Chicken and spinach risotto recipe: a creamy risotto, with delicious fried chicken, and fresh spinach. All flavored in a delicious broth, cream, and cheese. An easy recipe without much stirring! This way you can make everything quite delicious, right?
Now that we have arrived in spring, we can enjoy delicious fresh spinach again. Full of vitamins and minerals such as iron. And because we are still early in the season and it hasn't been too hot, the leaves are beautifully young and fresh.
Now you can make delicious salads with it or make a nice stir-fry dish, but you can also use it in Italian risotto. And this recipe for risotto is even better because you don't need to stir continuously. Why? I tell you later!
And if you like risotto, make sure to also check out this delicious risotto with shrimp and arugula.
But what is risotto?
I think it's super fun to know what I serve on my plate. For example take risotto which, although it is really rice, comes from Italy. From the north of Italy to specify.
Each risotto recipe has five steps. It always starts with frying onion and, if you are going to use it, garlic in butter or oil. Then the rice is added and fried. The rice then becomes glassy instead of white.
In the third step, you add moisture. Broth, wine, or other condiments. The next step is to add the seasonings, like vegetables, meat, or fish.
Finally, you let the risotto rest for 1 minute, after which you add butter, cream, and/or cheese.
No continuously stirring
Although commonly believed continuously stirring is the way to prepare a good risotto, that really isn't necessary at all. If you take a large pot or frying pan, you don't have to stir that often.
In this post of serious eat, they've been experimenting with what is the best way to prepare risotto. They think (and I agree) that continuously stirring is inefficient.
And they found out that stirring is needed when using an original risotto pan because it's a narrow pot. The rice and liquids stack and you'll need to stir to keep it in contact.
But when you use a wider pan, that isn't a problem anymore and you don't have to stir all the time! I've tried it myself several times and it works so well. So my advice takes a skillet or a width pan and you've got a creamy and delicious risotto with less work!
What do you need to prepare risotto with spinach and chicken?
These are the ingredients necessary for making chicken and spinach risotto:
Do you use fresh or frozen spinach?
Use fresh spinach leaves if you can get your hand on them. If it's not in season you can use frozen spinach. Let it thaw before adding it.
Advised wines to use to prepare this creamy risotto
Use a dry white wine like a Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Grigio or Pinot Noir.
How to prepare spinach and chicken risotto
This is an easy recipe to prepare this creamy risotto with stock, wine, spinach, chicken, and cheese. You start by flavoring the risotto rice and cooking it on medium heat until done. Then. you add spinach and chicken and heat everything. Make it creamy by adding Parmesan cheese and cream and top with some pine nuts.
In almost all (traditional) risotto recipes wine is added. So it's a key ingredient and adds flavor. The alcohol in the wine will vaporize when cooking. If you really want to discard it, use some extra stock.
Yes, you can. But it's not recommended. The stock will give a lot of flavor to this dish, which water doesn't. So it won't be as delicious as when using stock.
Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!
📖 Recipe
VIDEO
RECIPE CARD
Equipment
- frying pan
- Large pot 10.5 quartz
Ingredients
- 10 oz. fresh spinach, washed
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 pound chicken breasts, diced ½ x ½ inch cubes or 1 x 1 cm
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, squeezed
- 2 cups risotto rice, like Arborio rice
- ½ cup white wine, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Grigio or Pinot Noir.
- 3 cups chicken broth, warm
- 3 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
- ¼ cups cream
- 1 oz. pine nuts, roasted
- ½ oz. basil
- salt and pepper, to taste
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
- Fry the spinach with adjoining water in a frying pan until it shrinks.10 oz. fresh spinach
- Remove the spinach from the pan and drain.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and fry the chicken cubes until they are brown and done. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.3 tablespoons oil, 1 pound chicken breasts
- Take a large pan and add two tablespoons of oil and fry the onion for about three minutes until they are glassy.1 onion
- Then add the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds.1 clove garlic
- Pour in the risotto and fry for 3 minutes until the white grain becomes a bit translucent.2 cups risotto rice
- Deglaze with the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan (to get all brown bits).½ cup white wine
- Then add 2 cups (500 ml) of broth. Stir briefly. And make the broth come to a boil. Turn the heat to medium. Leave it, uncovered and stir only one or two times in between, until all the liquids have been absorbed.3 cups chicken broth
- Add another ½ cup (120 ml) to the risotto. Check the firmness of your rice. If you think it's done, stop adding stock. Otherwise, add another half cup (120 ml) of stock and let it absorb.
