Creamy Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil

This Creamy Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil brings restaurant-quality into your home kitchen by utilizing small ingredients that bring A LOT of flavors. And it all comes down to two more high-end and powerful ingredients: truffles and porcini mushrooms.

This gourmet dish is among the most requested dinners from my husband, making it a go-to for date night and one of our favorite delicious one-pot dinner ideas!

And although homemade risotto is notoriously a labor of love, the fact that it can all be made in one pot, making clean up easier, makes this intimidating dish totally do-able! (Just like this Seared Scallop Risotto—check it out next!).

And as a mom managing her time with a passion for gourmet flavors, I really do appreciate a meal of this caliber that requires less clean up!

This seriously creamy and delicious truffle mushroom risotto features dried porcini mushrooms and is finished with truffle oil. Gourmet and umami, this one-pot risotto dinner is the perfect, decadent vegetarian meal.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil Ingredient Highlights

The best rice for risotto is arborio rice. This is mainly because it is not as starchy as other rice, which makes for a softer risotto.

Additionally, by continuously stirring in liquid for the rice to absorb as opposed to covering and letting it cook, the rice won’t expand as much as it usually does. Arborio rice is already a wider and longer grain, so this isn’t an issue.

You can really use any fresh mushrooms you want in this dish; I usually just go for Baby Bella or White Button.

You can buy veggie broth at the store or make your own vegetable broth from veggie scraps.

It’s important to note that truffle oil is a finishing oil not a frying oil. Heating the truffle oil too much will make it lose its distinct taste.

This truffle risotto with dried porcinis can easily be made vegan by subbing in vegan butter and either leaving out the Parmesan cheese or substituting nutritional yeast.

Truffle Mushroom Risotto Tips and Tricks

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How to Make Risotto with Truffle Oil

The first step is frying up your mushrooms and shallots to release excess juice from the mushrooms and getting as much flavor out of the shallots as possible.

Slice your mushrooms and peel and dice your shallots and add them to a large frying pan with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sautee over medium heat until the juices release from the mushrooms and the shallots are nice and fragrant (about 5 minutes).

Just like truffle oil, the flavor of dried porcini is so strong that just a little bit goes a long way. With just ½ an ounce of them in this truffle risotto, you’ll get that earthy taste we are after for this dish.

Since your porcini mushrooms are dried, we will need to rehydrate them first. This just means you’ll add them in with the garlic and wine, before the rice.

This will allow the dried mushrooms to absorb the white wine with heat and rehydrate. Add them to the pan with the mushrooms and shallots and continue to simmer over medium heat until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.

Here’s the thing about risotto. You just gotta keep stirring.

Strap on your most comfortable shoes. Crank up the music. Pour yourself a drink (may I suggest this Vodka Sour? The bright citrus pairs well with this risotto!). Because this isn’t a dump it and leave it kind of meal.

It’s an enjoy the ride, taste as you go, get a good arm workout from continuous stirring kind of meal.

And it’s WORTH. EVERY. SECOND.

Once the porcinis are rehydrated, add your arborio rice and stir to coat in the olive oil and to distribute the shallots, mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Then, it’s time to start adding your vegetable broth.

You’ll be adding your vegetable broth about ½ cup at a time and stirring continuously until it’s absorbed. Each time your rice absorbs the liquid, you’ll add more broth, until you use up all three cups.

Remember when I said it’s a taste-as-you-go kinda meal? Well, I meant it.

Depending on your heat, the rice may need a little more or a little less liquid to reach the perfect consistency.

In my experience with making this dish over medium heat and continuously stirring, 3 cups of vegetable broth is just right. But you may find that your rice is ready with just under 3 cups.

You may also find that your rice isn’t quite ready after 3 cups. In this case, just add a little bit of water (about 1/4 cup at a time) and continue to stir.

Let’s face it, butter is outrageously delicious. So how do we get that buttery taste with just 2 tablespoons of the stuff?

By adding it last of course!

Once your rice is perfect, remove your risotto with dried porcini from the heat before adding your butter and Parmesan.

Adding the butter and Parm after you remove it from heat not only gives it the most butter-forward flavor, it also gives it the creamiest texture.

Truffle mushrooms are incredibly expensive and hard to find. They’re rare and take a long time to cultivate. But don’t fret!

Truffle oil, though still on the pricey side, can generally be found in your local grocery store. It gives you that truffle essence with just a few drops. A tiny $12 bottle lasts me a year (and I make this risotto with truffle oil A LOT).

It’s used as a finishing oil, so you won’t actually be cooking with it, just drizzling it on top! Heating it too much will make it completely lose its flavor.

In this recipe I recommend you actually add the truffle oil to each serving, to optimize its gourmet flavor.

How I Store and Reheat Leftover Truffle Risotto

This risotto will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but it’s best not to freeze it.

To reheat risotto, add ¼ cup vegetable broth for every 1 cup of leftovers.

Add the leftover risotto and the broth to a pot fit with a lid and heat over medium until thoroughly warmed, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes). If it seems too thick, you can always add an extra splash or two of broth as needed.

If you don’t have broth on hand, water can be used in a pinch, but you may have to add a crack of salt and pepper to bring the flavor back to life.