Name: Instant Pot Lemon Pea Risotto
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 3 tbsp butter; 2 shallots (diced finely); 1/3 cup white wine; 1.5 cups arborio rice; 1 lemon (juice + lemon zest); 3 cups chicken stock; 1 pinch salt/pepper; 1 cup peas (frozen or fresh, up to you); 0.5-1 cup parmesan

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This Instant Pot Lemon Pea Risotto is a show stopper but secretly only takes a couple minutes to put together! Impress your guests by serving this pretty but simple dinner!

Risotto In The Instant Pot

I absolutely love risotto. I wish you could have seen my face when I had brought H to one of my favourite restaurants (because of the risotto… lol) for risotto but turns out it was on their dinner menu only. I was so disappointed! However, the waiter went to check with the kitchen and they had everything prepped for dinner service already so they were happy to accommodate our risotto orders!

Risotto is also one of my favourite things to see the chefs on Hell’s Kitchen cook during dinner service because of how angry Gordon Ramsey gets when the chefs f it up. I still remember one chef going on about how easy risotto is and how they really shouldn’t be messing it up so I got to thinking “how hard can it really be?” Well, turns out it’s not so much that it requires a lot of babysitting on the stove with the constant stirring. After that, I just decided to enjoy my risotto at a restaurant.

However, after I got the Instant Pot, I heard murmurings in a Facebook group of how easy it was to make risotto in the IP and my ears perked up. Risotto in the Instant Pot? I’ll bite. After a couple attempts at the liquid to rice ratio, I present to you… the easiest Risotto in the Instant Pot! This appliance really streamlines the process when it comes to making this Lemon Pea Risotto.

SO WHAT’S AN INSTANT POT?

I have the Duo Plus 9 in 1, 6 Qt Instant Pot. Actually, I have two of them! The Duo Plus replaces 9 commonly used kitchen appliances – Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice/Porridge Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Cake/Egg Maker, Sauté/Searing, Steam, Warm and Sterilize. It’s quite the multi-use product! Plus, because this is using the Instant Pot, it falls under the #OnePotRecipe category too! Minimal dishes! Win-Win-Win!

What You Need to Make Risotto in the Instant Pot

The ingredients are simple, this risotto recipe’s focuses on lemon and peas as its flavouring but you can very easily change it up.

butter
shallots
white wine
arborio rice
lemon juice + lemon zest
stock
salt/pepper
peas
parmesan

How To Make This Instant Pot Lemon Pea Risotto

On sauté mode, melt your butter in the Instant Pot and once it’s melted, add your shallots. Cook them for around 1-2 minutes, until they’ve soften.
Next add your white wine, give it a stir, then add in the arborio rice. Stir the mixture for another minute, letting some of the wine cook out before adding in the lemon juice. Continue to stir for another minute.
Add in the broth, some salt and pepper, and then put on the Instant Pot lid and switch the setting to manual pressure.
Set the Instant Pot on pressure for 5 minutes and then let the pot natural release for 10 minutes afterwards before quick releasing.
After carefully opening the lid, stir in your peas, lemon zest, and parmesan. Serve with more parmesan if desired.

Tips and Notes On Making This Instant Pot Lemon Pea Risotto

Do you need to rinse your rice for risotto? No. The starchy stickiness of arborio rice is exactly what you need to get that silky texture of traditional risotto.
Don’t want to use wine in this Instant Pot risotto? Replace it with broth.
Want to change things up a little? Add in a mixture of mushrooms such as oyster, and shiitake mushrooms in after the shallots. Boom, two recipes in one!
While I have made this to take to work, I wouldn’t meal prep this Instant Pot Risotto for the long haul as your lemon pea risotto will be much less creamy and smooth after staying in the fridge for too long. The longest I’ve kept it in the fridge was 2 days.
I use frozen peas for this recipe as the heat from the risotto is enough to cook it through but if you’d like to use fresh peas, that’s fine as well!

What to Serve with Lemon Pea Risotto

While this Instant Pot lemon pea risotto itself can be a complete meal on it’s own, here are some ideas of what to serve with it if!

seared scallops (check out my spicy honey garlic scallop recipe)
seared shrimp
crispy chicken thighs (check out my delicious pomegranate glazed chicken thighs or honey lime garlic chicken thighs)