Why Risotto Tastes Better at Restaurants

• To achieve restaurant-like risotto, use quality ingredients when it comes to the rice, cheese and stock.
• Chefs identify a number of key steps, including toasting the rice and having hot stock at the ready.
• Patience is key—slowly stirring in hot stock and finishing with butter and cheese makes risotto silky and rich.

The myriad uses, shapes, forms and flavors rice can take on never cease to amaze me. In every region where it’s a staple crop, people have made it their own, cultivating varieties to better suit their culture’s needs, keeping it simple for efficiency and economy, or enriching it with ingredients that reflect their heritage and favored tastes.

As an Asian American, I was privileged to experience its versatility from a young age. Yet nothing I experienced prepared me for the lush, creamy, utterly decadent Northern Italian risotto I first had in my very early 20s. I fell in love … but also down a curiosity rabbit hole.

How were the grains firm yet so infused with flavor that was clearly distinct from the liquid they were swimming in? What gave the risotto an umami savoriness that overrode the natural sweetness of white rice, and what was the acid keeping it from tasting too heavy? I had to know, so I looked it up and tried to make a basic risotto at home. As Patric Good, executive chef of wine school and restaurant Vino Venue, says, “The hallmark of a truly exceptional risotto is its ability to stand on its own.”

Hours of searching online, plenty of time chopping, one sore stirring arm and over an hour later, I had my own homemade risotto. It was fine. Good, even. But the thing is, I knew it could—and should!—be great. Now, decades later, I have the opportunity to ask celebrated and award-winning chefs why mine is never as delicious as theirs. Here are their best tips for restaurant-quality results when making risotto at home.

Get Your Rice Right

If your first instinct is to reach into your pantry for your everyday rice … don’t. You just can’t get risotto results from long-grain jasmine or basmati, or even sushi rice, all of which will break down improperly.

“Arborio rice is traditionally the foundation of any good risotto,” says AJ Jones, executive chef of Milton’s Cuisine. It’s a classic choice among chefs, as this variety’s starch content—not cream—is largely responsible for the velvetiness we know and love, says Jones.

However, Cooper’s Hawk’s chief culinary officer Matt McMillin is among the many professionals who have shifted over to carnaroli rice instead. He says, “It has a bit more starch for a slightly creamier texture and holds a nice, firm feel.”

“It holds its bite beautifully,” raves executive sous chef Justin Ferrera of Fleeting. And Joseph Harrison, executive chef of Atlanta icon Aria, adds, “If you really want to step up your game, grab some Acquerello carnaroli rice. It’s a special aged rice from the Piedmont region,” and is also recommended by Jones, along with Riso Gallo, which comes from one of Italy’s oldest rice mills. The executive chef of Michelin-recommended Tiny Lou’s in Atlanta, Joshua Wetshtein, also prefers the Riso brand. “It’s a good quality rice that has slightly larger grains,” Wetshtein explains, which leads to a better bite.

For sourcing, Jones shares, “Italian markets are often the most reliable, as they stock genuine arborio and other risotto rice varieties. Gourmet specialty stores are also great, and for home cooks without access to local options, there are plenty of trusted online retailers.”

But if regular arborio is all that’s available, don’t feel like you’re cheating yourself. Jones and Harrison still default to it, and not all chefs are fully sold on the superiority of carnaroli. Good says, “I’ve tried carnaroli before and couldn’t tell any real difference. It also costs more!”

Pick the Right Wine and Cheese

As with most beloved Italian classics, wine and cheese make appearances in risotto recipes. Good reveals a secret: Cheap wine is fine for risotto. He says, “When the alcohol cooks away, you achieve a deeper flavor than if you use your best wine, which I have also done and wasn’t impressed with!”

Jones recommends a dry white wine for brightness, and Ferrera likes what a crisp one does to balance the effects of toasting grains. Wetshtein specifically uses a good-quality Chablis.

On the other hand, they unanimously agree—don’t skimp on the cheese. Good is adamant; it’s genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano all the way. “I’ve used cheaper alternatives, and the Reggiano is where you should invest if you’re making risotto,” he says. Ferrera attests that this is the cheese that will “melt in seamlessly.”

The reason they make such a distinction is that genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in only five cities under strict rules, which impacts how it behaves. U.S. chef ambassador for the cheese, Michele Casadei Massari, explains the science, saying, “From a technical perspective, it works because its balance of fat and protein allows it to emulsify perfectly with the starches released by the rice and the butter. The casein matrix formed during long maturation ensures it melts smoothly, becoming one with the rice instead of separating into fats and solids.

“Its naturally high glutamate content delivers deep umami, enhancing flavors instead of masking them. Its low moisture content concentrates flavor without watering down the dish. And long natural aging develops tyrosine crystals and a fine internal structure, so when grated, it melts evenly, creating that silky, velvety texture risotto is famous for,” he elaborates.

On the other hand, he says, “Other cheeses, produced with shorter aging or different methods, often lack this depth … they may taste flat or overly salty, and in risotto, they tend to clump, separate or sit on top.”

However, recent impacts on the availability of imported groceries mean chefs may soon have to make do when they can’t get their treasured cheese of choice. McMillin shares, “We use a brand of Parmesan cheese called Sartori, which is from Wisconsin,” home of some of the best dairies in the country.

Have the Other Ingredients Ready to Go

“There are some practices a home cook may not be familiar with that can make a big difference for risotto,” Harrison says.  An important step is setting up your warm stock right away. You want it to be ready and at hand because “cold liquid shocks the rice and slows down the process, but hot stock keeps the cooking even and allows the starches to release slowly. That’s what gives risotto its signature creaminess,” Jones says.

Make sure it’s good stock, too. “It makes all the difference. The stock is what the rice absorbs, so it has to taste great on its own,” she explains.

