Instant Pot Vegetable Risotto With Lemon & Parmesan

Learn how to make Instant Pot vegetable risotto with lemon & Parmesan for a quick, easy and nutritious dinner. With step-by-step photos, this beginner-friendly recipe is great to master if you’ve never tried making a pressure cooker risotto before. This recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free friendly. Leave a rating or comment at the bottom of this post if you’ve made this recipe or have any questions!

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This delicious vegetable risotto is an easy one-pot comfort dish that is quick to make in the Instant Pot. It requires simple, wholesome ingredients and nutritious veggies you probably already have in the fridge. This is a beginner-friendly recipe for those of you new to pressure cooking or kitchen in general. 

You can serve this Instant Pot risotto as a main dish with a simple green salad or as a side dish with a protein main. Bring a little Italian flair to the table with minimal effort.

INSTANT POT VEGETABLE RISOTTO INGREDIENTS

Many classic risotto recipes have similar base ingredients such as onion, garlic, lots of stock, cheese and butter.

Rice: The most essential ingredient for a proper risotto is of course Arborio rice. This rice is short-grain and is high in starch, which is released during cooking giving the dish that creamy, thick consistency. Unlike regular rice, Arborio rice doesn’t and shouldn’t be rinsed prior to cooking because we want to keep all that lovely starch intact.

Vegetables: You’re welcome to use any vegetables you have on hand. The ones that work well for this cooking time include zucchini, green beans, capsicum, broccoli (will be very soft when cooked!), green peas, pumpkin or sweet potato, beets, collards and kale. We’re adding a little lemon zest and juice, which gives this risotto a little tang and sparkle.

Good Parmesan and a little butter will thicken the risotto and give it plenty of flavor at the end. 

You will find the recipe for this risotto just below or you can jump to detailed step-by-step photo instructions under the recipe card. These are especially handy if you’re an Instant Pot beginner.

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You might like more recipes from our Instant Pot For Beginners series: 

• How To Cook Rice In Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli & Rice Casserole
• Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup In The Instant Pot 
• Instant Pot Rolled Oats With Cinnamon & Banana

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HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT VEGETABLE RISOTTO

Here are step-by-step instructions for making vegetable lentil stew in the Instant Pot. We made it in the Instant Pot Duo Classic & Nova 6-quart pressure cooker.

Step 1. Prepare all ingredients for the cooking stage. 

Step 2. Turn the Instant Pot and press the Sauté button. It should say Normal on the display (this indicates the heat level). Once the inner pot starts heating up, add the olive oil followed by onions and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add carrots and celery cubes and cook for 2 minutes, until slightly translucent.  

Step 3. Add the zucchini, garlic, salt, pepper, herbs, lemon zest and stir through. Press Cancel to stop the Sauteing process.  

Step 4. Add 1.5 cups Arborio rice (unrinsed) and stock and stir through scraping all the bits from the bottom of the pot.

Step 5. Secure and lock the lid; make sure the pressure handle is pointing to Sealing on Duo Classic. Select Manual/Pressure Cook and adjust the timer to 5 minutes on HIGH pressure. After a few beeps/seconds, the ON sign will come on indicating the pot is heating up and the pressure is building; pressurizing will take about 7 minutes and then the 5-minute timer will begin. While the rice is cooking, prepare butter, Parmesan and lemon juice. 

Step 6. Once the timer is done, allow the pressure to release naturally for about 2-3 minutes. Then use the quick release method to let off the remaining pressure (press the steam knob down or point to Venting on older models).

Step 7. Remove the Instant Pot lid. Most of the liquid should be absorbed into the rice but you should still have a little bit left. Add butter, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice to the rice and stir through until melted and creamy. IF the rice has absorbed all stock, you can add a little extra stock or water to thin it out. Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with fresh parsley or basil on top and grated Parmesan cheese.