Chicken risotto in the slow cooker?

I've found a couple of recipes on the net for risotto in the slow cooker but I'm a bit suss that it will be any good however I'm willing to give it a go :D Afterall, DH and DD are the only guests dining with me tonight :lol:

Has anyone tried a risotto in their slow cooker? How long did you cook it for? From what I've found online, the 'norm' seems to be only 2 hours on high. Does anyone know if this is right?

I'm thinking chicken breast, 4 or 5 button mushroom, 1 onion, 1.5 cups of aborio, 1/2 cup white wine, clove of garlic and chicken stock (500ml). I'll brown the onion and chicken first but then I'll put everything together in the slow cooker.

What do you think my chances are of this working?

:bump:

I'm about to try this out but any last minute advice would be good!

No idea T but can you let me know how you go?? :D GL!

Ooooh, I've been thinking of doing risotto in the slow cooker - would also love to hear how you went.

It's working a treat!! I must say I'm quite surprised! It's almost done so I'll be back later to update with the final ingredients, timing and the all important taste test. I've already had to add more stock though as I thought I'd use less as the slow cooker normally requires a bit less liquid but I didn't really consider that the rice would, of course, absorb it all :rolleyes: I caught it in time though, we could have actually probably ate it then - it was lovely! That was an hour in

Stay tuned...

Oooh sounds wonderful!! Let us know how you go :) I'm interested in hearing about the saltiness etc considering you had to add extra stock?

Another one waiting for the end result and of course the recipe :)

sounds yum...looking forward to the final review & recipe!

Total success!! :clap: I will be making risotto a lot more these days!

I needed to make some alterations along the way (like adding more stock) so it's still a work in progress but here's a rough recipe:

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- chicken breast. (I used 2 decent sized, free range breasts - for tenderness - but you could use less chicken if you like and thighs would also work well)
- 1 litre of good quality chicken stock heated so warm. (I used 500ml initially and had to top up with water after an hour. I tried 250ml but had to add another 250ml later. I then needed to add stock powder for seasoning.)
- 1 brown onion diced
- 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon of crushed chilli. (I used Masterfoods and it added just a teeny, tiny bit of zing. Totally optional though)
- 1/2 cup of white wine (I used Sav Blanc)
- 1.5 cups of aborio rice
- 4-5 good sized button mushrooms sliced
- 30g butter
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan (although yummy, I don't think it needed it and won't use it next time)
- salt and pepper to taste

Method:
- turn on the slow cooker and set to HIGH
- heat a tbs or two of olive oil in a fry pan and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the chicken and cook gently until half cooked (so it doesn't go tough in the slow cooker). Remove from heat
- in the same pan, heat another tbs or so of olive oil then add aborio. Ensure all aborio is covered with oil then add the wine. Once the wine is completely absorbed, remove from heat and add to the slow cooker.
- immediately add to the slow cooker the onion and chicken, stock and chilli and stir well.
- put the lid on and cook on HIGH for an hour. Stir a couple of times if possible but it's not essential (I didn't at all in the first hour and it was fine but a stir may be necessary)
- after an hour, check the consistency and stir. NOTE: At this point, I had to add more stock (twice) as I'd only started with 500ml and drop the temp to LOW. I would *think* with a litre of stock initially, 2 hours on high would be perfect but keep a close eye on it and stir randomly
- add the sliced mushrooms at the one hour mark, check seasoning and cook for another hour (remember to check every so often and stir)
- once cooked, remove from heat and stir in butter and parmesan. NOTE: This makes it rich and a quite cheesy. I'll be skipping the parmesan next time, it was superb without it :D I also added frozen peas and corn which I'd heated prior in the microwave.

Enjoy!

So next time I'll start with more stock and try 2 hours on high. If that cooks too quickly, I'll try 2-3 hours on low. I think one of those should work perfectly though!

PS: Starangelk - it wasn't salty at all, I actually had to add some salt! But I did use an extra 500ml of water THEN I added stock powder to adjust the seasoning as it was a bit bland then. I didn't have any good liquid stock left or I would have used that instead.

Thanks so much for this! I am def going to try it - yum yum :)

i'm going to give it a try this week. thanks Taurean :D

Thanks Taurean!! DP asked about slow cooker risotto the other day and I remembered this thread had popped up in the What's New search. Random huh??

I'm going to try it tonight!!

i'm going to try it tonight as well! DS has playgroup this arvo though so i'm going to try setting it on low just before we leave at 2.30. hopefully it won't get too overcooked!

Yum! I'm also going to try this soon, I have a corned beef in the slow cooker at the moment :)

Let me know how you go girls! Will be interesting to see which settings work best. :D

thanks for the recipe, sounds yum, I'll give it a go.

mine has been on low since about 2.20. just got home from playgroup & gave it a stir. had a little taste & it's yummy! have just added another 1/2 cup of liquid (water) as it needs to sit for another hour before we eat. i reckon maybe 3.5 hours on low would be perfect...wish i had a 'keep warm' setting on my SC.

i'm thinking i might cook some bacon just before serving & mix that through as well.

Nice one Sloane! Thanks for the update!

Ah mine didn't work well :( The taste was fine it was the texture :sick: Rice soup anyone? :wall:

I put it on high at about 3:30pm and we ate just after 6. I didn't use chicken but put pumpkin in. I put all the stock in at once and I think that might have been my mistake? It was just so soft by the time all the liquid was absorbed and even then it was still quite runny. I added cheese to kind of thicken it a bit. DS wouldn't touch it :rofl: and DP ate it and said he didn't think it was that bad (not what he expected but ok) :rofl: Now I have HEAPS left over and I'm considering adding some breadcrumbs and trying to make those deep fried risotto balls I've heard about. (Because they're so health and all!).

I'm not giving up though! I'll try it again in a couple of weeks and add the liquid more gradually next time.

yeah mine was on just a bit too long in the end as well - bit gluggy! still tasty & with some shaved parmesan & crispy bacon on top it wasn't too bad :lol:

kaz -yum...arancini. blast, can't believe i chucked out some leftovers when i could have made those. grrr!

LOL!! Trial and error!!

Maybe I had it right by only doing half the liquid in the first hour and cooking it on high? :dunno: Ours definitely tasted great and the texture was really good.

Mine did also taste great an hour in with only half the liquid (500ml stock) so maybe that's enough? I'm going to give it another go soon and will update again.

We even ate ours the following day and both loved it again so there must be a fine line between right and wrong :rofl:

Sloane - thanks hun, could not remember what they were called :doh:

Taurean - will try with half the liquid next time. thanks.