Tomato Risotto

Few dishes are as comforting as a warm and creamy tomato risotto.

In Italy, risotto is served as a first course or main dish. Feel free to use it as a side dish if that’s what you are used to. It goes well with most mains.

While there is a bit of stirring, tomato risotto is easy to put together, with simple ingredients, and in about 30 minutes.

Leftovers are excellent for making rice balls, risotto cakes, and supplì, which are worth the small effort of making risotto.

The recipe that follows is adapted from my Nonna’s recipe. I’ve only changed the topping of charred cherry tomatoes and burrata, but that’s optional.

Find the complete recipe with ingredients and instructions in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Risotto Rice

Not all types of rice are suitable for risotto. The best risotto varieties are Arborio Rice, Carnaroli Rice, Vialone Nano, Baldo, and Roma.

Thanks to their high starch content, they all do an excellent job at keeping al dente while creating a creamy consistency.

If you can’t find those varieties, look for something that says “risotto rice” on the package.

Tomato Puree

You can make tomato risotto with canned or bottled tomato puree, sometimes known as tomato passata if imported from Italy.

You can substitute fresh cherry tomatoes for tomato puree.

Both are delicious. The tomato puree makes a more decadent, creamier risotto with more tomato flavor.

Cherry tomatoes make a lighter and fresher meal with less tomato taste.

Olive Oil + Onion + Garlic

Finely chopped garlic and onion are gently fried in olive oil to create a flavor base that gives plenty of flavor to this risotto recipe.

You can mince the garlic cloves for a more intense flavor or crush them for a lighter aroma.

Vegetable Broth

You can use store-bought vegetable broth or homemade vegetable broth.

If you want to make vegetable broth at home, you only need to boil a carrot, a stalk of celery, a halved onion, a couple of bay leaves, and a pinch of coarse sea salt in plenty of water.

We prefer vegetable broth to chicken broth so that anyone, including vegetarians, can enjoy this recipe.

Dried oregano

It adds a pleasant herby aroma to the risotto. Substitute dried thyme.

Fresh Basil

Fresh basil is an essential ingredient in tomato risotto.

We add it towards the end to preserve the basil aroma. If you don’t have fresh basil, you can experiment with other fresh herbs and spices, such as parsley, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg.

Parmesan Cheese

Parmesan cheese adds plenty of umami and flavor to this dish. It’s added at the end after turning the heat off.

You can easily replace parm with a vegan cheese alternative if you are vegan.

Butter

We don’t add butter to our tomato risotto. The parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil, and the burrata topping are enough. Avoiding butter will make this dish a lot lighter, and we prefer it like that.

If you want to add butter, choose unsalted or vegan butter and add it at the end with the parmesan.

Optional toppings

Charred cherry tomatoes: cut in half and charred on a grill pan for a few minutes.

Burrata: cold bits of burrata on top of the risotto meld beautifully with the warm rice and tomato sauce.

Note: traditionally, risotto is made with white wine to add acidity to the rice and boost the dish’s flavor. Tomato risotto, however, doesn’t need white wine because the tomatoes are acidic enough.

Find the complete recipe with ingredients and instructions in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

To a large saucepan, add the vegetable broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Keep it simmering throughout the recipe.

In a large skillet, fry a finely chopped onion in olive oil for three minutes, then add minced garlic and fry one more minute.

Add the risotto rice, and stir it for one to two minutes or until it becomes translucent.

Add one cup of vegetable broth, tomato puree, oregano, salt, and black pepper.

Cook the risotto on a gentle simmer until al dente (15 to 20 minutes). Stir with a wooden spoon almost continuously.

Add one cup of vegetable broth at a time after the previous broth is absorbed.

When the rice is al dente, turn the heat off and add grated parmesan cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and fresh basil.

Stir with the heat off for 2 minutes (this step is called mantecare in Italian).

Add more vegetable broth if the rice gets too thick.

Risotto should be very creamy, not too thick or too runny.

We like to serve it on a flat plate with charred cherry tomatoes and small basil leaves.

You can char the cherry tomatoes on a grill pan for a few minutes while the rice cooks. They add a pleasant fresh tomato flavor and a mild caramelized taste.

Optionally, you can add small burrata bits. The fresh and creamy burrata is a perfect match with the charred tomato and the creamy risotto.

Risotto is a nutritious and fulfilling meal, and you probably won’t be able to eat much else after.

In Italy is served as a “primo piatto” or first course. In the US is more of a side dish.

We recommend serving it as a main meal with fresh greens:

• Light side salad (cherry tomatoes, red onion, celery, lettuce, carrot, etc.)
• Arugula salad (apple, walnuts, parmesan, arugula, lemon, etc.)
• Fennel and orange salad (olive, fennel, orange wedges, pomegranate seeds, etc.)
• Shaved zucchini salad (zucchini, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon, mint, etc.)
• Or any of these 25 risotto sides.

Alternatively, oven-roasted seasonal vegetables are also great as a side dish to tomato risotto.

