This Lemon Basil Risotto recipe is a versatile dish that can be used as a side or as a main course! It’s made with arborio rice, onion, and plenty of lemon, which creates a zingy, tangy, totally delicious flavor.

Over the years, I’ve become quite accustomed to making risotto. Considering the fact that before I started cooking it I wasn’t sure what risotto even was, it’s safe to say that I’ve come a long way!
Now, I whip up creamy broth-cooked risotto at every chance I get. Sometimes it’s Easy Mushroom or Pepper Gorgonzola, and other times it’s Low Carb Cauliflower. No matter the form, it always tastes great to me!
This time, I’m mixing things up with a creamy, dreamy lemon basil risotto dish that’s sure to knock you off your feet. It’s made with lots of veggies and coated with a generous layer of parmesan. It’s basically mac ‘n’ cheese’s cool older brother!
Lemon basil risotto is very filling, so a little bit goes a long way. It’s perfect for family dinner time or for when you have guests over. But no matter how it’s enjoyed, you’re going to love it.
Reader rating
“I doubled the recipe with no problems. Made this for my vegetarian daughter and the rest of my family loved it too!” —Michelle
Here’s what you’ll need
This isn’t just your average risotto. It’s a delicious blend of creamy ingredients that pair together to offer incredible flavor with a zesty touch. It leaves you feeling oh-so-full, but in the best way possible. Here’s what you’ll need.
- Base: We’ll saute our base flavors – onion, garlic, and celery – in a bit of olive oil until soft and fragrant.
- Arborio Rice: The star of the show, arborio (a.k.a. risotto) rice! This medium-grain rice has a lot of amylopectin starch, making it creamy when cooked.
- White Wine: Wine works so well in many different types of dishes. This is one of them! It adds depth of flavor (though you can leave it out if you’re avoiding alcohol).
- Vegetable Broth: The rice will be cooked in vegetable broth for extra oomph. Go for 4 cups of a low-sodium brand. (Save money and make your own vegetable broth from scraps!)
- The Fats: This is risotto, friends, no need to count calories today. Parmesan cheese and butter take your risotto to the next level.
- Flavors: You can’t have lemon risotto without the lemon! We will be using the juice and zest from ½ of a lemon, along with fresh chopped basil.
- Salt and Pepper: Finally, add a dash of salt and pepper to taste! About ¼ tsp of each should work.
How much rice per person?
With risotto rice being the main dish here, you’ll want to be sure to use at least 1/3 cup of uncooked rice per person (or more if you’re hungry!) This recipe can easily be scaled up of down to suit how many you’re serving.
How to make lemon risotto
Tangy, juicy, lemony risotto is made in 5 simple steps. Each one is easy but totally crucial to nailing your dish.
Step 1: Prepare the base
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add the onion, garlic, and celery, cooking until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
Step 2: Toast the rice
Add the dry rice and cook, stirring frequently. Do so for about 2 minutes, or until the rice is slightly opaque on the outside but uncooked on the inside.
Step 3: Add the wine
Add the wine to the pot and simmer until the wine has completely reduced. (If you’re avoiding alcohol, you can replace the wine with vegetable broth).
Step 4: Add the broth
Slowly add the vegetable broth to the pan, adding ½ of a cup at a time. Wait until the broth has almost completely absorbed before adding another ½ cup. Begin tasting the rice after 15 minutes or so. Once it is al dente (a little bit chewy), stop adding broth (you may not need the full amount).
Step 5: Add the flavor
Stir in the parmesan, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and basil. Taste and add salt and pepper to suit to your liking, adding more lemon juice and zest as needed. Serve immediately for optimal tastiness. (Psssst: You can level up this risotto even more by replacing the butter with basil oil!)
How to store risotto
Risotto can be easily stored in an airtight container. Keep it in the fridge, and enjoy within 3-5 days. When reheating, I suggest doing so on the stove until it’s nice and warm. Then, top with fresh parmesan!
What to serve with risotto
Wondering what to serve alongside your tasty lemon basil risotto? Try one of these delicious sides! Each recipe is quick and easy to whip together and will pair quite well with your tangy risotto.
