Chorizo Risotto with Chicken is a beautiful dish your family will love. A traditional risotto with the essence of chorizo is served with sauteed chicken pieces for an easy and satisfying meal. A quick sprinkling of chopped herbs and your dinner is served!
Risotto is a wonderful dish to make for casual family meals or fancy dinner parties. You can alter the seasonings and toppings to suit the time of year, such as using spring vegetables for toppings when they start to arrive at the market.
Most risotto recipes call for Arborio rice, a short grain that gives off luscious starch making the final product classically silky. But there is another short grain rice that I prefer and that is Carnaroli. You will find it in gourmet grocery stores, Italian markets, and sometimes at the corner shop. It gives you the same silkiness but holds its shape a little better giving you a touch of texture in every bite.
If you can’t find chorizo, look where your grocer sells other sausages. Sometimes this is at the meat counter (probably in bulk) and sometimes you will find them in the refrigerator case or freezer section (in sausage casings). If you can’t find anything similar, feel free to use your favorite sausage in its place. Maybe add a little chili powder and paprika to mimic the flavors slightly.
If you wind up with leftover risotto, go ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then the next day you can use that risotto to make fried stuffed balls called arancini (ar-ahn-chee-nee), one of the most delightful Italian dishes on the planet! They are so good you might want to make extra risotto just to be sure you have leftovers! Here is an arancini recipe for you to try.
Most recipes call for chicken broth but you can use vegetable broth or another flavor that you like. But definitely use a flavored broth and not plain water. The rice needs the flavor it absorbs for the best risotto.
Traditional recipes call for wine to deglaze the pan after sauteing the vegetables. Then you cook it down, stirring, until nearly entirely gone before continuing with the recipe. The essence of wine that has evaporated adds an indefinable deliciousness that you miss if you don’t use the alcohol. You can use more broth if you are avoiding alcohol.
The chicken in this recipe adds protein, helping to keep you and your family feeling fuller longer, but it is optional. You can switch it for another protein or leave it out altogether.
Give this Chorizo Risotto with Chicken a try and I’ll bet your family falls in love with it! Rich and delectable, this is a meal that will fill you up and leave you craving more.
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a star rating in the recipe card, comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #theheritagecook on Instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day and I love hearing from you!
Ingredients needed for Chorizo Risotto with Chicken:
- Chorizo Broth: chorizo, shallot, chicken broth
- Risotto: chicken broth, olive oil, onion, Arborio or Carnaroli rice,
- dry vermouth or dry white wine, butter, grated Parmesan
- Chicken and Garnish: butter, oil, chicken, chopped fresh herbs
PRO Tip:
There are two types of chorizo for sale in grocery stores and mercados. Mexican style which is sold raw, either in sausage casings or in bulk in the meat department. The second type is Spanish chorizo and it is dried and cured like salami. For this recipe you definitely want Mexican raw chorizo.
PRO Tip:
Stirring the risotto constantly (or nearly constantly) helps the rice release its starchy goodness creating the silky creamy texture we love. Without stirring you risk sticking and scorching as well as not developing the texture you want.
How to make Chorizo Risotto with Chicken:
- Make the Chorizo Broth: Fry the crumbled chorizo with the shallot in a skillet using the rendered fat from the chorizo for the pan. Cook until the shallot is translucent and has picked up the color from the chorizo. Add 1 cup (250 ml) broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by half; keep warm over low heat.
- Prepare the Risotto: Keep the chicken broth steaming hot while you make the risotto. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and sauté the onions until translucent. Stir in the rice and toss to coat with the oil then add the wine*. Let cook until absorbed.
- When the wine is absorbed, strain the chorizo broth into the rice. Cook, stirring, until mostly absorbed. Add a large ladle of the hot broth and stir until the broth is nearly completely absorbed, then add another ladle of the broth. Continue cooking and stirring constantly, adding broth and cooking until nearly absorbed before adding another ladle of the broth. It will take 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is cooked slightly al dente and tender to the bite.
- When the rice is done, stir in the butter and Parmesan. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.
- Cook the Chicken: Heat the oil in a medium skillet until shimmering. Sear the chicken pieces and turn to brown the second side. When they are done they will register 162°F to 165°F on an instant read thermometer.
