Creamy and comforting chanterelle risotto is a fall favorite. This recipe makes traditional, creamy risotto with fresh chanterelles and is finished with parmesan cheese. It looks and tastes luxurious but it's so easy to make in just 45 minutes.
During chanterelle season, I use fresh mushrooms as often as I can get them. But at other times of the year, you can easily make this recipe with frozen or dried mushrooms that have been rehydrated.
I have multiple mushroom knives, but this Opinel knife with brush is my favorite. They also have a really neat nomad camp cook knife kit that makes a great gift for foragers and fishers, too. Check out more gifts for mushroom lovers here.
Besides this chanterelle risotto, you can find them in my melty Chanterelle Croustade sandwich, my Wild Mushroom Soup recipe and my hearty Mushroom Lentil Stew. And for a crazy-good appetizer, try these super easy Mushroom Fritters.
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What To Serve With Mushroom Risotto
Guess what?! So many people were wondering what to serve with this that I wrote What To Serve With Mushroom Risotto-Top 50 Recipes. So check those out. I also love flank steak with risotto as well as Rocket and Pear Salad and Fresh Fig Salad.
Learning To Forage For Chanterelle Mushrooms
I first learned to pick mushrooms from my dad and although we picked quite a few varieties over the years, the type I pick the most now are chanterelle mushrooms. They are easy to find, easy to identify, and don't have very close look-alikes that are poisonous. Found like little jewels on the forest floor, chanterelles are so delicious. Others I love to find are oyster mushrooms, shaggy manes, lobster mushrooms (my very favourite for eating) and morels. Boletes and cauliflower mushrooms are also great eating.
*Please note that wild mushrooms should always be cooked before eating and never eat any mushrooms you have not been able to identify 100%.
Ingredients
This great recipe uses just a few wholesome ingredients and is one of my favourite chanterelle recipes of all time. Delicious risotto is great as a main dish or fabulous as a side dish. Find What To Serve With Mushroom Risotto-Top 50 Recipes here.
- Chanterelle Mushrooms - These gorgeous and flavorful wild mushrooms are only available in season. Generally chanterelles are found starting in late August until frost around mid November. Weather plays a large part in how long the season lasts. Chanterelles need moisture and do not grow once the ground gets heavy frost. You can usually find them at the grocery store and farmers markets.
- Arborio Rice - The classic and essential rice for making risotto. Arborio rice is a short-grain rice that easily becomes creamy as you stir it while cooking. In fact in can get so creamy, many risotto dishes do not call for any actual dairy cream. There are other types of rice you can use. Vialone Nano and Carnaroli are the two other main rices used in risotto. They are high starch, short grain rices. These 3 rice varieties are called superfino and are considered the highest quality, essential for perfect risotto.
- Dry White Wine - The perfect compliment to risotto, a light, dry wine adds acidity and body. Choose an unoaked white wine. The alcohol will burn off during cooking though if you choose to omit it, used a teaspoon or two of lemon juice to achieve the acidity for balanced flavor.
Step By Step Instructions
- In a large saucepan or sauté pan, heat oil or butter on medium and cook shallots and garlic until translucent, then add mushrooms.
- Sauté mushrooms until liquid is reduced and absorbed, remove about a cup to reserve for garnishing your risotto at the end. Next add salt, pepper and white wine and reduce wine by half.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add risotto rice. Continue stirring until liquid is absorbed.
- Add herbs and start adding the hot vegetable or chicken stock about a ½ c at a time, stirring frequently until liquid is absorbed, then adding more, repeating until rice is al dente. (Approximately 20-25 min.) Constant stirring will help the rice release the starches, creating the creamy consistency.
- Turn heat to lowest setting and add the Parmesan cheese, heavy cream and parsley. Stir until incorporated and melted, season to taste with sea salt and black pepper and turn heat off.
(Risotto should be a nice creamy texture. If it gets too thick while waiting to serve, simply add in a little hot broth to keep it loose.) - To serve, spoon into bowls, top with reserved mushrooms and garnish with more thyme or parsley if desired. Mushroom risotto can be served as a vegetarian main course or a perfect side dish for roast chicken or vegetables.
