Ready in under 30 minutes, this creamy Crab Risotto is perfect for special occasions or a weeknight seafood dinner! It's easy to make and full of delicious flavors!
Risotto is a special dish that I love to make! I love making it in the Instant Pot and make Instant Pot Asparagus Risotto or Spring Pea Risotto in the Spring. When I am in the mood for seafood, I love making this crab risotto.
Even though it might seem overwhelming, risotto is actually very easy to make. You just need to have a little patience and you'll have an amazing risotto in no time.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's easy to make! You only need a few ingredients that you can easily find in your local grocery stores.
- It's a special dinner! This creamy risotto is perfect any time of the week! It's great for a dinner party but also it's great on a weeknight because it is so easy to make and it's quick! Don't save your special recipes just for parties. Enjoy these delicious dinners with your family any night of the week!
- You only need a large pan and a large pot. Even though risotto may be intimidating, you really only need one large pan to make this and one pot to warm the stock. We'll get into that!
Ingredients in Crab Risotto
You only need a few simple ingredients to make this delicious crab risotto recipe!
- Olive oil and butter. You'll need both to sauté the veggies and rice in.
- Arborio Rice. Arborio rice is necessary in risotto. It has a high starch content, so it greats that creamy risotto texture that everyone loves. No other rice will do
- Onion and garlic. These aromatics help give more flavor to the risotto.
- Broth. I love homemade chicken broth in my risotto. Seafood stock will work too if you have some on hand.
- Parmesan cheese. For extra salt and that classic risotto flavor.
- Fresh lump crab meat. In the seafood section of your grocery store, you can find containers or crab meat that are fresh. There's not need to buy a full crab and cook it, but if that is what you prefer, you can do that too! You'll want 1 ½ cups of fresh crab meat. You can make Kani salad with any extra crab that you may have after making this recipe.
See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
- Change the broth! Seafood stock, fish stock, seafood broth, vegetable stock, vegetable broth, or chicken broth are all great options.
- Change the seafood! When I first made this crab risotto, I used a white crab meat that was very minced. You can use that or you can use claw meat. Both are very easy to find in the grocery store. To make this extra special, feel free to use Dungeness crab, crab legs, snow crab, or even lobster tails.
- Add veggies! Just like in my Instant Pot Asparagus Risotto, you can add asparagus, spinach, artichoke hearts, or even sautéed mushrooms to this easy crab risotto.
Step By Step Instructions
Tips to Making the Best Crab Risotto
- Make sure you are adding hot stock to the rice. Cold stock won't give you that creamy risotto flavor and will increase the cooking time.
- Cook low and slow! Do not increase the heat to higher than medium-high heat. It might be tempting to increase the heat, but that will sauce the broth to evaporate and the rice to not cook as well. Medium-low heat to medium heat is the best choice.
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese is best. The pre-grated parmesan cheese won't melt quite as well as the fresh parmesan cheese.
- Do not overcook the crab. There is no need to brown crab meat. The meat just needs to be gently heated through and the heat from the rice will do that perfectly. Add it the last minutes of cooking.
- Top this delicious risotto with a little lemon zest, some more parmesan cheese, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover risotto in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can reheat the leftovers in a large saucepan with a ½ cup of stock to get that creamy texture back.
It is not recommended to freeze the risotto. The risotto will turn into mush and not be that delicious al dente texture. This is one of those recipes that is best made and served immediately.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve this risotto on it's own! It's a delicious main course! It's best served in shallow bowls to really enjoy that creamy texture.
- Alongside New England Clam Chowder and Instant Pot Shrimp Scampi for Christmas Eve or when enjoying a seafood dinner.
- Alongside a cast iron fillet mignon for a special date night dinner!
- With your favorite salad recipe.
- With your favorite veggies! I love Italian sauteed eggplant or Italian stuffed mushrooms as a veggie side for this dinner.
- Bake up some sourdough bread or sourdough dinner rolls too!
Crab Risotto FAQs
You want a heavy bottom pot, like a Dutch oven or an enameled cast iron skillet. This will distribute the heat well and give you the best, creamy risotto.
No, you need to use arborio rice. Arborio rice creates a creamy risotto and 3 Ingredient rice pudding. Other rice like Jasmine rice or Basmati rice will not yield the creaminess that arborio does.
Yes! If you do not like cooking with wine or do not have wine handy, you can leave it out and just increase the amount of broth in the risotto.
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📖 Recipe
Creamy Crab Risotto Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 Onion Chopped, 1 cup
- 4 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 2 cups Arborio Rice
- ½ cup White Wine like Pinot Grigio
- 4 cups Broth Seafood stock, chicken broth, or vegetable broth.
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
- 8 oz Lump Crabmeat
Instructions
- Pour the broth into a small saucepan. Heat it on low heat and keep it close to where you are making the risotto.
- In a large pan over medium heat, heat olive oil and butter on medium heat until butter melted.
- Add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Stir and allow that to cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Add the Arborio rice and toast the rice in the olive oil and butter. Stir continuously for two minutes.
- Add the wine to the pan. Cook the rice until the pan looks dry and the wine has cooked off. This will take another two minutes.
- Add a ladleful of broth at a time. After you ladle the broth, stir the risotto and let it cook for a few minutes. When the risotto starts to look dry, add another ladle of broth.
- Keep adding the broth until the rice is cooked. Add the crab and the parmesan cheese to the rice. Stir and turn off the heat. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Change the broth! Seafood stock, fish stock, seafood broth, vegetable stock, vegetable broth, or chicken broth are all great options.
- Change the seafood! When I first made this crab risotto, I used a white crab meat that was very minced. You can use that or you can use claw meat. Both are very easy to find in the grocery store. To make this extra special, feel free to use Dungeness crab, crab legs, snow crab, or even lobster tails.
- Add veggies! Just like in my Instant Pot Asparagus Risotto, you can add asparagus, spinach, artichoke hearts, or even sautéed mushrooms to this easy crab risotto.
Bonn says
Can you skip the wine? Or what can I use to replace it?
kkseattle says
I made this with a Dungeness crab that our neighbor brought in from his crab pot. The local market didn’t have shellfish stock, so I sautéed some chopped cremini mushrooms and used mushroom broth. I forgot to get asparagus but it’s not in season anyway (we are fussy about our asparagus here).
I set the lump crab aside and put the rest in after the rice was toasted, then sprinkled the lump crab over the top of each dish, with a bit of chopped scallion for color.
I’m usually lazy and just use short grain rice and after toasting the rice, dump all the liquid in without stirring (steam for 20 minutes), but using the Arborio rice and cooking it in the classic way really does elevate the dish—creamy and al dente. I also grated Parmesan cheese off the block instead of using grated stuff from a bag.
The proportions are perfect and it was delicious and well worth the bit of extra effort. Thanks!
Charlene says
I added 1/2 cup cream. Very delicious!