Can You Freeze Risotto

Risotto is a great Italian dish that you can easily make at home with a couple of ingredients you can buy from your local supermarket. What makes Risotto a great dish is the texture of the al dente rice that would just make you want to have a couple more spoonful even when your stomach is already bloated.

Since Risotto’s main ingredient is rice, it can be a bit heavy, and you may want to save your left overs for later. But how do you do that exactly? Can you freeze Risotto and eat it after a day or so? Read on to find out!

What Is Risotto

Risotto is basically a rice dish that is sautéed in oil or butter. There are various recipes for making Risotto, you can make one with meat, vegetables, cheese, and even champagne.

Aside from rice, another main ingredient of Risotto is stock. It’s really all about adding stock to your rice until the rice is completely cooked through and you end up with a creamy and heavenly dish.

Saving Your Risotto For Later

If you happen to make a large batch of Risotto that you thought you could finish but can’t, I’m sure it would delight you to know that you can actually put your Risotto in the fridge and save it for later.

Unfortunately, freezing Risotto is highly not recommendable since freezing temperatures can make rice hard. Because Risotto is made from rice, most people would suggest that you eat your Risotto right away, and would even disapprove of refrigerating it since the rice’s consistency will no longer be as good as it is when eaten shortly after cooking.

But truth is, there’s actually a way to refrigerate Risotto and reheat it without losing the rice’s al dente-ness. Here’s how:

Step 1: Put your Risotto in a plastic bag
Step 2: Put your Risotto in your fridge and not the freezer. The Risotto can last for about 2 to 3 days in the fridge.
Step 3: When reheating your Risotto, you will need to boil a little bit of the stock that you used on your Risotto.
Step 4: Once the stock has come to a boil, add your refrigerated Risotto into the pot and stir it until the rice becomes al dente again.

Tips For Making Risotto

Though Risotto is fairly easy to make, it can take you a couple of tries to achieve the perfect Risotto. If you want to make better Risotto, here are some tips you should try:

Rice

When making Risotto, the type of rice you use can highly affect the overall outcome of your dish. The best rice you could probably use when making a batch of Risotto is the Carnaroli.

This type of rice has elongated grains and high starch content that will allow you to create a very creamy Risotto.

Quantity

Cooking rice can be a bit tricky, and since Risotto’s main ingredient is rice, you can easily end up cooking more than what you intend. Risotto is a dish that is usually made for two or more people since cooking a small amount of rice can be a bit difficult because of its versatility.

A good rule of thumb when making Risotto, is to stick to 80 grams of rice, especially when including other ingredients such as vegetables and meat. But if you plan on making a batch just for yourself, you should try adding rice that would amount to about 3 to 4 centimeters from the bottom of the pan.

Wine

Adding wine to Risotto is a great way to counter the fatty content of the dish. Adding a dash or two of wine to your Risotto and letting it evaporate and reduce will adjust the acidity of the dish.

Crispy Rice

To create Risotto with a nice crisp, you may want to try cooking the rice grains in some butter or oil at a high temperature for about 3 minutes. Doing so will leave you with an authentic Italian-style Risotto that will release the right amount of starch as you take a bite.

Stock

When adding stock to your Risotto as it cooks, you must keep in mind that you shouldn’t add all your stock at once. Instead, you should put in your stock little by little as you stir your Risotto until the rice is completely cooked. Another rule of thumb when it comes to cooking Risotto is that the rice should barely be covered with the boiling stock.

Cooking Time

The time you need to cook Risotto, will heavily depend on how much rice you use. But one good guide to follow is the 13+3 formula that suggest 13 minutes of cooking time and 3 minutes of rest.

To know if your Risotto has the right consistency, it must have a rather thick but liquid feel that would slowly and smoothly drip down the surface of your ladle or bowl.

Additional Flavors

The last and most second most essential step to making a good Risotto is adding some flavorful fat to it once it is done cooking. You should try adding some butter, cream cheese, or parmesan cheese to your Risotto after 13 minutes of cooking, give it a nice mix, and leave it to rest for 3 minutes with a lid on the pot.

Serving

When you serve your Risotto, it is ideal to use a cold plate. Rice is a very versatile ingredient, and keeping it at high temperatures can highly affect its consistency. To keep your rice al dente, you must remove it from high heat once it is completely cooked.

A Quick Recap

Risotto is a great Italian dish that you can easily make at home. Though Risotto is fairly simple to make, it can be really difficult to cook if you plan on making a serving for one. The good thing about this dish is that you can save what you weren’t able to finish for later by keeping it in the fridge, and reheating it for a couple of minutes in boiling stock.

If you liked this article, and would like to know more about food or cooking, please leave us your feedback in the comment box below. Until next time, enjoy!