Substitutions + Variations
Vegan Risotto - This Italian rice dish can easily be made as a vegan risotto. Simply use vegetable broth and nut milk in place of cream and chicken broth. Swap out the parmesan for a vegan cheese or sub a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and omit the butter.
Mixed Mushroom Risotto - Use any mix of your favourite mushrooms including porcini mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, shiitake and even white mushrooms in place of chanterelles. Lobster mushrooms will make your risotto a vibrant color and add flavor reminiscent of seafood. Porcini add a deeper, earthier flavor while white buttons make a mildly flavoured risotto. Have fun and use whatever mushrooms you can find.
How To Cook Chanterelles
There are many ways to cook wild mushrooms and really you can use them in almost any mushroom recipe that appeals to you. For chanterelle mushrooms I like a recipe that really highlights their flavor without overpowering them and also showcases their beautiful texture.
Chanterelles are more tender than store bought white mushrooms and have a sweet, pleasantly strong earthy flavor that really tastes like fall.
The simplest way to prepare them is to sauté them. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat, add a little olive oil or butter and heat until shimmering. Add sliced or chopped chanterelle mushrooms and cook until any liquid has evaporated. Add in chopped garlic cloves if desired and continue to fry until the fresh mushrooms start to get golden brown. Season with salt and black pepper and enjoy as is or on top of a salad or steak.
Served with a side of crusty bread and a glass of white wine, it heralds the arrival of fall and puts me in the mood to start appreciating the rain.
A few other ways I use them are in soup (a no-brainer), on top of salad, in a white lasagna, on crostini, in stuffing for turkey, and in pasta. (Follow West Coast Kitchen Garden on Instagram to see what else I'm cooking up with these mushrooms!) If you find yourself with cauliflower mushrooms, try my Cauliflower Mushroom Gratin.
How To Preserve Chanterelles
To store for the winter there are multiple ways to preserve. Some mushrooms are good for drying but chanterelles seem to lose a lot of flavor this way and don't keep quite as nice a texture. (For more recipes, here's my article with the 50 best wild mushroom recipes.)
My favorite, tried and true way to preserve chanterelles is to clean, coarsely chop and sauté them, pack them into freezer bags or containers and top with some stock, butter or olive oil to cover then freeze. I've had a lot of success with this method. Once thawed, use them in any mushroom dish, they even fry up nicely to serve alongside a steak.
Related Recipes
Along with this chanterelle mushroom risotto recipe, I have lots of other tasty mushroom recipes. Have a look through these or search mushrooms in the search bar above for all the great fungi ideas!
I hope you get a chance to get out mushroom picking this year or find some at your local farmers market or grocery store because they really are a seasonal treat.
If you have any questions or comments, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. I try to answer any recipe related questions quickly as I know you might be in the middle of making it.
Also check out my FREE PRINTABLE meal planner to make menu planning and grocery shopping a breeze and my shopping guide. And if you like this recipe, I would love it if you give it a star rating in the recipe card.
Cheers and happy cooking, Friends! Sabrina
📖 Recipe
Classic Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- ¼ c Shallot, Finely Chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, Minced
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil or Butter
- 4 c Chanterelle Mushrooms, Cut Into ½" Pieces Or other wild mushrooms
- ½ tsp Each, Salt And Pepper
- ½ c Dry White Wine (Unoaked) I used 40 Knots Unoaked Chardonnay
- 1 Large Sprig Thyme
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 c Arborio Rice A short grain variety of rice is imperative
- 3 c Hot Chicken Broth vegetable or mushroom broth are great substitutes.
- ½ c Parmesan, Grated About ¼ c before grating
- ¼ c Heavy Cream
- ½ c Parsley, Finely Chopped
Instructions
- In a fairly large (12" diameter +/-) saute pan, heat oil or butter on medium heat and add shallots and garlic. Cook until translucent and then add mushrooms.
- Saute mushrooms until liquid is reduced and absorbed, then add salt, pepper and white wine and reduce wine by half. Remove approximately 1 cup to reserve for topping your finished risotto.
- Reduce heat to medium low. Add in rice and stir until liquid is absorbed.