Try our grilled asparagus, grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, and roasted peppers.

Tomato risotto with cherry tomatoes

If you want a summer version of this recipe with a lighter feel, try making it with cherry tomatoes.

To a large saucepan, add the vegetable broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Keep it simmering throughout the recipe.

To a large skillet, add olive oil and finely chopped onion. Fry the onion on medium-low heat for 3 minutes, then add crushed or finely chopped garlic and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add halved cherry tomatoes and tomato paste, and fry on medium heat for 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to burst.

Crush the tomatoes with a fork, add the risotto rice and two ladlefuls of vegetable broth, and keep cooking the rice like in the main tomato risotto recipe.

Tomato and eggplant risotto

This recipe is almost the same as the tomato risotto with tomato puree.

All you need to do is cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch dice and add it to the pan when you add the tomato puree.

It would be best to have a larger pan for this recipe since the eggplant takes up a lot of space.

Tomato risotto with eggplant is creamy, nutritious, and delicious, and it’s perfect for a veggie-packed family dinner.

Check out our tomato and eggplant risotto recipe.

Italian rice balls

Italian rice balls are one of the tastiest meals made with leftover risotto. Shape the leftover risotto rice into small balls, coat them in breadcrumbs, deep-fry, or air-fry them, and serve them with our homemade marinara sauce.

This is a delicious recipe you can serve as an appetizer or dinner with a simple side salad.

Risotto Cakes with Salad

Risotto cakes are so delicious! Take the risotto leftovers and shape them into burger-like patties, then bread them with breadcrumbs and shallow-fry or air-fry.

Serve them on top of a simple side salad, and optionally top them with our easy marinara sauce.

This is an incredible way to recycle leftover eggplant risotto; kids will go nuts over this recipe. It’s too good!

Italian Supplì

Make Italian supplí, a popular type of rice balls made in the central regions of Italy, with leftover risotto rice. They are similar to arancini but a little simpler to make.

Riso al salto

Transform leftovers into “riso al salto,” a traditional north-Italian recipe made with one to two-day-old risotto around the Milan region.

It’s a large rice cake cooked with olive oil or butter on a pan on very low heat until it gets super crunchy outside.

Don’t rinse the rice

Rinsing it will remove the starch, resulting in less flavor and less creamy risotto.

Use rice made for risotto

Arborio, Vialone Nano, Carnaroli, Roma, or Baldo. If you can’t find these varieties, go for generic risotto rice.

Basmati, wild rice, wholegrain, or generic short-grain rice are unsuitable for risotto.

Add broth and keep stirring

Risotto requires attention. Add broth, two ladles, or about 1 cup at a time, then keep stirring often, almost the whole time.

When the broth has almost completely evaporated, add one more cup. Stirring helps the rice release the starch, which helps with the dish’s creaminess.

If you stop stirring, the rice will quickly stick to your pan. If it does, the integrity of the rice grain will be compromised, and the rice won’t retain its bite and consistency.

Develop creaminess

Most people believe that the creaminess of risotto is given by adding butter at the end.

This is not entirely correct. The creaminess is given by the slow release of the starch in the rice. This happens thanks to the correct type of rice and the gentle stirring.

Yes, you’ll get some added creaminess with butter. But the rice will be fat and greasy, and you’ll want to nap after eating it.

Starch is the star

The real reason why risotto gets creamy is because of its starch. While cooking, the rice releases starch gradually, then when it cools down, it tries to absorb it back, leaving behind a cream. So while cooking, we want to enhance this process rather than just adding butter.

As a first step, getting good risotto rice is most important. Then we need to cook it right. Toasting it. Stirring it. Adding broth a little at a time. If you follow our recipe and tips, you’ll get a tomato risotto that is creamier than most.

As a final tip, if you don’t find great risotto rice with a naturally high content of starch that will yield the creamiest risotto, we recommend adding one teaspoon of rice starch or corn starch towards the end. Try and let us know what you think.

Make ahead: tomato risotto is best served shortly after it is made. However, leftovers are great for making risotto cakes and rice balls.

Refrigerator: keep leftover tomato risotto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Reheat: the rice will get dry and compact as it sits in the fridge. You can reheat it with a dash of water in the microwave.

Freezer: not suitable for freezing.

If you love creamy risotto, take a look at our best risotto recipes. They’re all made with simple ingredients and bold flavors:

• Zucchini risotto with shredded zucchini.
• Asparagus risotto: vibrant and green.
• Saffron risotto: bright and yellow.
• Vegan risotto with 4 different veggies.
• Eggplant risotto with tender cubes of eggplant.
• Risotto cakes made from leftover risotto.
• Rice balls: another idea for using risotto leftovers.

Take your pick at these tomato recipes for a flavorful and wholesome meal:

• Tomato Bruschetta
• Cherry tomato pasta
• Slow-cooked tomato confit
• Pan con tomate
• Stuffed tomatoes (coming soon)