If you’ve made “real” risotto you know that it can be a huge pain in the bum. It takes a lot of stirring and standing and babysitting. This risotto on the other hand takes a few minutes of prep upfront but once it’s in the slow cooker it’s all hands off! Make this for a side dish with grilled chicken and roasted broccoli like I did or eat it as a main dish–it’s all good!
You simply start out by dicing up some red pepper and onions. I like to dice my onions very finely and have more chunky pieces of red pepper. I only used one red pepper in this recipe but I think next time I’ll add another! I heart red peppers!
Then you add the onions, peppers, and a few other ingredients into the microwave! Yes, my friends, I said microwave. It’s one of my favorite ways to par-cook veggies. I prefer doing it over using a saute pan over the stove. For some reason cleaning a bowl seems so much easier than cleaning a pan. After the onions are softened in the microwave you’ll add them to the slow cooker along with plenty of broth. Then you’ll cook on high for 3 hours. And boom…you’ve got risotto! Told you it was easy 🙂
Slow Cooker Red Pepper Brown Rice Risotto
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 red bell peppers, cut into chunky pieces
- 3/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
- Red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Add diced red peppers, onions, butter, minced garlic, rice and 1/2 cup broth to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 4 minutes, stirring every 90 seconds.
- Add mixture to slow cooker that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Add in 2 cups broth, 1 cup water, 1/4 tsp salt. Cover and cook on HIGH for about 3-4 hours (mine took 3 hours and 15 minutes).
- Remove lid and stir. It should be thick and creamy. Add in cheese and a few dashes of vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Ideal slow cooker size: 3 quart
Hello,
I’m adding this to our weekly menu for next week, and can’t wait to make it! I have a couple questions though. We don’t use a microwave, so I plan to just precook in a sauté pan. Do I need to change the amount of liquid for that step? Additionally, if I increase the rice by 1/2 cup, by how much should I increase the overall liquid?
Thank you!
Sara
I’d use 3 3/4 cup of liquid total. And I would saute in the pan and then stir in the 1/2 cup of broth so the rice soaks up a bit. Then add to slow cooker and add in the rest of the ingredients plus the remaining 3 1/4 cups of broth.
Thank you SO much!
I’m sorry, just want to be sure…still also add the 1 cup of water? Thank you again!
yes that’s right
I love how your recipes include the slow cooker size. I have 4 different sized slow cookers and it’s so helpful to know!
Question…do you think this will turn out well with Jasmine rice? I don’t really like brown rice. Also, will the peppers & onions be too crunchy if you don’t par-cook them? I’m thinking of just throwing them in there w/o pre-cooking.
Love your recipes! 😀
Hi Ellen,
I have lots of slow cookers too 🙂
I have never tried jasmine rice with this recipe so I can’t say for sure if it will work. I would give it a go. But I’m thinking that it will cook much quicker than the brown rice. Also the peppers probably don’t need to be par cooked but i’d be nervous about the onions. They seem to need quite a bit of time to get soft.
hope this helps!
Karen
Thanks for the quick response! 😀