- Next add the thyme and bay leaf and start adding the hot vegetable stock. Add about ½ c, stirring frequently until liquid is absorbed, then add another ½ c of hot stock, stir and repeat until rice is al dente. (Approximately 20-25 min) You may not need the full 3 cups of stock so test the rice after 20 min or when you've used 2.5 c of the stock and adjust accordingly. If you find you need more liquid, finish with some hot water as required.
- Turn heat to lowest setting and add the Parmesan, cream and parsley and stir until incorporated and melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper and turn heat off.(Risotto should be a fairly loose consistency, if it gets too thick while waiting to serve, simply add in a little more hot veggie stock to correct.)
- To serve, spoon into bowls, top with reserved mushrooms and garnish with more thyme or parsley if desired. Mushroom risotto can be served as a vegetarian main course or a perfect side dish for roast chicken.
Lizzy
This recipe looks amazing! I love mushrooms and have started foraging myself (so far only with a guide!) but I would love to make this. Thank you for sharing such a delicious looking recipe!
SabCurrie
Thanks Lizzy! I find mushroom picking both meditative and rewarding, such a great hobby, I hope you get a chance to try this recipe, one of my fall favourites 🙂
Elaine Nessman
This chanterelle recipe sounds fabulous! We've foraged for chanterelles (and others) a few times here on Southern Vancouver Island--sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much! Pinning this to try next time we find some!
SabCurrie
Thanks Elaine! Good luck mushroom hunting!
Denise | Urb'n'Spice
I have had a craving for risotto lately and your recipe is exactly what I want right now. Chanterelles are one of my favourite mushrooms, too. This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Sabrina!
SabCurrie
Your welcome Denise! Thank you so much for your kind comments, I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did 🙂
Bernice Hill
Great post!! You are definitely living in the promised land when it comes to fresh mushrooms. This is by far one of the best ways to eat chanterelles...gotta keep it simple! BTW Opinel knives are amazing...I have the bread knife and it cuts through my sourdough bread like it's butter!
SabCurrie
Thanks Bernice! I agree, we love our Opinel mushroom knife 🔪
Leanne @ Crumb Top Baking
I've never tried chanterelles and I've never gone foraging for wild mushrooms! I know some people do it around here, but I definitely wouldn't be confident! Sounds like quite the market for mushrooms in BC. That's amazing that your aunt and uncle funded their travel by selling them!
SabCurrie
Thanks for reading Leanne! Definitely best to go with an experienced mushroom picker your first few times but it doesn’t take long to learn a few delicious mushrooms. I love walking through the woods looking for them 🙂
Kristen
I absolutely love wild mushrooms of any sort. I’ve always wanted to go forage for mushrooms, still on my bucket list.
SabCurrie
You should, I just love it. Watch for a guided mushroom walk in your area to be sure of identifying them properly and prepare to be addicted to hunting them! Thanks for reading along Kristen!
Sean@Diversivore
Wonderful recipe! As a reformed mushroom hater, I'm always on the look out for great wild mushroom recipes. Turns out I just wasn't (and still am not) a big fan of button mushrooms, but wild mushrooms have been such a joy to discover and work with. Always great to have a great West Coast recipe to work with! Cheers!
SabCurrie
Thanks Sean, I totally agree that wild mushrooms are sooo much better than button mushrooms.
Ayngelina
Chanterelles are one of my favourite, this looks like a gorgeous recipe.
SabCurrie
Thanks Ayngelina! It’s a delicious fall treat for sure 🙂
Terri
I used to pick mushrooms with my Dad too and wish I knew which ones to pick (I'm always too scared of poisoning myself haha). This looks delicious and the next time I'm in BC, I'll have to give mushroom picking a go (and risk it) just so I can make this 🙂
SabCurrie
Thanks Terri, but don’t risk it, if you’re on Vancouver Island I’ll be your guide! If you are elsewhere you can take your mushrooms to a mushroom buyer and ask them to check 🙂 or just pick up some wild mushrooms at the grocery store when in season. I too am extremely cautious when looking for new types of mushrooms, always better safe than sorry:-) Happy fall and maybe I’ll see you out here for mushroom picking one day!
Tillie
Excellent recipe! I used Chanterelle & Cremini mushrooms and a couple more sprigs of thyme (I love it!). The flavors in this recipe are spot on. Yum!
Sabrina Currie
Awesome Tillie! Thanks for letting me know 🙂