30-Minute Creamy Vegan Mushroom Risotto (perfectly al-dente!)
Dec 4, 2019 (Last updated May 14, 2026) by Hannah Sunderani
You won’t believe this mushroom risotto is vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free! It’s so rich and creamy, and pleasantly chewy with the perfect al-dente bite. This recipe full of umami flavour using nutritional yeast for cheesiness and loaded with balsamic glazed mushrooms. The whole recipe takes 30 minutes to throw together for a simple and easy weeknight dinner that packs a ton of punch!
Why you’ll love my recipe
The risotto is rich, thick and creamy, garlicky and cheesy without any cheese at all! It pleases all types of eaters including those with dietary constraints, but you’d never know because it’s so flavourful! The recipe uses simple whole food ingredients that I feel good about feeding my family. Best of all, it’s topped with pan-fried mushrooms cooked in balsamic vinegar really brings the umami to this dish.
All-in-all, this is an unforgettable recipe that you’ll have on repeat. Serve as your main dish, and watch it go down all too easy.
Hannah xx
The ingredients
We are using simple wholefood ingredients in this recipe, most of which you likely already have in your pantry. The star ingredients are:
- Arborio rice: The best type of rice to use for risotto in my opinion. Its high starch content effortlessly creates a creamy and pleasantly chewy consistency. I like to perfume the rice in a skillet by adding the dry rice to a pot and bringing to medium heat, and then pouring in the broth. It gives the rice a lightly toasted and nutty flavour. I’ve also recipe tested this with jasmine rice and it was delicious, but a little more watery. Brown rice did not retain enough liquid in my opinion, so although I love it I wouldn’t recommend for this recipe.
- Nutritional yeast: Also known as “nooch.” It adds beautiful umami and cheesy flavour to this dish without needing to use real cheese! This keeps the recipe vegan and dairy-free. I recipe tested this vegan risotto without the nooch and I really think it needs it for the best results.
- Mushrooms: I used cremini mushrooms in this recipe. They are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, infused with balsamic vinegar while cooking in a skillet. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll never want to cook mushrooms any other way than this! The mushrooms can be cooked separately in a skillet to speed up time, or in the same pot that you plan to use to cook the risotto. This makes the recipe a 1-pot recipe. My next favourite mushroom to use in this recipe after cremini mushrooms is oyster mushrooms and then white button mushrooms. The texture of these mushrooms varieties are nice and chewy given their higher water content, and they seem to take on the additional flavours we are infusing them really well.
How to make mushroom risotto
Contrary to popular belief, making risotto is actually really easy and straight-forward! Most people think of it as a lot of work, but actually the only daunting part is that you have to be close by to the pot to stir frequently. Frequent stirring will offer the best consistency for pleasantly chewy risotto. In my experience, if you don’t stir frequently you’re more likely to get slightly clumpy risotto and it’s more likely to burn on the bottom as the stirring allows the heat to escape.
So, here’s what to do!
(If you want to make this recipe ONE POT: start by cooking the mushrooms in your pot first. Then remove them and use the pot to make the risotto.)
Watch the How To Video:
Learn how to make vegan mushroom risotto with me on my YouTube channel!
So there we have it, a very simple Vegan Mushroom Risotto recipe that’s creamy, comforting and full of umami flavour. It’s easy to make, with just 10 ingredients, ready in 30 minutes, and minimal effort.
Certainly, anyone can make this easy risotto. Enjoy as a comforting dinner recipe with your loved ones, or serve for a night of vegan entertaining. This recipe is sure to please all eaters.
And, if you do make this recipe please let me know in the comments below what you think! I love hearing from you. And of course, tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #twospoons. Nothing makes me happier than to see your recreations.
30-Minute Creamy Vegan Mushroom Risotto (perfectly al-dente!)
Ingredients
For the risotto:
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- pinch sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup parsley , chopped
For the balsamic mushrooms:
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 16 oz cremini mushrooms (2 boxes), sliced
- pinch sea salt
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Add the coconut oil to a large pot with the onion, garlic, and sea salt. Bring to medium heat and cook stirring often until softened, 10 minutes.
- Pour in the arborio rice and toast until the grains become lightly perfumed, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the vegetable broth, starting with 2 cups, and adding more in splashes as it thickens. (I find 5 cups total to be the perfect amount!). Cook stirring often until the risotto is soft and pleasantly chewy, 20-30 minutes. Add the nutritional yeast and stir to combine.
- While the risotto is cooking, make the Balsamic Mushrooms: Add the coconut oil to a large skillet with the sliced mushrooms and sea salt. Bring to medium heat. Cook the mushrooms until beautifully browned and the liquid is almost entirely reduced, 12 minutes. Then reduce heat to low and pour in the balsamic vinegar. Stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the balsamic mushrooms to the cooked risotto. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and stir everything to combine. Serve the risotto in bowls.
Watch The Video
Notes
Approvals
Nutrition
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This recipe is a winner! We have a friend who struggles with a lot of food allergies and we were very pleased that not only could she have this, but that our guests without dietary restrictions enjoyed it so much as well.
Sooo good, so freakin good. I was worried with it being so few ingredients, but this was amazing, filling, and the kids loved it too.
So glad you liked the recipe Lauren and that your little ones enjoyed it too!
This is my go to recipe. The meat eaters love it, the vegans love it. It’s easy to make. Filling….delicious….what more could you wish for. Thank you.
So thrilled you liked the recipe so much!!
I made this tonight and it was incredibly delicious. This was my first vegan risotto and I could not tell that it did not contain cheese. I added frozen peas while the rice was cooking for some extra veggies and it turned out really well. I will definitely make this again!
That’s amazing Anna! The peas sound like a great add in!
Why coconut oil?
Thanks
I really like the flavour profile of the coconut oil and it works really well in this recipe, but feel free to use olive oil, avocado oil, or another cooking oil of your choice. 🙂
Thanks so much for including cooking times for each of the steps. I’m not a great cook and having an idea for how long things should take is hugely helpful! Like ‘cook until soft” means nothing to me really so having a ballpark time listed is super helpful, thank you! It makes me return to this recipe!
Aww I’m glad that was helpful. I always like to give a visual and timing as I think both are really helpful together! I learned that while writing my cookbook!
How many people does this serve? I think only I would eat it. Can you reheat? Am so iffy about reheating rice!
Hi Aimee, the recipe card indicates that the recipe serves 6 people. It can be frozen and also reheated and it reheats very well. You’ll find those details in the notes section of the recipe card. 🙂