My great-grandparents were born in Italy so for as long as I can remember risotto has been a staple dish in our family. When my dad is the one cooking, which is the norm in my family, we have risotto at almost every gathering including holiday dinners. I even remember my dad making the Italian flag with his risotto one year by mixing tomato paste with a third of the batch and parsley with another third. I don’t remember who was at this particular dinner, how old I was, or what holiday we were even celebrating, but oh how I remember the Italian flag risotto. 
Clearly I was destined to somehow have food be a big part of my life.
But enough nostalgia for now… What I am really here to say is that I was slightly devastated when I first thought whole-grain risotto was impossible. You see, when we made the switch to “real food” I looked everywhere for brown Arborio rice to no avail. I even went almost a year without eating risotto (yikes!) until one day I saw a post from Deliciously Organic explaining that you can actually make risotto with just regular brown rice…it doesn’t have to be Arborio or anything special! You know how something can suddenly seem so simple when the information is presented to you like that. Plus this is such a great recipe to have in your dinner rotation because (similar to stir-fry) you can mix in almost anything you have on hand from veggies to seafood to meat in order to make it into a complete meal. And if you have some homemade chicken stock available for this recipe, too…then yum!!
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Recipe: Basic Brown Rice Risotto
Yield: 5 – 6 servings
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups brown rice, quick cooking recommended
- 2/3 cup white wine
- 6 cups warm (or room temperature) chicken stock/broth, homemade recommended
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- Suggested additions: roasted asparagus and proscuitto, shallots and mushrooms, spinach (cooked or raw), lima beans and bacon, cooked butternut squash, shellfish, rotisserie chicken, artichoke hearts, sautéed zucchini and yellow squash
Directions
- Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté for several minutes until soft (not brown).
- Add the minced garlic and brown rice. Stir for a couple minutes to coat rice with oil.
- Pour in the wine and let absorb completely, which will only take about a minute.
- Add chicken stock to the pan one ladleful at a time and stir frequently. When the stock is almost completely absorbed add the next ladleful and keep repeating until the rice is al dente (almost done). Keep a close eye on the rice and don’t forget to stir frequently during this process. It can take up to 20 or 30 minutes before the rice is done. If the rice is not the “quick cooking” variety it could take twice as long.
- When the rice is almost done add the last ladleful of stock (so you can serve it a little soupy), the parmesan cheese, salt & pepper to taste, and any other additions you’d like to include. Serve warm and enjoy!
I actually made brown rice risotto for dinner on Wednesday night! I knew it had to be possible so I tried it, and it worked out perfectly. I added some chopped spinach and butternut squash to mine and served it with pan seared chicken breasts. It was delicious! I will never use arborio again!
I never would have thought about making it with quick cooking brown rice! I’ll have to give this a try. Thanks for posting the recipe.
I love risotto but it seems so intimidating to cook! I will have to give this a try!
Thank you for the recipe! I’ve been eating wholegrains for several years now and have always ignored risotto recipes because of the arborio rice. Now I can rethink
You can also make risotto with barley, and it’s deliciously creamy! There is a recipe for it in the “Eating Well When You’re Expecting” book… if I remember correctly it was a tomato and parm risotto. Yum!
Is quick-cook brown rice a grocery store staple? We only eat brown rice now (thank you for the nudge to change from basmati to brown!) and one problem we have is the time it take to cook. It’s usually about 45 minutes start to finish. Not bad if you have other things cooking too, but when we’re making a quick stir fry after work, it’s problematic.
Did you know you can make brown rice beforehand? I cook dinner with 3 little kids around, and this helps me so much! I bake my brown rice in the oven, and make a big batch at a time (9×13 pan). I freeze it in ziploc bags for later. Then I just thaw it, and heat it in the microwave loosely covered with plastic wrap until warm. It works great!!
Hi Michelle,
I was wondering if you could elaborate on how you bake the brown rice, do you use quick cooking or regular and how long and what liquid do you add! This would work well for my family as we have an active 16 month old! Thanks :0)
I can always find the quick cooking brown rice at our local Earth Fare (healthfood supermarket), but not sure about the stores in your area. It might be a good item to order in bulk online because it would have a decent shelf life.
