This Instant Pot Butternut Squash Risotto is a delicious and flavourful take on fall risotto with crispy sage and butternut squash.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter – feel free to use a butter substitute of your choice like olive oil.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Shallots – use white or yellow onions if you don’t have any shallots on hand.
- Fresh sage – thyme or rosemary will provide a similar flavour.
- Butternut squash – try making this risotto with acorn squash or sweet potato instead.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth would be the best substitute here.
- White rice – you can try using another short or medium-grain rice of your choice.
- Parmesan cheese – nutritional yeast is a great dairy-free substitute for parmesan.
Crispy sage
- Butter – or a butter substitute of your choice.
- Sage leaves – thyme leaves would also be good although they’ll have a different flavour.
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How to make butternut squash risotto in the Instant Pot
- Add the first 7 ingredients to the Instant Pot in order.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Make the crispy sage.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Stir in the parmesan.
- Top the risotto with crispy sage and serve!
What goes well with butternut squash risotto?
What I really like about making this butternut squash risotto in the Instant Pot is how quickly it comes together. It’s a dump dinner through and through, since you don’t need to do a whole bunch of extra steps like roasting the squash in the oven!
This dish is great on its own, but if you're looking to add some extra sides to this dinner while your risotto is cooking, here are some easy add-ons:
- Side salad
- Roasted broccoli or cauliflower
- Sautéed spinach
- Crusty bread
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re looking to add a bit of extra protein to your dish, try searing some scallops and serving them on top of the risotto! This dish would also be good with fish, chicken or steak. Since butternut squash has such a mild flavour, it’ll go with pretty much anything.
Technically, this butternut squash isn’t a true risotto since it doesn’t use arborio rice, but it’s just as good! It uses white rice, garlic, shallots, fresh sage, butternut squash, chicken broth and parmesan cheese.
In terms of the rice, I like to use white rice for the Instant Pot method – 1 cup of rice and 1 ¾ cup of broth will give you a creamy rice that isn't too liquid-y. You can swap out the white rice for another short or medium-grain rice of your choice, but it might alter the cooking time.
Storing and reheating
You can store this risotto in the fridge up to 5 days. I recommend storing individual serving sizes in glass meal prep bowls so all you have to do is pull a container out of the fridge and microwave it for 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle some water over top beforehand so the risotto doesn't dry out. You can even fry up some crispy sage leaves and add them on top.
Can you freeze butternut squash risotto?
You sure can! This butternut squash risotto can be frozen for up to 3 months in airtight glass containers. Reheat it in the microwave from frozen for 6 to 7 minutes or defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat in a pan on the stovetop.
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More butternut squash recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- These glass meal prep bowls are so great for microwaving and reheating your food safely.
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60
is the version I use in this recipe.
is the version I use in this recipe.
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter divided
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 shallots, chopped
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
- 1 butternut squash, diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
Crispy sage
- 1 tbsp butter
- 8 sage leaves
Instructions
- Add butter, garlic, shallots, sage, butternut squash, chicken broth, and rice to Instant Pot in that order. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
- Remove lid when safe to do so and stir in parmesan cheese. Divide risotto among four bowls then top each with two crispy sage leaves. Serve and enjoy!
Crispy sage
- While risotto is cooking, melt butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat and add sage leaves in a single row once butter starts bubbling. Cook for 30 seconds until leaves crisp up, then drain on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
KC says
Hello!
Is there another way to measure for butternut squash in this recipe (using cup or weight measurements) ?
I have purchased and grown butternut squash that are all over the place on size and weight.
This looks yummy, I must make this!
Many thanks.
Taylor Stinson says
Hey KC – I think it would end up being around 3 cups of butternut squash. Hope that helps!
Rhonda says
Is there a way to make this without the instant pot? It sounds delicious but I don’t have one 😕
Taylor Stinson says
I wish I could give alternative instructions but I haven’t tried it myself 🙁
Victoria Cummings says
Just made this, and I used arborio (risotto) rice. It wss awesome!! I upped the cook time to 10 minutes, which made it perfect.
Thank you – it came together quickly!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed it Victoria 🙂 Thanks for sharing your review!!
Caroline says
What happens if I want to double the recipe?
Taylor Stinson says
You should be able to do so just fine 🙂 I have read that you don’t need to change the cooking time when doubling in the Instant Pot.
Stacy says
What cooking time would you suggest for using short-grain brown rice?
Taylor Stinson says
Unfortunately I can’t advise since I haven’t tried it myself 🙁
Jess says
I make risotto in the instant pot with short grain brown rice. I cook it for 25 minutes on high pressure with natural release. I would definitely make sure the rice is added first, because it needs to absorb liquid to cook, whereas other ingredients will cook in the steam. I haven’t tried cooking squash in at the same time as brown rice risotto: my recipe calls for stirring in cooked roasted squash after the rice is finished cooking, when I am stirring in the butter and cheese.
Lisa says
This is a great recipe- thank you so much! I cook some scallops too and it’s one of our favorite meals!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you love it Lisa!!! 🙂
Em says
I followed the recipe exactly, but the rice on top wasn’t cooked at all in 3 minutes. Probably because it wasn’t submerged in the liquid? I added more liquid, stirred, and put it back in for 2 more minutes. Hope it works out.
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Em – it is a tricky balance ensuring the rice is mostly submerged under the liquid. It should be sitting on top of the other ingredients but still as close to being under the liquid as possible. Sometimes letting the rice sit with the other hot ingredients for 5-10 minutes also does the trick.
Kris says
Can I use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian? Or will that change it too much?
Taylor Stinson says
Yes you definitely can Kris! It shouldn’t change the flavour too much at all!
Jesse says
Is there a length
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry Jesse I’m not sure what you mean! If you’re looking for cook time, it is listed as 3 minutes in the instructions.
Roxcy Melton says
You say that wine is a no-no, then I see it in the ingredients list. I do not see it in the directions. Did I miss something? Do I add the wine at the end or leave it out entirely?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Roxcy, I don’t see it anywhere in the ingredient list! Maybe you misread “dry white rice”?
Gord says
I did the same thing! LOL…..