My Italian Wedding Risotto is a cozy Instant Pot risotto with aromatic veggies, bite sized meatballs, and lots of buttery Parmesan cheese.
Italian wedding soup + risotto = a match made in heaven!
I was inspired to make Italian wedding risotto by an email I got recently from Food & Wine calling out their 25 most popular recipes of the year. This gorgeous dish grabbed my attention and got me salivating on the spot. While I didn’t end up using their recipe, it inspired me to create my own version using my basic Instant Pot 6 minute risotto as a starting point. This unique risotto turned out great, I anticipate making it a lot in the future for company, or a cozy meal for two (Valentine’s Day is coming up!)
The Instant Pot takes one of the most tedious of recipes and makes it in 6 minutes ~ hands free! You will thank me for introducing you to this method if you haven’t tried it. It’s worth getting an IP just for the risotto alone.
what’s Italian wedding risotto?
Italian wedding risotto is a riff on Italian wedding soup: a simple rustic dish made with aromatic veggies, tiny pastina (acini de pepe pasta,) shredded greens, and bite sized meatballs.
No, they don’t serve it at Italian weddings! The name derives from an historic Neapolitan soup called minestra maritata or ‘married soup.’ It refers to the marriage of ingredients in this peasant style soup that uses leftover meats and inexpensive leafy greens like cabbage, chard, chicory, endive, escarole, and lettuce.
My Italian wedding risotto recipe has all the same elements as the traditional soup, except that we’ve substituted starchy arborio rice for the pasta, and cooked it up risotto style. Perfecto!!
what you’ll need (plus substitutions)
Be aware that this is a very simple rustic dish ~ there aren’t a lot of fancy flavors or techniques involved here, and that’s its charm. I admit that the meatballs take a few minutes to put together, but they are so worth it!! The rest of the risotto’s a cinch.
for the meatballs
- ground beef and Italian sausage meat
- the mixture of meats gives the perfect flavor and texture to these juicy meatballs. You can use just about any ground meat you like, including chicken or turkey.
- breadcrumbs
- I used Japanese panko breadcrumbs, but regular breadcrumbs will do.
- egg
- egg helps bind the meat together and keeps the meatballs moist.
- Parmesan cheese
- adds tons of flavor! Other hard aged cheeses can be used such as Romano or Asiago.
- garlic
- fresh garlic is essential in these meatballs. Only use dried garlic if you have to.
- salt and pepper
for the risotto
- arborio rice
- arborio rice is unique and there is no substitution for its pearly shape, firm bite, and the super starchy/creamy way it cooks up. Arborio rice is higher in a starch called amylopectin, which activates during cooking and results in a thick creamy texture surrounding each grain. Look for it right next to the regular rice in your supermarket. Personally I’ve found that imported Italian arborio has better texture than US brands, but experiment and judge for yourself.
- olive oil and butter
- I love to combine these two flavors!
- onion, celery, carrots
- the traditional aromatic vegetables in Italian wedding soup.
- chicken broth
- escarole or baby spinach
- bitter escarole is traditional in Italian wedding soup, but other greens can be used like spinach or kale. Slice them into thin ribbons and use as little or as much as you like and remember, big handfuls of greens shrink down to almost nothing when they hit the heat.
- Parmesan cheese
- or any nice hard aged Italian cheese you love.
the easy way to make your meatballs (you can do it ahead)
I use my stand mixer with the regular mixing blade to blend my meatball mixture. It does a great job of getting everything evenly combined and my hands are spared the whole raw meat situation. (Yes, you still need to roll the meatballs, but this helps a lot, trust me.)
the easy way to cook your meatballs (broil them!)
I pop them onto a baking sheet and broil them ~ it takes just a few minutes and they turn golden brown in no time. I do shake the pan a few times to cook them evenly and make sure they get done through (160F in the center.) This avoids messy stovetop splattering, and gives them great caramelization. Just keep them warm in the oven while your risotto cooks.
how to make your Italian wedding risotto in the Instant Pot
if you love risotto, you need to get yourself an Instant Pot. It will pay for itself countless times over with the endless restaurant worthy risottos you will make.
- Plug the machine in and press SAUTE. Press the SAUTE button until the screen reads NORMAL. This is the medium level of heat.
- Add olive oil, butter, and salt, then your aromatic veggies (onion, celery, and carrots.) Sauté them for a few minutes, stirring almost constantly.
- Add the arborio rice and sauté for a minute or so longer, stirring constantly.
- Press CANCEL, and stir in your chicken broth.
- Close and lock the lid. Set the vent to SEALING.
- Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 6 minutes.
- When the machine beeps that it is done cooking ~ don’t do anything for an additional 5 minutes.
- Then turn the vent to VENTING. When the pressure has released, open the lid.
- Give the risotto a stir, then stir in the cheese and the chopped greens. Add a bit of additional stock, if desired.
- Serve asap topped with the meatballs and more cheese!
tips and variations
To make ahead: risotto is not a make-ahead friendly meal, it’s best eaten right away. But the Instant Pot only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish for this risotto.
Make the mini meatballs ahead of time: refrigerate them and then broil while the risotto is cooking. You can even make a double batch of the meatballs and freeze them. This makes future Italian wedding risottos insanely quick!
Make it gluten free using gluten free breadcrumbs.
