Pesto Risotto, Roasted Tomatoes & Chickpeas - Vegan & Gluten-Free (2024)

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Bursting with flavor, this creamy vegan pesto risotto is the best kind of comfort food – quick, easy and delicious! Topped with roasted cherry tomatoes and chickpeas covered in Everything Spice, make the risotto on the stove-top or in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker for a fuss-free complete meal.

Thank you to Stahlbush Island Farms for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Pesto Risotto, Roasted Tomatoes & Chickpeas - Vegan & Gluten-Free (1)

What is Risotto?

Risotto is a classic Italian dish usually made with rice, hot soup stock and some aromatics like onions and garlic. It’s often made with a type of starchy short grained rice called arborio, although there’s a few other short grain Italian rice varieties out there like carnaroli. They aren’t as readily available in our local stores, but I’ve heard they make an even dreamier risotto!

The Truth About Cooking Risotto

If you’ve heard the same risotto myths as I had (that it’s really hard to make, takes ages, and will leave your arm really sore from constantly stirring) then you need to read this: risotto is really easy to make. It takes 6 minutes in a pressure cooker/Instant Pot and you don’t need to stir constantly!

As the rice cooks in the soup stock, it slowly releases its starches which creates that creamy texture. Essentially take everything you know about cooking rice (like rinsing it, cooking in cold water to start, not stirring, etc), and do the exact opposite when making risotto. We don’t rinse off the starch, it’s what makes the risotto creamy after all! Adding cold soup stock can cause the starches to seize and become hard and gluey, and the rice won’t cook evenly. Not a good situation. So, if you’re cooking it on the stove-top, it’s well worth the small effort to have your broth hot in a separate covered pot ready to go.

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Pesto Risotto, Roasted Tomatoes & Chickpeas - Vegan & Gluten-Free (3)

On the stove-top, risotto takes 15-20 minutes with occasional slow stirring. Not too intimidating, right? And it’s one of the coziest meals out there, really customizable and pretty economical. In fact, it’s one of my go-to meals on busy weeknights, but is just as perfect as a fancier meal when serving guests.

Serve Immediately!

Keep in mind that risotto tends to seize up and thicken if it sits for a bit so it’s best served immediately. I don’t mind it thickened or having leftovers, but it really is nicer served while it’s still saucy and creamy. If it does start to thicken too much before you serve it, add in a few tablespoons of hot broth to loosen the starches up.

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How Do You Make Risotto in An Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker?

Cooking risotto in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot is a dream and my preferred way of making it on really busy nights.

Sauté the onion and garlic,
Toss in the rice to toast,
Add in the broth,
Set to high pressure for 6 minutes, do a quick release and
Stir in the pesto, spinach, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice.

It really doesn’t get much easier for any meal. I find that the quality is pretty comparable to the stove-top method, too.

How Do You Make Risotto on the Stove?

Making risotto on the stove is also pretty simple!

Sauté the onion and garlic,
Toss in the rice and toast,
Add in the hot broth a 1/2 cup at a time, stirring at each addition,
Repeat adding in broth and stirring each time for 15-20 minutes,
Stir in the pesto, spinach, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice.

Pesto Risotto, Roasted Tomatoes & Chickpeas - Vegan & Gluten-Free (5)

Tips for Perfect Vegan Pesto Risotto with Roasted Tomatoes and Spiced Chickpeas

Whether you’re making this on the stove or in the Instant Pot, start off with preheating your oven and getting the tomatoes roasting. They need about 25 minutes. So get those ready, then move onto the risotto.
If you haven’t had roasted chickpeas before you’re in for a treat! I used Stahlbush Island Farms frozen chickpeas. They are perfect for roasting because they’re firm and not sold in brine. If you chose to use canned chickpeas, drain them and rub them with a paper towel before tossing them with oil so they crisp more. Add the chickpeas to the baking sheet for the last 15 minutes of roasting the tomatoes. If you like really crispy chickpeas, roast them on a separate baking sheet so they don’t come in contact with any of the tomato juices and let them roast an extra few minutes.
If you’re using an Instant Pot, get your ingredients prepped then go relax until about 10 minutes before the tomatoes are ready. As mentioned, risotto doesn’t like to sit around after cooking – it’s best served right away.
If you’re making it on the stove-top, start the risotto as soon as you have the tomatoes in the oven and make sure your broth is hot.
Add the pesto and spinach once the risotto is cooked. Waiting until the end helps preserve the basil flavors and ensure your pesto and spinach remain a pretty bright green.

