May is officially Asparagus month. And this easy chicken and asparagus risotto is one of my favourite ways to use this tasty veggie. The risotto is so creamy and the succulent chicken and juicy asparagus come together beautifully to make every mouthful perfection.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Risotto of any type is real comfort food and we all want that cozy feeling from our cooking sometimes.
- This is a super easy recipe using just one pan, all you have to do is stir!
- Get creative and change the veggies about to make this chicken risotto your own
This is spring time on a plate. Although this chicken and asparagus risotto is comfort food it also boasts a lightness and just a gorgeous spring time flavour.
Even the colours sing of spring. Greens, yellow and creamy white. Away with the rich tomato sauces and in with the greens!
Ingredients for your risotto
Simple, fresh ingredients give you the best possible flavour of course. If you can get hold of some lovely fresh asparagus and have chicken thighs in the freezer then everything else will probably be in your larder or hanging about the kitchen.
What type of chicken do you use?
I’m using chicken thighs here because I always feel they pack so much more flavour than chicken breasts.
Add to that they are cheaper so they always tend to be on my list and in my freezer. I buy chicken thighs with the bone in, they are cheaper this way and the bone adds flavour when cooking with it in. You can easily remove the bone and use this to make chicken stock.
However for this recipe just use whatever chicken you have. If you have leftover cooked chicken you can use that too. Just add it to the risotto after you’ve added your stock.
What type of rice for risotto?
Italian risotto is traditionally made with Arborio/risotto rice which releases it’s starch and breaks down when cooking to a beautiful creamy rich texture.
However, if you don’t have any risotto rice go right ahead and use long grain or basmati rice instead. You won’t get the same creaminess but you will still have all the marvelous flavour of this chicken and asparagus risotto.
How to make this chicken and asparagus risotto
Like the majority of my recipes there aren’t too many ingredients involved in this dish. As for difficulty, there’s none.
Yes I know risotto gets a bad press with folks thinking it takes hours of constant stirring and adding of stock resulting in the loss of will to live.
But honestly, it’s a doddle. I’m in the kitchen anyway and all I have to do is add the stock a few times and give it a quick stir. Then I get on with other things.
By the time you’ve got your plates out, cleared the table of all the debris of the day. Does your kitchen table amass as much crap as mine does? Where does it all come from?
Alternatives
You can use peas or mushrooms instead of asparagus. Both go beautifully with chicken and make for a delightful risotto.
Use leftover cooked chicken instead of the fresh chicken.
Ring the changes by making this a ham and asparagus risotto instead.
Using leftover risotto
If you have any leftovers from this dish then use them to make Arancini Balls as I did with my Fish and Chorizo Risotto. They are super tasty and actually worth making a bit extra chicken and asparagus risotto for to be honest.
You can also turn any leftovers into a lovely creamy soup just by adding some chicken stock (a cube and water will do fine here).
Can you freeze this?
If all else fails then freeze your leftover chicken and asparagus risotto in a plastic box clearly labeled and dated for up to 3 months. Defrost completely before reheating and make sure that it is piping hot.
Looking for other risotto ideas? Then check these out before you go;
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Easy Chicken and Asparagus Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 8 chicken thighs skin and bon removed and chopped
- 10 spears asparagus ends removed and chopped into 2cm pieces
- 250 ml dry white wine
- 1 lt chicken stock hot
- 250 g Arborio risotto rice
- 4 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 1 tbsp butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 2 tbsp fresh basil finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pan and saute the onion for 5 minutes add garlic for 1 minute
- Add all the rice and make sure it is well coated in the oil
- Add the chopped chicken and cook for 5 minutes before adding the chopped asparagus
- Pour in the wine and let the alcohol bubble off before adding first cup of stock and stirring
- Keep adding stock and giving the risotto a stir when you do so till all stock used up and the risotto is creamy with an almost soupy consistancy
- Meanwhile toast the pine nuts in a dry pan for about 1 minute till aromatic and just golden then tip out of pan immediately or they will continue to cook and burn
- Stir in the Parmesan and butter and season to taste, remember the Parmesan is salty to err on the side of caution for the salt
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with more Parmesan and the chopped basil and a little freshly ground black pepper and the toasted pine nuts
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