This delicious Instant Pot beet risotto is bursting with flavours and has the most beautiful colour that will impress your family or dinner guests. It's quick and easy to make, too! This recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Why Make Risotto In The Instant Pot
In our humble opinion, a lovely risotto should be one of the first meals you make in your Instant Pot. Why? Because it's super simple and you will be surprised by how well it turns out every time. In fact, once I started making a risotto using my Instant Pot pressure cooker, I've not once gone back to the stovetop method (unless I am away from my Instant Pot). Seriously, if you've always been intimidated to make a homemade risotto, make sure to give it a go in the pressure cooker.
Another reason to try this particular risotto is its unique and beautiful flavours and colour. Beets, thyme and garlic infuse the rice with the most gorgeous sweetness and earthiness, while the lemon and goat's cheese adds just the right amount of saltiness and acidity to lift the whole dish up. Plus, it's a clever dish (because it's quite affordable) to serve for a dinner party; your guests will be impressed, and you'll have little washing up to do at the end.
This Instant Pot risotto is vegetarian and gluten-free friendly, making it a great all-rounder. Give it a go and let us know what you think!
How To Make Instant Pot Beet Risotto
The ingredients for this recipe are very accessible and you should be able to find them in most supermarkets. Make sure to use good quality arborio (risotto) rice, which is the key to a good risotto. Unlike cooking regular white rice, you shouldn't wash the risotto rice as you want to retain as much starch in the kernels as possible; that's what gives the creaminess to the dish.
Goat's cheese is sharp and salty, which cuts through the sweetness of risotto. I used chèvre, which is soft goat's cheese, but you can also use goat's milk feta or regular soft feta.
The risotto will already be nice and creamy even before you add the Parmesan cheese and extra butter, so if you need to avoid the cheese, you could easily leave it out and serve this dish after stirring the cooked rice. I like to serve it with a side of steamed green vegetables or a green salad on the side.
Find the full list of ingredients, instructions and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below.
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MORE INSTANT POT RISOTTO RECIPES
- 20 Perfect Instant Pot Risotto Recipes
- Instant Pot Fennel & Asparagus Risotto
- Budget-friendly Instant Pot Risotto With Peas & Celery
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Risotto With Blue Cheese
- Instant Pot Tomato Barley Risotto With Marinated Feta
- Instant Pot Vegan Risotto With Green Veggies
Rate This Recipe
Instant Pot Beet Risotto With Thyme & Goat’s Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 1 tablespoon butter 15 g
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1.5 cups arborio rice do not wash!
- ½ lb. beets 1 large or 2 small beets, peeled and diced into small cubes
- 3 cloves of garlic finely diced
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves only, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 3.5 cups vegetable stock
To finish
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1.5 oz. Parmesan cheese finely grated (about ½ cup or 40 g)
- ½ tablespoon butter
- Pinch of ground black pepper
To serve
- 2 oz. chèvre or another soft goat’s cheese, broken into small pieces (60 g)
- A few extra sprigs of thyme
Instructions
- Turn on the Instant Pot and press the Sauté function key. Add the onions, butter and salt and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times, until softened.
- Add the rice, diced beets, garlic, lemon zest and thyme leaves and stir through. Then add the vegetable stock and stir, making sure to scrape down any rice kernels from the walls of the pot.
- Place and lock the lid, making sure the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing. Press the Manual function key, making sure the IP is set to High Pressure, and adjust the timing for 5 minutes. After three beeps the Instant Pot will begin to build up the pressure and start cooking. Once the cooking finishes, release the pressure naturally for 5 minutes before using quick release to let off the rest of the steam.
- Open the lid and stir in the Parmesan cheese, a little extra butter, lemon juice, and pepper.
- Serve with crumbled goat’s cheese and extra sprigs of thyme on top.
Heidi
Very tasty but not enough cook time.
Next time I’ll cook it for 7 minutes and 10 minutes NOR.
Instant Pot Eats
Thanks, Heidi. Really depends on how al dente you prefer your rice. We went with the Italian-style, slightly firm to bite rice but I know some people prefer a slightly softer texture. Let us know how you go with slightly longer cooking time.
Laura
Do you use raw beets for this recipe, or the precooked beets found in grocery store? Or even canned? Thanks
instantpoteats
Hi Laura, we used raw beets but you could use precooked if you liked. The canned ones should be okay as well, but check that they don't have vinegar added as you might have a bit more acidity in the flavor.
Parinaz
If you use precooked or canned beets, do you still pressure cook them for 5 minutes with the rice and other ingredients?
instantpoteats
Yes, as the timing is based more on how long the rice will need to cook rather than the beets. The beets are mainly there for the colour and flavour.