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This pumpkin risotto is creamy, golden, and delicious. Making risotto is so much easier than you think and this is such a delicious staple during the colder Autumnal months. The sweet roasted pumpkin gets blended and stirred through the risotto giving the most delicious and decadent risotto. It’s so easy and creamy. It’s finished with slices of roasted pumpkin, crispy sage and pancetta for maximum flavour.
Pumpkin risotto takes the naturally sweet, nutty flavour of pumpkin and balances it with salty pancetta, earthy sage, and rich Parmesan. Unlike pumpkin soup, where texture is silky and light, risotto gives you creamy comfort with a bit of bite from the rice.
The secret is in the technique: stirring in hot stock one ladle at a time releases the starches slowly, creating that luscious texture without cream overload.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- It is full of flavour thanks to the delicious combination of pancetta, garlic, sage and pumpkin.
- It is ready in under an hour and feels so luxurious for a midweek meal.
- It’s delicious and has perfect texture from the blended pumpkin purée.
- Is easily adaptable for vegetarians.
Ingredients:
Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down!
Stock – don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be homemade! A cube popped into some boiling water is what I do. You can use chicken or vegetable, depending on whether you need this risotto to be vegetarian or not.
Risotto rice – I like arborio rice, but carnaroli rice is a little firmer and works too. The shorter grains of risotto rice have more starch, which is released when stirring to create the right texture.
Pumpkin – usually one small pumpkin is enough but I know sizes vary so I have given a weight to make this easier. I would probably just roast all the pumpkin off at once and use the rest in salads or in my chilli butternut soup (just swap the butternut for pumpkin).
Substitutions and Variations:
Make it vegetarian: Leave out the pancetta and crisp the sage leaves in the olive oil as listed as well as a generous knob of butter.
Make it vegan: Swap the butter for olive oil, use nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan, and finish with crispy fried sage for the same savoury crunch.
Toasted nuts: A sprinkling of roughly chopped toasted almonds, pine nuts or hazelnuts would add a delicious crunch to the finished dish if you want to add some texture.
Parmesan: You can use Pecorino if that is what you have. Gruyère also works well. Alternatively, swap for a vegetarian-friendly cheese that doesn’t use animal rennet – you want a hard cheese with a relatively strong flavour (a mature Cheddar would work).
Here’s how to make silky pumpkin risotto:
Here’s a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page for detailed instructions.
ONE: Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan. Place the pumpkin cubes and half-moons on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil, season, and roast for 30 minutes until tender. Set the half-moons aside for serving.
TWO: In a large, deep frying pan over medium heat, fry the pancetta cubes until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.
THREE: Add the sage leaves and fry until crisp, then remove and drain on kitchen paper.
FOUR: Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the same pan with the pancetta fat. Once melted, stir in the onion and cook over a medium heat for about 7 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
FIVE: Stir in the rice. Cook for 1–2 minutes, coating the grains in the buttery onions.
SIX: Pour in a ladle of hot stock and stir constantly until absorbed. Continue adding stock, one ladle at a time, stirring often, until the rice is just cooked and creamy (18–22 minutes).
SEVEN: Blitz the roasted pumpkin cubes (not the half-moons) with the double cream until smooth, adding a splash of stock if needed. Season well.
EIGHT: Stir the blended pumpkin, Parmesan, butter, and crispy pancetta into the risotto. Season to taste.
Cooking Tips:
Keep your stock hot: Cold stock stops the rice cooking evenly and can make the dish stodgy.
Don’t rush: Adding stock slowly and stirring often is what gives risotto its velvety texture.
Season as you go: Pumpkin is naturally sweet; balance it with enough salt and pepper or you risk it being too sweet, which I hate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, canned pumpkin works if you’re short on time. Use about 250 g purée in place of the roasted cubes, and stir it in with the Parmesan and butter. Taste and adjust seasoning. It must be unsweetened pumpkin.
To reheat leftovers, either use the microwave or for best results, I would add it back to a pan with a splash of boiling water/stock. Heat over medium until piping hot and saucy all the way through. A knob of butter helps it turn thick and luscious again.
Yes! Although, of course, you do have to be careful with rice. When I worked in a restaurant, we would always make our risottos ahead of service. You simply cook the rice until it is 90% done (you want it to still have some crunch), then remove from the heat, cool quickly, cover and chill. You can do this up to 3 days in advance. When you want to serve it, pop the rice back in the pan and set over a low heat, slowly adding hot stock until it is ready. Finish with the butter & parm and tuck in!
Other recipes you might enjoy:
For more risotto recipes, you might like my asparagus risotto, courgette & parmesan risotto or my even my creamy tomato mascarpone orzo. For more weeknight recipes, try my lemony one-pan Greek chicken or tomato bean stew.
Side Dishes
Maple and Butter Glazed Carrots
Easy Pasta Recipes
Creamy Butternut Pasta with Crispy Sage
Easy Pasta Recipes
Pasta with Cherry Tomato Sauce
If you tried this Pumpkin Risotto or any other recipe on the site, please do leave a rating or comment and let us know how it went!
Ultimate Pumpkin Risotto
Ingredients
- 500 g peeled and deseeded pumpkin, cut half into cubes, half into thin half-moons
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 180 g risotto rice
- 1 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock
- 3 tbsp double cream
- 100 g pancetta cubes, optional
- 50 g Parmesan, grated
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A few sage leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan. Place the pumpkin cubes and half-moons on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil, season, and roast for 30 minutes until tender. Set the half-moons aside for serving.
- In a large, deep frying pan over medium heat, fry the pancetta cubes until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan. (Skip this step if making this vegetarian and instead add the 1 tbsp olive oil here and 25g butter.) Add the sage leaves and fry until crisp, then remove and drain on kitchen paper.
- Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the same pan with the pancetta fat. Once melted, stir in the onion and cook over a medium heat for about 7 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the rice. Cook for 1–2 minutes, coating the grains in the buttery onions.
- Pour in a ladle of hot stock and stir constantly until absorbed. Continue adding stock, one ladle at a time, stirring often, until the rice is just cooked and creamy (18–22 minutes).
- Blitz the roasted pumpkin cubes (not the half-moons) with the double cream until smooth, adding a splash of stock if needed. Season well.
- Stir the blended pumpkin, Parmesan, butter, and crispy pancetta into the risotto. Season to taste.
- Spoon the risotto into bowls and top with the roasted pumpkin half-moons, fried sage leaves, and a little more Parmesan. For extra richness, melt a knob of butter with chopped herbs and drizzle over the top.
- The video below will help with this recipe.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This creamy, silky pumpkin risotto is so good, it’s luscious and sweet but with rich, deep flavour. It’s an autumn favourite of mine.