Chicken and Pea Risotto

This one pot Chicken and Pea Risotto is total comfort food. Perfectly cooked creamy rice with chunks of chicken and peas. A great way to use up leftover chicken and easy to adapt with your favourite vegetables. It's so simple to make, and you can have restaurant quality risotto without having to leave the house.

Risotto might be the ultimate comfort food, and it's so simple to make too. Delicious, cheesy comfort food. Unlike some risottos that are a labour of love, this one is ready in just 30 minutes and makes use of leftover chicken. A great fridge raid meal too, as you can add a variety of vegetables.

Why should you try it?

Step by step

One: Heat the oil in the pan and then add the shallots and garlic. Gently cook for 3 minutes until softened.

What chicken to use

For this recipe we used some leftover meat from a whole chicken that we cooked the day before. If you wanted to use fresh chicken, then before you start the risotto, grill some chicken breast and then cut it into small pieces. Or you could fry some chicken in the pan before adding the shallots and garlic.

You don't have to use chicken either - this works well with turkey too or even use king prawns.

Why not try our Slow Cooker Whole Chicken recipe, and use some of it in this.

What rice to use

If you want that classic, creamy risotto then you should always use arborio rice, and that is what our method and cooking time is for. However, if you wanted to give this dish a nutrient boost, then you could swap it for brown rice. Please note that cooking times and nutritional values will vary though.

What vegetables to add

We just used peas and shallots in this recipe, but you can always add more. Why not cook some finely chopped mushrooms at the same time as the shallots - use something like shiitake mushrooms for extra texture.

If you want to give this risotto a green veggie boost, wilt some spinach in at the same time you add the chicken.

Vegetarian version

Of course you can omit the chicken completely, or replace it with a meat-free chicken substitute. If you still want a meat type texture to your risotto, then tofu would work well or even small cubes of quickly fried halloumi.

What to with serve

This chicken risotto is a really filling and hearty dish as it is, so you don’t need to add much more too it. However, if you are cooking it for a few people, you could serve it with some homemade garlic bread and a big green salad.

How to store 

Risotto is always best made fresh, however if you do have some leftover then you can store it covered in the fridge for up to two days. We wouldn’t recommend freezing risotto, because the rice becomes really hard when frozen and the texture just isn’t right when it is defrosted and reheated.

Extra tips

• You can use turkey instead of chicken, if you prefer. Or even king prawns.
• Make sure you stir it every couple of minutes when simmering.
• You could swap the arborio rice for brown rice for extra nutrition, however it would change the cooking time.
• Give this dish a veggie boost by stirring in some spinach before serving.
• We wouldn’t recommend freezing risotto.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to really freshen this dish up.
• We used all stock in this recipe, however you could swap 100ml of it for white wine.
• We recommend using a good quality pot to cook the risotto in, we used this Le Creuset Casserole Dish.^(aff)

More risotto recipes

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog then let us know how you got on in the comments below, we love hearing from you!
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - we love sharing photos when people make our recipes. You can use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

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Recipe

Chicken and Pea Risotto

This one pot Chicken and Pea Risotto is total comfort food. Perfectly cooked creamy rice with chunks of chicken and peas.

5 from 17 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Allergen:

Dairy

Meat

Servings: 2 servings

Calories: 607kcal

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Ingredients

UK Metric Measures - US Customary Measures

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 3 shallots diced
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves crushed
• ▢ 125 g arborio rice
• ▢ 700 ml chicken stock
• ▢ 120 g leftover cooked chicken chopped
• ▢ 75 g frozen peas
• ▢ 2 tablespoon creme fraiche
• ▢ 1 pinch salt and pepper
• ▢ 40 g Italian hard cheese grated

Instructions

• Heat the oil in the pan and then add the shallots and garlic. Gently cook for 3 minutes until softened.
• Add the rice and stir well so it absorbs the oil.
• Add the all but 100ml of stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the stock has reduced.
• Stir in the chicken, peas and rest of the stock and cook for 5 minutes until the chickens has heated through.
• Add the creme fraiche, salt, pepper and Parmesan, stir and serve.

Notes

• You can use turkey instead of chicken, if you prefer. Or even king prawns.
• Make sure you stir it every couple of minutes when simmering.
• You could swap the arborio rice for brown rice for extra nutrition, however it would change the cooking time.
• Give this dish a veggie boost by stirring in some spinach before serving.
• We wouldn’t recommend freezing risotto.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to really freshen this dish up.
• We used all stock in this recipe, however you could swap 100ml of it for white wine.
• We recommend using a good quality pot to cook the risotto in, we used this Le Creuset Casserole Dish.^(aff)

Nutritional Information

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 607kcal | Carbohydrates: 76g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 902mg | Potassium: 804mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 518IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 298mg | Iron: 5mg

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DisclaimerThe nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.