Roasted Sweet Potato and Spinach Risotto
Updated March 26, 2019
I think it is cold almost everywhere right now. If it is warm where you are, can I come visit? I wish I could hibernate for the winter, but every day I am forced to face the frigid temperatures. The only thing that seems to help ease the winter blues for me is warm, comforting meals. Risotto is one of my favorite comfort foods. We recently made roasted sweet potato and spinach risotto to warm up and it definitely did the trick.
A few tips for making risotto: use arborio rice, an Italian, short-grain rice. Make sure you toast the rice in hot butter before adding liquid, this will help maintain a slightly chewy texture to the rice. When it’s time to add liquid, add it gradually. We used vegetable broth, but chicken or beef broth/stock will work as well. Only add one cup of hot broth at a time. Make sure your liquid is hot, cold broth will stop the risotto from cooking. Stir, stir, stir! You will need to stir the risotto frequently to help release the rice’s starch. You don’t have to become attached to the pot for 30 minutes, but don’t walk away for long, the risotto will need your attention, so plan on becoming good friends. Use a high quality Parmesan cheese to finish off the risotto. You can taste the difference, so splurge a little and buy the “good stuff.”
Risotto recipes are very versatile. You can add vegetables, chicken, seafood, or even fruit. I really love the roasted sweet potatoes in this risotto. They give the risotto a hint of sweetness. I threw the spinach in at the last minute and I am glad I did. It added great color to the risotto. It still isn’t the prettiest dish, but it sure is the tastiest! Risotto is very satisfying. We served it as a main dish with a salad on the side.
If you are looking for a tasty way to warm up this winter, try roasted sweet potato and spinach risotto.
Roasted Sweet Potato and Spinach Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into ¾ inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 shallots minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- 2. Place the diced sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.
- 3. To make the risotto, heat the vegetable broth in a medium sauce pan. Simmer on low while you make risotto.
- 4. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the shallots and garlic on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, or until browned. Add the rice and stir until all of the grains are coated with butter. Add the white wine and cook for about 2 minutes. Add one cup of broth to the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until the broth is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the broth, one cup at a time. Keep stirring the risotto. When the mixture starts to dry out, add more broth. Continue until the rice is cooked, this will take about 30 minutes.
- 5. Remove pan from the heat. Stir in Parmesan cheese, spinach, and roasted sweet potatoes. Stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.
Have you tried this recipe?
Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram. Tag @twopeasandpod and hashtag it with #twopeasandtheirpod
If you like this Roasted Sweet Potato and Spinach Risotto, you might also like:
Butternut Squash Risotto from Simply Recipes
Sundried Tomato Risotto from The Pioneer Woman
Mushroom Risotto from La Tartine Gourmande
Saffron and Red Pepper Risotto from Sugarcrafter
This looks so good, maybe for dinner tonight. Beautiful and delicious.
It’s not cold here. It’s partly cloudy with a high of 62 degrees. Come on down and bring some risotto! 🙂
What a lovely seasonal risotto. Looks so flavorful and easy for a weeknight 🙂
Risotto is definitely one of my favorite dishes to both make and eat… this roasted sweet potato & spinach version sounds delectable!
What a comfort food! Great job!
I’ve never made risotto with sweet potato. I bet it is wonderful. Your risotto looks delicious! Hope you’re having a lovely weekend:)
You could come visit me – I would love it. Then you could cook this beautiful risotto for us. Love those chunks of sweet potato in there 🙂 xo
YUM. A perfect winter’s meal.
Yum! Looks like a lovely meatless dinner for the winter. We’ve got more winter weather on the way this weekend, so I will have to add this to the menu.
Maria, this looks and sounds wonderful. It’s going on my menu for this week.
made this last week, it was so tasty!
Hey! I literally just finished making this. its gorgeous!! I did mine with zucchini instead of spinach and feta instead of parmesan.
thanks for the GREAT recipe!
<3
I am roasting the sweet potatoes right now and will let you know how everything turns out. Can’t wait to taste it!!!
Just finished eating the final product. My husband and two sons loved it, and I could eat this everyday. Thank you for a great recipe.
You are welcome! Glad you liked the risotto!
Made this tonight. It was fantastic! I substituted chicken broth for vegetable broth and used 7 cups instead of 6 because I like my risotto very soft. I cut my sweet potatoes into bite size cubes but after 35 min in oven at 400 it was still very hard so I covered it in saran wrap and nuked it for 5 min-came out perfect. I will definitley be making this recipe again.
Just made this last night. I added a bit more parm than called for – yum! I think I might try to cut the butter a bit next time. It was amazing though, and i had it at work today (leftover) and I was the star of the lunch table. Everyone tried a bite and begged for the recipe. This was my first time ever making risotto. Thanks for making it so accessible, and for giving us such a flavorful recipe. It’s going to get a repeat performance in my house for sure!
This was delicious, easy and attractive in the dish. I added some diced raw red pepper, and that worked very well.
Love this recipe. Made it for my family over the weekend & everyone liked it so much they want it again. Thanks for a fabulous dish.
A wonderful comfort food for the winter, thanks for sharing the recipe. The key here is definitely the type of rice -arborio and carnaroli are most commonly found here in the US, but I love vialone nano rice from the Veneto, but hard to find here. You can learn a bit about the history of these rices here: http://www.italiaoutdoorsfoodandwine.com/index.php/food/veneto/11-food/veneto/16-risotto. We use the vialone nano rice during our cooking classes on our bike tours.
I made this for lunch today….and it was probably the one of the most delicious things I have ever had for lunch. 🙂
This is delicious! And so simple to make. The only suggestion I have is that you give more specific ingredient instructions. We grow a lot of our own produce, and our shallots are a lot smaller than a grocery store shallot, so I always love recipes that call out ingredients by weight, rather than “2 shallots.”
Thanks!
I made your risotto for supper tonight. I didn’t have white wine, therefore I omitted it. I added the parmesan only once it was plated as I didn’t want any. It was a hit, even with my picky son and husband, which went for seconds. I made blackened chicken to go alongside. Yummy! Thank you!
I’d love to see a picture (or read a better description) of how dry the rice should be before you add more vegetable stock in. I wonder if I’m waiting too long or not long enough when I make risotto. Well – I only made it once but it took quite a bit longer than the instructions said it would so I can only assume I was doing something wrong.
This sounds delicious and I’d love to try it.
Great recipe! Used kale instead of spinach, but works just as well!
This recipe was great! I can’t believe how easy this made risotto. Love the veggies too. And when adding the sweet potatoes, I dumped in all the oil and drippings from the roasting pan too. Yum. Thanks!
Glad you loved it!
easy as
How many does this recipe serve? I am planning to make this for 15-20 people
My daughter-in-law made this for Thanksgiving dinner and it is fabulous! Love the orange color from sweet potatoes, and the green color from spinach. It is a staple for our holiday menu now.
Looks great, I will make this tonight for 7 people. How much do i need? I don’t see how many portions this makes.