15 Risotto Recipes to Make Your Heart Stir

If cooking is your love language, there is no greater declaration of love than making risotto. Most risotto recipes instruct you to stand over the stove for upward of an hour, constantly stirring and gently ladling hot broth into the pot as it burps up steam. In short, risotto can be high-maintenance. But it doesn’t have to be.

Historically, the dish comes with its own set of rules—but here at Bon Appétit, we love to break rules. In fact, we believe that rules are made to be broken (well, some rules). Do you actually need to stir risotto constantly? Does it matter if you use a wooden spoon? And do you really need to buy that special type of rice? Well, that all depends on just how off-script you’re willing to go.

If you want a classic, just-like-nonna-made-it risotto recipe, it doesn’t get better than BA’s Best Risotto, made with medium-grain rice, dry white wine, and a good deal of elbow grease. But we’ve also got an entirely hands-off, oven-baked risotto; a riff that swaps toasted barley for rice; and a dish designed to use up Thanksgiving leftovers. Whether you’re a traditionalist or a free spirit, we’ve got a risotto recipe for you.