Oh, the rotisserie chicken! How I love you. Especially now when I’m scrambling more than normal for dinners for the family, I’ve turned to rotisserie chickens more than a few times recently! This Rotisserie Chicken Risotto is a delicious twist on classic risotto and you can use the entire chicken to make stock for the risotto! Bonus!
Of course, there’s no rule that you have to use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe. If you have a quart of stock and some leftover chicken, that’ll do! But, if you’re starting from scratch and craving some Italian comfort food, a rotisserie chicken is a great start!
Making the Chicken Stock
This is an optional step, but since I had a chicken carcass, I cut off all the meat and tossed it in a pressure cooker with some carrots, celery, onion, salt, and pepper and set it for 40 minutes at high pressure. (Plus 8 cups of water).
It’s about as easy as homemade stock can get and is really delicious! I make this any time I have enough leftover chicken scraps!
Now, of course, use that delicious stock in your risotto which will make it even better!
Making Homemade Chicken Risotto
Risotto. Is. Not. Hard. It is actually incredibly easy. But, it does require a bit of patience. Before I started mine, I sliced up my rotisserie chicken which will be added to the risotto at the end.
Classic risotto starts with onion and olive oil. Cook the onion over medium heat until it is translucent and then add in the rice. Fry the rice in the oil for a minute or two which helps release the starches in the rice.
Then add some white wine to deglaze the pan. It will evaporate almost immediately!
Now for the slightly tedious part.
Add your warm or hot stock to this, one ladle at a time, stirring very regularly. When the stock is cooked down and the pot is looking dry, add more stock. Continue this adding and stirring routine for 20-25 minutes and you’ll use at least a quart of stock before the rice is even close to done.
Somewhere around four or five cups of stock, it’s worth it to start tasting the risotto. Finished risotto isn’t mushy. It still has a little chew to it, but it’s not crunchy at all. Also, all the starch on the rice will start to make a creamy sauce on the risotto.
My version is getting close here, but needed another cup or so of stock.
Near the end, you can stir in the Parmesan cheese and chicken. When you add ingredients, you’ll probably want to add another ladle of stock so the rice doesn’t get too dry. This is looking good though!
Serve the finished risotto immediately garnished with fresh thyme and season it to taste with salt and pepper.
Homemade risotto is a special comfort food that is actually easy to make. Anybody can do it if you can stir and ladle!
- Have leftover rotisserie chicken? Shred it and use it in this Crunchy Chicken Salad!
Storing Leftover Risotto
Risotto keeps great in the fridge for 5 days or so. It will basically turn into a block in the fridge so reheat it gently over low heat with a splash of stock or water and it’ll come back to life!
Find some time to make some delicious classic Italian comfort food! This chicken risotto is a chicken dinner winner, for sure!
Rotisserie Chicken Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- ½ cup white wine
- 4-6 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups shredded or chopped chicken
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh thyme, garnish
Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock:
- 1 carcass from rotisserie chicken
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 onion, quartered
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 8 cups water
Instructions
- Heat chicken stock in a large pot until it is steaming hot. No need to boil it. In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and onion. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook onions until they turn translucent, 3-4 minutes.
- Add rice to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add white wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up any bits.
- Start adding 1/2 cup amounts of hot chicken stock to the rice, stirring constantly as you add it. Continue to stir the rice slowly as it cooks and when the skillet is dry, ladle in more stock. Continue cooking the rice this way until you have used about four cups of chicken stock, about 20-25 minutes of cooking and stirring regularly.
- Taste the rice. It should have a little bite to it and not be mushy or crunchy. Most likely you will need another cup or two of stock to finish the risotto but it’s always good to start tasting it earlier.
- When the rice is tender and their is an almost creamy sauce developing in the skillet from the starch on the rice, then you can stir in the Parmesan and chicken. If at any point the rice seems dry, add more stock to thin it out.
- Season the risotto to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately with fresh thyme.
- Leftovers keep great for 5 days in the fridge. Reheat gently on the stove on low heat with a splash of water.
- Optionally, to make Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock:
- Remove the meat from the rotisserie chicken and add the carcass to a pressure cooker along with other ingredients. Seal and cook for 40 minutes at high pressure. Then naturally vent pressure by turning off cooker for 20 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure. Strain chicken stock and use it in the risotto!
Kim Shenberger
Hi, Nick!
This looks great!
Have you ever made Risotto Balls (Anancini di riso) with the leftovers? FANTASTIC! Shoot me an email if you are interested and I’ll share my recipe.