Basic Chicken Risotto Recipe: A Delicious Way to Use Leftovers

What Do I Make With Leftover Chicken? How About Everyday Chicken Risotto?

A warm, comforting dish like chicken risotto can be an excellent way to transform leftovers into something special. This recipe gives tender pieces of leftover chicken new life in a creamy, flavorful risotto.

Prepared with a few pantry staples, this dish allows the leftover chicken to be infused with rich broth, garlic, and parmesan flavors, creating a satisfying meal with minimal effort. Rice is slowly cooked to a tender consistency, absorbing the aromatic broth and harmoniously blending with the chicken.

Traditional risotto techniques are followed to achieve the perfect texture, with the rice stirred continuously until it reaches a creamy yet slightly al dente finish. Garlic and onions are sautéed gently to release their flavors before being mixed with the rice, lending an irresistible fragrance to the dish.

A sprinkle of fresh herbs and a handful of grated parmesan cheese add the finishing touch, enhancing the risotto’s richness and balancing the chicken’s savory taste. This simple yet satisfying risotto is a delicious and easy way to use up leftovers, offering a comforting meal that can be enjoyed any night of the week.

What do I love about everyday risotto?

• It is great when you can't think of what to cook tonight and need a meal in a hurry.
• You can make it every week and never make the same dish the same twice.
• Perfect as a starter, side, or main dish.
• Versatile - depending on what else you’re serving, devise a risotto that will work with it.
• Easy to prepare, and you can make a meal in 45-30 minutes or less.
• Risotto is rice, which is low in fat, has no cholesterol, and is gluten-free.

Online Source: Cookware

 I used to go to department stores to buy my pots and pans to hold them and get a feel for them. These days, I purchase most of my pans online and look for good deals. I recommend Kitchen Universe as a good source for high- and medium-end sellers. They sell many more popular brands, but you'll also find interesting brands you've never heard of before.

What's On Hand Every Day Risotto

My wife called and said, "Let's make risotto tonight." So I started looking through the refrigerator for available ingredients. I knew I had a box of risotto in the pantry and plenty of commercial and homemade chicken stock in the freezer.

There was even some leftover turkey stock in the freezer that I wanted to use up. You usually find plenty of onions and garlic in our house on hand; the remaining ingredients are leftovers.

We had leftover steamed zucchini, honeyed carrots from Maddie's birthday dinner, and a roasted chicken breast from a previous meal, with some incredible extra virgin olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese to finish the dish, and we were set to go.

At the start, I didn't measure anything except the two cups of risotto rice, so I needed at least 7 cups of stock. I used a combination of homemade turkey stock and commercial chicken stock.

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Whats On Hand Risotto

When You're Looking for a Quick & Easy Meal

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: risotto

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin plus more for finishing at the end
• 1 large red onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup carrots we used leftover honeyed carrots, chopped
• 1 cup steamed zucchini we used leftover zucchini, chopped
• 1 piece roasted chicken breast chopped up into bite sized pieces
• salt & Pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese Freshly grated, to taste

Instructions

• You can start by prepping your ingredients. This means combining everything and chopping the onion, garlic, carrots, zucchini, and chicken.

  You'll also want to heat the stock in a large saucepan and have it ready to add to the rice.
• Heat a large sauté pan, or maybe you are using a large pot, but it is essential to get it hot before you add the oil.
• When the oil is hot, add the onion and sauté for a few minutes until it turns translucent. I cook this at medium heat on my gas stove top.
• Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or two.

  Be sure to continuously stir the onion and garlic so they don't burn.
• Move the onion and garlic to the sides of the pan and add the Arborio rice.
• Sauté for a few minutes to slightly toast the rice, and then combine the rice with the onion/garlic.
• Start adding the hot broth to the rice one cup at a time, stirring continuously until it is absorbed by the rice before adding more. If the rice starts sticking to the bottom of the pan, turn down the heat a little and keep stirring.
• Add the carrots, zucchini, and chicken to heat through when just one cup of stock remains. Add the rest of the stock and keep stirring.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

  If you taste the rice and think it needs more time, add hot water until the risotto reaches your desired creaminess.
• Serve in individual plates topped with extra virgin olive oil and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

This a great meal that's easy to make and a fabulous way to clean out the refrigerator.

Some of My Favorite Pasta Recipes