Breakfast Risotto with Apples and Raisins
Move over oatmeal, there’s a new hot breakfast in town: sweet, creamy breakfast risotto loaded with apples and raisins. This risotto is naturally sweetened with fruit and fruit juice and includes flax meal and chia seeds for extra fiber and protein.
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you might already know that I’m working with the New York Apple Growers this month and will be creating a few recipes with their new Ruby Frost apples. I’m so excited – I love supporting local/NYS businesses (one of the farms that grows them is where I go apple picking every fall!) and these apples are really good.
They have a sweet-tart flavor and firm texture that make them perfect for cooking with or for eating raw (I love sprinkling them with cinnamon for an afternoon snack). This breakfast risotto features them both ways: apples cooked with the rice are soft and sweet while raw apples on top are tart and crunchy. It’s the best of both worlds.
I made this breakfast risotto the same way I make savory risottos, but I swapped the wine for apple juice and the broth for almond milk. I also added some flax meal and chia, which add a nutritional boost and give the risotto a slight nutty flavor. I also stirred in a hand full of raisins with the first milk addition. Adding them during the cooking process instead of using them as a topping gives them time to absorb some liquid and plump up; I love the texture they add to the final dish.
Toppings are optional, but fun. I love to add more chopped apple (leave the skins on so you can see some of that gorgeous red color) and some walnuts for texture. The risotto is sweet enough on it’s own, but a pinch of brown sugar adds caramel notes that pair really well with the apples.
Ruby Frost apples ripen later in the season so they’re perfect for the frosty days of winter. Look for them at select retailers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states (there’s a store locator on the NYAG website.)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 Ruby Frost apples peeled and chopped
- 1.5 cups arborio rice
- 1 cup apple juice
- 4 cups unsweetened almond milk
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons flax meal
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 pinch salt
- Optional: additional chopped apple brown sugar, and/or walnuts for serving
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large, shallow saute pan set over medium heat. Add the apples and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly softened.
- Add the rice; stir so that each grain of rice is coated with butter and appears glossy. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the rice is mostly translucent. Stir in the apple juice and cook until it has been absorbed.
- Add 1 cup of almond milk along with the raisins, flax meal, chia seeds, and salt. Stir constantly until all the milk has absorbed into the rice. Continue this process, adding the milk 1/4 cup at a time, until the rice is creamy and soft – the whole process will take about 30 minutes.
- Top with brown sugar, chopped apples, and walnuts, as desired.
This post was sponsored by the New York Apple Growers. Thank you for supporting the products that keep me inspired in the kitchen!
Risotto for breakfast?? Love it! And apples, there is almost nowhere you can’t take those beauties!
what a great idea for breakfast, I really need to make risotto I just LOVE it and never thought to make it to change up the morning time ritual!
I absolutely LOVE this! Risotto is my jam so turning it into something I can eat for breakfast is just genius. So many possibilities too with the ingredients!
Can you believe that in this stage in the game I have never made risotto. I don’t know if I have the patience. I’m ashamed. Anyway, I love this sweet healthy spin. I love cooking with apples.
This is amazing Lauren. I am always nervous to make risotto. I am not very patient so I’m not good with risotto or caramel. I know right, they are both pretty easy. But it’s the having to stand over it the whole time that gets me in trouble. I wander off. Often. Lol.
This is a great use for apples. I need to see if that variety is available here in Canada.
If you use an Instant Pot, you can wander off safely! 🙂
yes!! I created this recipe before I discovered the beauty that is the instant pot. 🙂
These apples sound delicious, I’m going to have to go hunting for them this weekend. I don’t think cooking up risotto as a breakfast option would have ever come to my mind but it’s really perfect and nice and heart to start the day.
I love the idea of a breakfast risotto! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Nice! Apple juice and almost milk must add so much flavor and creaminess – I love the idea of risotto for breakfast.
Oh my goodness! I have a savory breakfast risotto scheduled for next month….great minds think a like I guess 🙂 I love how apple packed deliciousness of this dish. I need to try those apples asap!
I have never tried risotto at all, but I LOVE any kind of breakfast food. So I’d be down to trying the sweet and creamy version 🙂