This sounds wonderful! I will be trying this soon…
I have been experimenting with a new pressure cooker my wife purchased. It makes a “killer” risotto using Arborio in 15 minutes. Looks like brown rice risotto will be my next venture. Thanks for the idea! (and the recipe)
I’ve recently been finding short-grained brown rice at places like Whole Foods (bulk aisle) and even the regular Megamart. Short-grained brown rice might have a little more starch and might behave a lot more like your favorite Aborio.
I also ran across a recipe recently that we’ve tried and love–Risotto made with Scottish Oats. You’d swear you were eating regular risotto but it has a nice nutty flavor to it and a bit of bite and it’s a whole grain.
To those commentors talking about cooking traditional brown rice quicker, it can be done in a pressure cooker–I do it all the time. Use 3 to 4 parts water for 1 part rice (you need the extra water for steam) and cook at 15psi for 25 minutes (as opposed to 45 in a regular pot). Quick release and drain/rinse. I’ve also mixed wheatberries in with the brown rice and it cooks in the same amount of time.
I’d be interested in hearing how the Pressure Cooker Risotto works out. Since brown rice takes 25 minutes under pressure, it should take slightly longer to get a risotto consistency and you’ll have to play with the water to get the “sauce” right without burning the bottom but it should be possible.
I actually found, of all places at my local walmart, short grain brown rice, and I also do it in the pressure cooker, but found it took only 14 minutes in mine. I brown some onion and other veggies in some olive oil and garlic, stir in the rice and cook it a minute or two, pour in the liquids and close up the pressure cooker setting it on high for 14 minutes. So easy, but I also have an electric one as opposed to a stovetop one. Best investment ever for cooking real food, in my opinion. I love reading all about your experiences with real whole food cooking, and have enjoyed many of your recipes.
Also try millet! When I cook this up in my rice cooker, it comes out nice and creamy with no stirring.
Have you tried farro? It’s my new dream grain and an excellent substitute for brown rice. The kind I have cooks fairly quickly (15 minutes or so), is organic, and can be found at Costco in some cities (though not mine). Also, it’s a whole food and still true to your Italian roots.
I haven’t…but sounds like I should!
Thanks to your inspiration, we had farro risotto for dinner last night. It was awesome. I posted the recipe to my blog today if you’re interested: http://tastycheapskate.blogspot.com/2012/01/farro-risotto.html
Just found your blog for the first time and have fallen in love with it! We are a pro “real-food” family and I try and reflect that on my site too. I’ll be sure to visit again!
I think you may have made my day! I looove risotto and since I’m slowly moving over to whole foods this is makes me so happy to see. Thanks, I’ll be trying this very soon!
Made this last night (nearly following your recipe) and it was great! thanks for the recipe and suggestion. This will be a regular in our dinner rotation from now on.
Oh and I served it with another favorite from your site – “The Best Whole Chicken in a Crockpot” and I will be using the broth from that for chicken noodle soup.
We’ve been eating real food for a while now, but I have completely given up on brown rice. What is the best brown rice to get? I like my rice to be tender, not firm or “crunchy” and I can’t find a brown rice that isn’t firm when cooked no matter how much water I add! Help! Thank you!!!
Have you tried the quick cooking kind yet?
Lisa, please see Alton Brown’s Baked Brown Rice, on The Food Network’s website. I, too, love fluffy, tender rice, and it just didn’t work on the stovetop, but after one batch of Alton’s brown rice, I was hooked for life. Now I buy short-grain brown rice (from Henry’s/Sprouts, in my Los Angeles area), and bake it to use with everything. Even makes an incredible Chinese Fried Rice if I bake it the day before and chill it thoroughly overnight to stir fry with veggies, chicken, and soy sauce for a delicious dinner; the texture is wonderful.
Sounded like a great idea. I had short-grain brown rice in the house and thought I’d give it a shot. I’m on 2 1/2 hours and counting…can’t recommend trying it that way, even if it comes out perfect.
Oh no sounds like it wasn’t the quick cooking kind!!
[...] Risotto Guidelines from AllRecipes.com and Basic Brown Rice Risotto description at 100 Days of Real Food give you an overview of this stuff, so you can go off in whatever directions you [...]