Harrison notes, “You also want to make sure you have your finishing butter and cheese handy—once the starch starts bubbling, there’s no slowing down,” and taking too long to combine ingredients can result in overcooked risotto, which is a common mistake.

Toast the Rice

Another important step is toasting the rice in the pan you plan to cook in. It helps the rice “develop a nutty flavor base and helps the grains keep their structure during cooking,” Jones explains.

To do so, sweat some sweet onion with good olive oil or butter, then add rice. “Make sure you’ve got enough fat to coat all the grains, and toast it gently until you can smell the aroma of the rice,” Harrison says. Making sure each individual grain is well covered with fat is imperative, McMillin emphasizes.

“Take your time with it and wait until the rice is almost sticking to the bottom of the pan before adding each addition of broth or stock,” Good says. And Wetshtein offers a helpful cue: “Toast it until it sounds like Rice Krispies.

Add Stock Slowly and Stir, Stir, Stir

Then you want to “really lean into the whole constantly stirring thing, and don’t be afraid to get the pan rocking as well,” Harrison says. While doing that, add in hot stock gradually as it’s absorbed—only one ladle at a time, Jones cautions, to better ensure that the rice’s starches are released slowly and evenly.

This labor-intensive, tedious process of stirring and pouring and stirring and pouring may be the simplest instruction to follow, but it’s the most critical one, as “the rice can only cook and absorb liquid so fast,” McMillin says, “which is why the stock needs to be added gradually and continually stirred.”

Ferrera says, “The biggest mistake I see is people rushing—dumping in too much liquid at once.” That’s because you have to ”coax the creaminess out of the rice,” Good says, which also means keeping the heat set lower than you’d like. “Some cooks turn their flame up too high on everything (my husband certainly does!) and risk scorching everything they cook.”

Suspend Cooking If You Can’t Baby It

For a dish that’s so time-intensive, it may come as a surprise that the most common way to ruin risotto is by overcooking … specifically “until the rice turns to mush,” Ferrera says. Like pasta, you should cook it al dente and let it rest to let the latent heat finish cooking it all the way through, Wetshtein advises.

The trick restaurant chefs use is to delay its completion by suspending the cooking process, and it’s one you can use at home, “if you were to be serving risotto as a side dish along with other things you need to prepare for a large family meal,” suggests McMillin.

“Cook the risotto about 80% of the way with about 80% of the liquid, then spread it out on a cookie sheet and refrigerate,” he says. “When you’re almost ready for dinner, just add some stock in a pot, add the risotto, and bring the heat up slowly and finish the risotto as you would, holding back any green vegetables like asparagus or peas until the second cooking process, so the color will stay nice and bright green.”

Keep Additions Simple

Harrison says, “One of the beautiful things about rice is that it certainly has its own flavor … but it can be a great canvas for just about anything else.” However, with the use of high-quality ingredients (rice, cheese and stock), pros recommend that cooks just keep it simple.

“You don’t need cream or heavy toppings; the magic is in coaxing richness from simple ingredients and letting seasonal flavors and a little brightness bring it to life,” Ferrara advises. You don’t want to go too heavy. As Good says, “It’s easy to go too far with fatty pork products in risotto, like bacon or pancetta. I’ve certainly used it, but you really only need a little.”

Plus, “trying to pack too many ingredients in can turn risotto into more of a rice stew,” Jones cautions, even when it comes to cheese. “Finish with just enough to add depth without overpowering the other flavors.”

McMillin’s favorite flavor starters to add during the onion stage include dried porcini mushrooms (“I really love mushrooms!”) or fresh summer corn. For later enhancements, McMillin says spring asparagus and peas, Midwestern sweet corn, fresh chanterelle mushrooms and “great cheese” do the trick.

Good is also a fan of corn for risotto, and says that with basil and tomato, it’s “off the chain.” Jones jumps on the herb train, sharing, “Fresh herbs added at the end can brighten the dish and prevent it from feeling too heavy.”

“Lastly, like with most humble Italian cooking, it never hurts to throw in a Parmigiano rind while you’re cooking!” Harrison says.

Use the Right Tools

Everything you need to make risotto is more than likely already in your kitchen. You just have to know which to pick. For instance, if you’ve ever wondered what that wooden spoon with the big hole is for, you’ve found its purpose right here. “It helps keep the rice moving without breaking the grains too much,” Jones says, aerating the risotto as you stir. And, according to Casadei Massari, it’s best for folding in the cheese. Sturdy and, according to McMillin, best with a flat bottom edge for scraping the bottom of the pan, this spoon is your best friend for the most painful part of the process.

For your pan, you want a wide pan for plenty of surface area, and you want it to be heavy with a thick bottom. “Thicker bottoms distribute heat more evenly, which is what you want when you’re adding the stock and cooking the rice to almost dry,” Good explains. Even better if it has a sloped side, Harrison says, “so you can really get in a groove by stirring the rice and shaking the pan at the same time.” 

Other than the pot for stock and the usual prep items like a cutting board, knife and measuring cups, these two items (and “a touch of superstition, praying to the rice gods and Italian nonnas long past you’re not doing a grave injustice to such a venerated dish!” Harrison jokes) are all that the best chefs rely on to make a great risotto. Because for this dish, as Jones says, “consistency comes more from technique than gadgets!”

The Bottom Line

Restaurant-quality risotto is a matter of the right ingredients, but even more a matter of time. This dish is meant to be unhurried, allowing quality components to blossom and shine, then quickly removed from the heat to serve.

As Harrison sums up, “Find some decent rice, get a decent butter, spring for that chunk of Parm with some rind on it, crack open that weeknight bottle of white wine and let the pan have the first drink. Just remember you’re cooking to nourish yourself or someone else and that’s a special act—that care always comes through in the cooking.”