- To Serve: Scoop the risotto into bowls and top with some of the chicken pieces. Sprinkle the herbs over the top and serve hot.
PRO Tip:
When adding the salt and pepper to the risotto, be sure to taste first because the broth, chorizo, and cheese will add salt to the dish and you don’t want it to be overly salty.
PRO Tip:
To make this even faster, the chicken is optional and can be left off or you can use pre-cooked chicken nuggets instead. A quick turn in the microwave and they can satisfy your little ones while you enjoy the risotto!
Recommended Tools (affiliate links; no extra cost to you):
- Kitchen scale
- Paring knife (for the shallot)
- Chef’s knife (for the onion)
- Dutch oven
- Strainer
- Instant read thermometer
- Wide soup bowls
Gluten-Free Tips:
* The major gluten-free organizations have declared that distilled alcohols are gluten free. Wine is also considered safe. For some very sensitive people wine may cause issues. In a few rare cases, wine makers may use barrels that have minute amounts of gluten in the caulk. If you have issues with wine, look for a winery that uses only stainless steel containers to age their wines.
All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.
Chorizo Risotto with Chicken (Gluten Free)
Chorizo Risotto with Chicken is a beautiful dish your family will love. A traditional risotto with the essence of chorizo is served with sauteed chicken pieces for an easy and satisfying meal. A quick sprinkling of chopped herbs and your dinner is served!
Ingredients
Chorizo Broth
- 6 oz (165g to 170g) chorizo sausage (medium or hot), removed from casings and crumbled
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 cup (237 ml) low-sodium chicken broth
Risotto
- Chorizo broth from above
- 4 cups (946 ml) low-sodium chicken broth, or as needed
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1-1/4 cups (124g) Arborio, Carnaroli (my favorite), or short grain rice
- 4 tbsp dry white wine or dry vermouth * or more stock
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 3 to 4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
Chicken
- 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
- 4 boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized cubes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Garnish
- Finely chopped fresh parsley, thyme or other herbs, or green onions – whatever you like
Instructions
- Make the Chorizo Broth: Fry the crumbled chorizo in a dry skillet until the fat renders, breaking up clumps, then add the shallots. Cook until the shallot is translucent and has picked up the color from the chorizo. Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by half, concentrating the flavors.
- Prepare the Risotto: Place the chicken broth in a sauce pan and keep hot while you make the risotto. Heat the olive oil in a second large saucepan or Dutch oven and sauté the chopped onions until translucent. Add the risotto rice and toss in the oil until fully coated and translucent, stirring constantly, then add the dry vermouth or white wine and cook, stirring constantly until absorbed with just a little liquid in the bottom of the pan.
- When the wine is absorbed, strain the chorizo broth (you can reserve the solids) into the rice and stir until the broth is nearly absorbed. Add a ladle of the hot broth and continue cooking, stirring constantly until the liquid is nearly completely absorbed before adding each ladle of the broth. It will take 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is cooked with a slight al dente texture, and tender to the bite. Underdone rice has a chalky texture and a hard center.
- When the risotto is done, stir in the butter and Parmesan, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. If you want, you can stir in the chorizo solids. Keep warm over low heat, stirring often. If it gets too thick, stir in a little more of the broth before serving.
- Cook the Chicken: Heat the oil in a medium skillet, until shimmering. Sear the chicken pieces until browned and cooked through - about 3 minutes on each side, depending on their size. They should register 162°F to 165°F on an instant read thermometer.
- To Serve: Scoop the risotto into wide, shallow bowls. Top with some of the cooked chicken pieces and sprinkle with the chopped fresh parsley, other herbs, or green onions. Serve hot.
Recipe found at www.theheritagecook.com
Notes
* The major gluten-free organizations have declared that distilled alcohols are gluten free. Wine is also considered safe. For some very sensitive people wine may cause issues. In a few rare cases, wine makers may use barrels that have minute amounts of gluten in the caulk. If you have issues with wine, look for a winery that uses only stainless steel containers to age their wines.
You will get the best results by using a digital kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients.
All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.
Adapted from a recipe by Jill Colonna of Mad About Macarons
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 987Total Fat: 72gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 43gCholesterol: 247mgSodium: 2972mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 54g
The nutritional information for recipes on this site is calculated by online tools and is merely an estimate.
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