What to serve with Italian wedding risotto: a simple green salad and a crusty loaf of bread is ideal. If you want to get more elaborate:
- Chopped Italian Salad Recipe
- Fennel and Citrus Salad with Fennel Vinaigrette
- Rainbow Chard Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Cherry Tomato Focaccia
- Sage Focaccia Bread
- Rosemary and Olive No Knead Focaccia Bread
How to reheat leftover risotto: you can gently warm leftover risotto in a saucepan on medium low heat. Add more broth to loosen it up. You can also microwave individual servings.
more risotto!
- Instant Pot Wild Mushroom Risotto
- Saffron Risotto with Roasted Asparagus
- Instant Pot Cheddar Risotto with Fresh Sage
- Tomato and Parmesan Risotto
- 6 Minute Instant Pot Lobster Risotto
- Instant Pot Rosé Risotto and 9 other Rosé Recipes
Italian Wedding Risotto
Equipment
- Instant Pot Pressure Cooker I use this one.
Ingredients
meatballs
- 8 ounces ground beef (I used ground sirloin)
- 8 ounces sweet Italian sausage meat (if you can't find loose sausage meat you can remove the meat from casings.)
- 1 large egg, lightly whisked
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs. I used panko.
- 1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
risotto
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, cut in small dice
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut in small dice
- 1 rib celery, cut in small dice
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
- 2-3 handfuls escarole, kale, or baby spinach, cut in thin ribbons
Instructions
to make the meatballs
- Lightly oil a baking sheet.
- Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer (you can also do this by hand.) I like to break up the meat as I add it, to give the machiner a head start.
- Blend the meatball mixture gently until everything is thoroughly mixed, but don't over mix or mix on a high speed. You don't want to toughen the meat.
- Roll the meatball mixture into 1" sized balls and place on your lightly oiled baking sheet. You will have about 30 meatballs. Set your oven rack to the second from highest level, and broil the meatballs for about 5-6 minutes, until they are golden brown and cooked through (165F in the center.) I give them a stir or a shake once or twice so they cook evenly. Cover with foil and set aside. You can also keep them warm in the turned-off oven.
for the risotto
- Plug the machine in and press SAUTE. Press the SAUTE button until the screen reads NORMAL. This is the medium level of heat.
- Add olive oil, butter, and salt, then your aromatic veggies (onion, celery, and carrots.) Sauté them for a few minutes, stirring almost constantly.
- Add the arborio rice and sauté for a minute or so longer, stirring constantly.
- Press CANCEL, and stir in your chicken broth.
- Close and lock the lid. Set the vent to SEALING.
- Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 6 minutes.
- When the machine beeps that it is done cooking ~ don’t do anything for an additional 5 minutes.
- Then turn the vent to VENTING. When the pressure has released, open the lid.
- Give the risotto a stir, then stir in the cheese and the chopped greens. Add a bit of additional stock, if desired, and taste to adjust the seasonings.
- Serve asap topped with the meatballs and more cheese!
This was so delicious! I actually used frozen meatballs ~gasp~ just threw them in with the broth and they cooked at the same time. Super speedy prep! Otherwise followed the recipe exactly, and the risotto was just right. Hubby has asked for this to be added to our “rotation”!
What an amazing recipe – perfect risotto without standing over the stove! This is a great weeknight dinner, and even a picky three year old liked it!
Delicious and exactly what we needed. I needed good food, nutritious, easy and fast after a week that was just a lot.
I have a stovetop pressure cooker so pretty much followed the recipe and was so happy with the meal
That’s good to know it worked well on your stovetop pressure cooker, thanks for that tip Carlin.
Freshly ground breadcrumbs from fresh or slightly stale crustless bread will keep the meatballs from becoming rubbery – a little trick I learned from Martha Stewart herself during a conversation with her about meatloaf. I tried a side by side comparison – as usual, Martha was on to a good thing. A quick zip in the small bowl of your processor and you have fresh crumbs in less than ten seconds.
When I use fresh breadcrumbs I sometimes find they become ‘lumpy’ in ground meat mixtures so I’ve switched to dried.
I made this tonight and it was fabulous. I made it on the stove top and used 4 cups of broth and 1 1/2 cups water. Also had leftover mini meatballs from wedding soup in the freezer so it was quick and easy and delicious.
I’m thrilled you loved it Su!
This looks insanely good only one addition white wine which I always use in risotto and can’t wait to try the instant pot for this
White wine would be really nice, just add it after you sauté the arborio.
Just curious how much white wine you would add? Thanks in advance!
I add about 1/2 cup.
What if I don’t own an Instant Pot? This looks fabulous but I am resisting the purchase of another countertop appliance! I had to give it 5 stars for looks alone!
Thanks Colleen ~ you can do it on the stove top, I mention that at the end of the recipe. You’ll need to slowly add the broth, ladle by ladle until the rice is tender and all the starch has been released. You will need considerably more broth, 6-8 cups.
I haven’t made the meatball risotto yet. I have to clean the drool off my iPad first! Your photo is hunger inducing! Thanx I will definitely be making!
Be careful, you’ll need that iPad to pull up the recipe 😉
Are you saying 6 cups of broth will be needed for stovetop method?
Yes, that’s standard for risottos, and you might even need more ~ one of the many reasons I love the IP recipe is that you don’t have to mess with all that broth.
Dee, I made it with 4 cups of broth and 1 1/2 cups of water as I didn’t read through the directions and did not have enough broth on hand. It was still delicious.
When I make risotto on the stove I often mix broth with water because all that broth can be overwhelming in flavor.