- Mix the spinach and the chicken through the risotto and heat everything well.
- Turn off the heat.
- Add the cream and the Parmesan cheese and stir.¼ cups cream, 3 oz. Parmesan cheese
- Taste and season with salt, pepper and basil.½ oz. basil, salt and pepper
- Top everything with pine nuts, stir again and serve immediately.1 oz. pine nuts
Notes
- Spinach - You can use finely cut kale, escarole, or arugula instead of spinach.
- Cream - You could also use butter instead of cream (and it will even become creamier that way). Use 3 tablespoons of butter, unsalted, instead.
- Chicken - If you opt for a vegetarian solution substitute the chicken with 13 oz. (400 grams) sliced and fried mushroom.
- Parmesan - Instead of parmesan cheese you could also use Pecorino Romano cheese. If you want to add a more cheesy flavor use Gruyère or Cheddar.
- You can't store/reheat risotto leftovers. So eat it right away.
Nutrition
Stephanie says
This is the first time my risotto turned out perfect so thanks for the tips! The dish was delicious, satisfying and visually inviting (and full of healthy goodness).
Mary says
Risotto scares me but you recipe was easy and delicious. Love the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.
Giangi Townsend says
I love risotto, and when I came across your recipe, I know I had to make it for my family.
Delicious! Tender rice and flavor from the chicken, wine, and cream. The spinach added a great touch to it. A 100% thumbs up from my family.
Thank you.
Nora says
This risotto looks gorgeous, and makes a perfect meal for those busy weeks when I can't find much time to cook! Love it!
Audrey says
Very good! I'm always looking for new chicken recipes and this one is a keeper.
Nicole NK says
The fried chicken paired so well with the spinach in this recipe. I made it for Sunday dinner and everyone enjoyed it.
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
This recipe is easy to follow and a delicious meal. I loved the spinach in the recipe. I want to try it with arugula next!
Andréa says
It's really delicious!
Andréa says
Great to hear!
Andréa says
Arugula also sounds delicious. Hope you let me know how it tasted!
Mina says
It's so creamy and delicious! I love chicken and spinach so this recipe is just perfect! Can't wait to try it! Thanks!
Andréa says
It really is! Thank you!
nancy says
our family really enjoyed this creamy risotto recipe with chicken. It was so satisfying and easy to make.
Andréa says
It's indeed a really easy recipe! Thank you!
Andréa says
Thank you!
Andréa says
Thank you!
Gloria says
I can make a meal on rissotto. With the addition of chicken and spinach, I certainly can. The perfect recipe for date night.
Jacqueline Debono says
This is a lovely risotto recipe. Here in Italy we do tend to stir pretty continuously and use hot broth so I was a little hesitant trying your method but it turned out great!
Alexandra says
This risotto is pure comfort food, and my family all enjoyed it very much! We used arborio rice and sauvignon blanc for the wine, and highly recommend this recipe to anyone who loves rice dishes.
Melinda says
Chicken and spinach are such a great combination and the creamy risotto makes it really special. I'll be making this recipe for dinner again and will double it for a large crowd. It's so good!
Leslie says
This is a delicious risotto recipe! I love the spinach, chicken, and cheese combination. Such a lovely and comforting dish!
Dalya Rubin says
This recipe literally looks like my ideal dinner! I think I'll try it out with some vegan cheese since I'm dairy-free. Looks so delish!
Alexandra says
This is truly such a special, delicious and comforting dish. The risotto is creamy and flavoursome and works so well with the chicken and spinach. Ideal for a dinner party. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Elizabeth says
Love this recipe - so flavorful and easy!
Deb says
I made this vegan by using gardein vegan chickn strips and non dairy soy cream and cheese Divine.