste sorta kinda good.
Totally serious.
As it turns out, this dish was nearly on par with the amazing pesto risotto my step-mom had created once. It makes a great side dish to any meat and you can also tailor the recipe a bit depending on your family’s tastes. Since this was born out of a pantry challenge, I didn’t have some of “this” or “that” the recipe normally calls for, but I’m including those ingredients in case you A) want to use them, or B) need to use them.
Pesto Risotto Recipe
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (optional)
- 2 cups Arborio rice
- 6-8 cups chicken stock
- ¼-1/2 cup prepared pesto (see recipe below)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese*
- salt and pepper, to taste
- In a large heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on low.
- Add onion and cook until soft and translucent.
- Raise heat to medium and add rice, stirring** until the rice looks chalky and you can see a white dot in the center of the grains (3-5 minutes).
- Stir** in one cup of chicken stock. When the stock is absorbed, stir** in another cup. Repeat this for the third cup of stock as well.
- Begin adding the stock ½ cup at a time, along with 1 tablespoon of pesto. Stir** continuously until the stock is absorbed. Keep repeating this process and start tasting the risotto. The rice should be tender yet slightly firm to the bite - taking care to not overcook the rice. Adjust more or less pesto with each tasting, to your preferences.
- Remove the risotto from the heat when it is almost, but not quite done.
- Fold in 1 tablespoon of butter, then gently fold in the Parmesan cheese.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Enjoy this pesto risotto!
** Most recipes say to stir using long strokes. I always stir making small circles all over the pan. I can't say for sure that either method works better than the other, but the key is to stir often, if not continuously.
Some notes on pesto…
Pesto is expensive for one big reason and one little reason. The little reason is Parmesan cheese. As mentioned above, real Parmesan cheese can get expensive. A little bit goes a long way in our house, but this recipe is far from frugal if an entire cup of cheese is used. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend any substitutions for this cheese in this pesto risotto.
The big reason pesto is expensive is the pine nuts. A quick glance on Amazon shows pine nuts ringing up at over $16 per pound! Substitutions can be made for the nuts – almonds, walnuts, even cashew – but the taste will be slightly different in the end. If you attempt to substitute the cheese (despite the fair warning) and nuts, you’ll end up with an entirely different product. It may not taste bad, but it will not be pesto.
I’m including a recipe if you choose to make your own; however, this is a case where buying it pre-made may work in your favor. If needed you can tweak it a bit to make help fine tune this risotto recipe, should you like more basil or olive oil in your pesto. You can not only skip the work (which is always a treat), but you avoid the hefty price tag. Most store-bought versions don’t contain anything fake, but always read the labels. Costco offers 22oz of the good stuff for $7.99 and it will last WAY beyond this risotto and the rest of Arborio rice. Consider a chicken pesto Panini, a cheese steak with provolone and pesto, or even atop your favorite pasta if you need other avenues to enjoy the goodness (or just invite me over for dinner and I’ll gladly take it off your hands).
- 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Combine the first four ingredients in a food processor until they have made a rough paste.
- With the machine running, slowly add the oil.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- If the sauce seems dry (it should be a thick paste), add a bit more oil.

When I made this pesto risotto for our impromptu dinner with friends and family, my chef-dad, gourmet step-mom, and talented-in-the-kitchen friend all raved about this dish. There was only one small scoop left – literally – and that tiny scoop was gently placed next to piece of chicken for someone to enjoy the next day for leftovers. As it turns out, that someone was me. Good thing too since I forgot to take a picture of it when it was hot off the stove! Guaranteed to taste just as good for leftovers too!
By the way! We post quick updates and recipes not on the blog on our Instagram page! Come over and check us out!
Do you enjoy pesto risotto? If so, I’d love it if you’d share it in the comment section!
Yum, that looks delicious! I’ve never thought about putting pesto in Risotto. Have you ever done asparagus or squash? That might be a good way to get some nutrition.
I’ve done asparagus but that would fall under my “miss” nights. My dad and step-mom seem to be pro’s with the vegetables, but I’ll keep practicing!
This looks delicious and quite tempting! I’m definitely hungry now…
Interesting!
I would love to have you link this up to my linky party!
Thanks!
YUM!!!! That looks like a great combination!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer.. From Dream To Reality!
P.S. Please don’t forget to place my button or text-link somewhere on your site 🙂
This looks soooo good. Thanks so much for posting on the Made U Look link party! Looking forward to more great recipes:)
Katie
Thank you for participating in Show Your Stuff Blog Hop, You are invited to come back!
Yummy! Pine nuts are one of the fews nuts I actually like! Thanks for sharing at the Pomp Party! Pinning!
Ooh! This looks yummy! I LOVE pesto!!
Thanks for sharing with my Super Link Party! 🙂
You had at me at pesto and risotto! Yum! Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe on Allergy-Free Wednesdays. Please remember in order to be featured, you need to provide a link back to one of the AFW hostesses. Have a wonderful week!
Will do Laura, thanks for the reminder!
Tiffany,
Oh my goodness this looks delicious! I love pesto and risotto and I TOTALLY agree with the whole Parmesan issue. I buy mine at Costco in the brick and usually pay about $14.00 a pound but it lasts quiet a while in our house unless I’m making a ton of pasta. lol I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing at Creative Thursday last week. I can’t wait to see what you link up this week. Have a great day
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, they have parm for roughly $8/9 per pound. They’re smaller wedges, but still just as good. We ordinarily wouldn’t go through much, but we’ve recently discovered the deliciousness of a thin slice as a snack. Oh my!
Thanks for linking up to Friday Fascinations! Don’t forget to come back for this week’s party! It is an everything party so link up anything you have been working on!
I ran out of GF pasta but had a craving for something starchy with basil pesto… So I searched for basil pesto risotto and found you. I’m so glad I did! I think this may have been the best risotto I have ever had!
I’m so glad you liked it Leigh!