Creamy Mushroom Quinoa Risotto (Gluten-Free, dairy-free option)

Creamy Mushroom Quinoa Risotto recipe. A delicious quinoa dish made in a similar fashion to risotto, where chicken broth, coconut milk and spices are slowly added until absorbed and creamy.

This Creamy Mushroom Quinoa Risotto is my go-to date night meal. Not only is it savory and delicious, but it is also FULL of protein.

It’s creamy thanks to the way that the coconut milk and broth absorbs into the quinoa. It also has great flavor from the nutmeg and rosemary.

This quinoa and mushroom risotto is also very customizable. You can tweak the spices, add chicken, make it with nutritional yeast to keep it dairy-free, and make it with veggie broth to make it Vegan.

Note: this post was originally published in 2015, but was updated with new photos and a few recipe tweaks January 2021.

I love quinoa because it’s filling. It is a complete protein, and a plant protein at that! But lets face it. On it’s own, quinoa can be… well… boring.

The upside, however, is that quinoa is so versatile, that there are never-ending ways to use it to enhance a meal. And cooking it like risotto is my favorite way to eat it!

The quinoa becomes so creamy and tasty. I honestly have a hard time not eating the whole entire pot every time I make this quinoa and mushroom risotto.

This recipe would be a great one to get someone who doesn’t like quinoa to jump on the quinoa wagon.

Ingredients needed to make this Creamy Mushroom Quinoa Risotto:

• olive oil
• quinoa
• shallot
• garlic
• chicken stock ( or veggie stock )
• coconut milk ( or any almond milk )
• goat cheddar, parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast
• baby bella mushrooms
• salt and pepper
• ground nutmeg
• dried rosemary

As I mentioned, this dish is versatile, so you can use the broth of your choice. You can also use the type of milk of your choice.

With that said, you can use cheese or nutritional yeast in this recipe. Both taste amazing. I personally like adding nutritional yeast whether I am adding cheese or not. It adds a great flavor to the dish.

How to make quinoa and mushroom risotto:

To start, you need to sautée the shallot and garlic in a pab. Then, you add the quinoa to the pan.

Next you pour some coconut milk into the pan and let the quinoa absorb it.

Then, slowly add the chicken stock to the quinoa and add more every time the quinoa absorbs it. Around the half-way point, add the nutmeg, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Make sure to keep an eye on the quinoa, sometimes the liquid absorbs faster than expected and vice versa.

While the quinoa is cooking, sautée the mushrooms in a separate pan. I like to sautée them until they have been browned and shrink in size. But make sure to cook them to your liking.

Once the quinoa is nice and creamy and has softened, you add the sautéed mushrooms to the pot, along with the cheese or nutritional yeast.

How to serve this Creamy Mushroom Quinoa Risotto:

I like serving this mushroom quinoa risotto along side grilled chicken and broccoli.

If I am making chicken, I like to grill it with rosemary and garlic, to match the flavors of the risotto.

I also like serving it with garlic steak and asparagus. SO good.

Dietary tweaks that can be made:

To make this mushroom quinoa risotto Vegan, use nutritional yeast instead of cheese, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

To make this dish dairy-free, just use nutritional yeast instead of cheese.

To add EVEN more protein to this recipe, you can use bone broth instead of chicken broth.

Other quinoa recipes you may enjoy:

Pink Protein Quinoa, Tuna, and Beet Salad (GF)