Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto

This butternut squash risotto is a stunner! The sweet squash contrasts against the ultra creamy rice, savory Parmesan and earthy sage.

The smell alone of this butternut squash risotto bubbling away is reason enough to cancel all your plans and make this recipe! The tender, caramelized roasted squash makes sweet pockets in the creamy Parmesan rice dotted with sage. And that smell of shallots sauteing in butter, with a splash of white wine? DIVINE. Alex and I have officially decided that this will be our inaugural fall meal every year. But the great thing about this risotto is that it works all fall and winter long. It’s a perfect vegetarian dinner recipe for entertaining.

Why everyone should make a risotto at least once

When Alex and I first started cooking together, I thought risotto was an ingredient: like something that came in a box. But when I checked the shelves at the grocery, I couldn’t find anything labeled “risotto”. Come to find out that it’s actually a dish made with a specific type of rice: arborio rice! Arborio rice is a short grain rice that takes on a creamy texture when it’s cooked with broth. Of course, you probably already knew this.

Risotto sounds fancy: like it’s something you should order in a restaurant, not make at home. But turns out: it’s not as hard as you think! Making risotto at home is relatively easy and seriously satisfying. You’ll see that by cooking the risotto gently and adding a few ladles of broth at a time, it takes on that luxuriously creamy texture quite quickly. And after tasting that savory flavor? You’ll immediately become a homemade risotto convert.

How to wrangle (cut) a butternut squash

The hardest part about butternut squash risotto? Wrangling that notoriously tricky squash! We’ll admit: peeling and cutting a butternut squash is not our favorite kitchen activity. However — the more you practice it, the easier it gets.

One of our favorite tips for peeling a butternut squash: use a squash peeler! It’s serrated, which makes it easier than a normal peeler. Here’s the serrated vegetable peeler we use.

How to actually peel the squash? Instead of writing out the steps, which can be hard to follow, we made you a video! See the video above to watch the process.

Tips for making butternut squash risotto

This classic fall dinner recipe is a must for a cozy evening in! It also works all the way through the winter: as a Thanksgiving dish or holiday recipe. Here are a few things to keep in mind when making it:

The most time-consuming part is roasting the squash. Dicing a butternut squash takes a good chunk of time even for a pro. Then you’ll roast it for about 30 minutes. If you’d like a shortcut, you could roast frozen butternut squash: we haven’t tested it ourselves, but it’s an option. However, we love buying butternut squash at the farmers market to support our local farmers: so to us it’s worth the extra few minutes!
You’ll have some broth left over. The main part of making risotto is slowly stirring the broth into the rice. You’ll find in this recipe that you’ll have broth left over at the end: that’s to be expected! You can save the broth to use to reheat leftovers to regain that creamy risotto texture.

How to serve it

Once you’ve got yourself a big pot of butternut squash risotto, how to serve it? We like serving with a fall-ish or wintery salad like our Best Kale Salad or Roasted Beet Salad. If you eat meat or fish, it would be lovely accompanied by roasted chicken or baked salmon.

This butternut squash risotto recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.