More Easy Comforting Meals:

Vegan Cauliflower Gyros

One-Skillet Baked Greek Lemon Rice and Chickpeas

Creamy Pesto Risotto with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Spiced Chickpeas

Bursting with flavor, this creamy pesto risotto is the best kind of comfort food – quick, easy and delicious. Topped with roasted cherry tomatoes and chickpeas covered in Everything Spice, make the risotto on the stove-top or in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker for a fuss-free meal.

4.88 from 39 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: Easy Vegan Dinner, Gluten free Vegan, Instant Pot Risotto

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Ingredients

For the Roasted Tomatoes:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups cherry tomatoes

For the Chickpeas:

1 tbsp Everything (but the Bagel) Spice*
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
16 oz cooked chickpeas, drained and patted dry (approximately 2 cups)

For the Risotto:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ large yellow onion, diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups arborio rice
3 ½ cups vegan soup stock if using Instant Pot/Pressure cooker, plus more for thinning as desired use 6-7 cups** for the stove-top option
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan
½ cup vegan pesto
3 cups baby spinach

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

For the Roasted Tomatoes and Chickpeas:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the cherry tomatoes on the baking sheet, toss in olive oil and spread out in a single layer. If some are much larger than others, cut the larger ones in half but leave cut side up.
Roast for 10 minutes while you prepare the chickpeas. Toss the chickpeas, the olive oil and Everything Spice together in a small bowl. Once the tomatoes have been in the oven 10 minutes, remove the tray from the oven. Gently toss the tomatoes and make room on one section of the pan for the chickpeas. Place the chickpeas in a single layer on the baking sheet and return it to the oven. Roast for another 15 minutes. If you like really crispy chickpeas, roast them on a separate baking sheet and increase roasting time to 20 minutes.

For the Risotto – Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Method:

Set the Instant Pot to sauté. Heat the olive oil. Add the onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until softened and translucent. Add the garlic, cooking for 30 seconds. Stir in the rice, toast for a minute then add in the soup stock and stir. Cover and select the manual setting. Cook at high pressure for 6 minutes.
At the end of the cooking, release the steam with Quick Release, carefully take off the cover and stir in the pesto, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan. Stir in the spinach allowing it to wilt a bit. Stir again, taste and season as desired, and add more hot stock if necessary – it should be creamy. Serve immediately in wide soup bowls or on plates, topped with the roasted cherry tomatoes and spiced chickpeas.

For the Risotto – Stove-top Method:

Pour soup stock into a saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer, reduce heat to low and cover with a lid.
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy skillet or pot. Add the onion and sauté until it is soft and translucent but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
Stir in rice, and cook for a minute or so until it crackles and smells a bit toasty. Deglaze the pan with a ladle of soup stock. Stir until it is mostly absorbed, scraping the bottom to remove any stuck bits. Begin adding the hot soup stock, about 1/2 cup at a time. Cook, stirring often, until the stock nearly absorbed. Ladle in another 1/2 cup of the stock and continue to cook this way, adding more stock and stirring when rice is almost dry, about 15-20 minutes. The rice should be cooked al dente but not mushy. Constant stirring isn't necessary, but stir often to prevent sticking and to monitor when to add more stock. Turn off the heat.
Stir in pesto, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan. Stir in the spinach allowing it to wilt a bit. Stir again, taste and season as desired, and add more stock if necessary – it should be creamy. Serve immediately in wide soup bowls or on plates, topped with the roasted cherry tomatoes and spiced chickpeas.

Nutrition Info:

Notes:

*Everything Spice is a spice blend containing dried garlic, onion, black and white sesame seeds, poppy seeds and coarse salt. It’s available in most grocery stores in the spice section.

**use sodium-reduced soup stock for the stove-top option so the final risotto isn’t too salty.

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The Nutrition Information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the Nutrition Information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.

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This recipe was first published on Crumbs & Caramel September 06, 2019. The post was updated on June 26, 2020 with improved educational value and fresh images.