Love risotto? Be sure to try this Leek Risotto, Mushroom Risotto, Gorgonzola Pepper Risotto, Butternut Squash Risotto, or this low carb Cauliflower Risotto!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil 15 mL
- 1 medium white onion diced, about 1 cup
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 1 ¼ cup arborio rice 300 g
- ¾ cup white wine 177 mL
- 4 cups warm low-sodium vegetable broth 1 liter
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese 60 g
- 2 Tbsp butter 28 g
- ½ lemon* juice + zest
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste about ¼ tsp each
Instructions
- Base: Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, and celery, cooking until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
- Toast Rice: Add dry rice and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, or until the rice is slightly opaque on the outside but uncooked on the inside.
- Wine: Add wine to the pot and simmer until wine has completely reduced.
- Broth: Slowly add the vegetable broth to the pan, adding ½ cup at a time. Wait until broth has almost completely absorbed before adding another ½ cup. Begin tasting the rice after 15 minutes or so. Once it is al dente (a little bit chewy), stop adding broth (you may not need the full amount).
- Flavor: Stir in parmesan, butter, lemon zest and juice, and basil. Taste and add salt and pepper to suit your liking, adding more lemon juice/zest as needed. Serve immediately for optimal tastiness.
Tips & Tricks
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.
- *This recipe originally had 1 whole lemon, which many readers found to be too sour. We have retested and reduced it to ½ a lemon.
anouk says
Omg I love your pictures! They are awesome. We should theme our hot messes.. This one apparently was Italian 🙂
Sarah says
Oooh YES! Next stop….Greek? 😀
Jenna C says
Overall I enjoyed this dish and it was fairly easy to make. I’ve been hesitant to try cooking risotto for a while just because it can be a tedious process. With the exception of excluding celery because I personally don’t care for it, I followed the recipe exactly. I will note that I thought 1 lemon + zest was actually too much, and I used a fairly small lemon. Next time I make this, I’ll use 1/2 a lemon, if that. I also used Dark Horse Sauvignon Blanc for the wine, which also paired nicely while eating it 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks so much for your thoughtful review, Jenna! 😀
Alice says
Too much lemon, and I love lemon! Also, we need more guidance on the amount of salt. Mine ended up too al dente even using all the broth.
Sarah says
Thanks for the suggestions, Alice! I’ve noted this one down as a recipe to retest 👍
eileen says
Nummy!! I made this as directed for the most part, I had some celery gazpacho I used up which contained the first 3 ingredients and it turned a pretty light green, I did not add wine but added about a 1/4 cup white vinegar, stirred and cooked it about twice as long. I added spinach to the basil and I am in Heaven! Never knew risotto was so easy, just keep stirring. Will definitely make it to the letter gain soon!
Sarah says
YUM! Those additions all sound delish! Happy we could make a risotto lover of you 😀
Lisa says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! I found it because I was trying to find a use for lemon basil leaves from my garden. I made it exactly as here, including the lemon juice, but used 2 tbsp of lemon basil leaves in place of the zest (I still used the regular basil, too!). It was perfection!
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, Lisa! Enjoy! 😀
Ginny says
My family loved this! I left out the white wine, used the zest from an entire lemon, plus juice from it. Near the end (I used close to 4 cups broth), I added some frozen early peas to brighten it up & it was delicious! This, apparently, ranks as the best as the best side dish ever, beating out my mom’s German recipe for fried potatoes which held its spot for almost 2 decades.
Sarah says
Sorry, Mom’s Potatoes! 😅 I’m so happy to hear this, Ginny! Sounds delish with peas added, I’ll have to try that next time!
Hema desai says
Love you sarah for all exotic vegetarian recipes for me… I just love risottos…. can’t wait to try them… Thanks dear stay blessed
Nan merrick says
Recipe perfect as written…only 1/2 lemon works well. Delicious with seared scallops and green salad. The whole family loved this recipe!
Michelle says
I doubled the recipe with no problems. Made this for my vegetarian daughter and the rest of my family loved it too!
I would ask that you adjust your recipe to indicate the exact measurement of lemon juice and zest, because lemons vary greatly in their output. We as makers can adjust as necessary, but a solid recipe is great for beginners.
I used a mixture of onions (red, yellow and white) as I had them available. I added chopped fresh baby spinach which added little to no taste but extra nutrients. I also added fresh lemon basil from my garden. Yum! Will add mushrooms next time too. Thanks for an amazingly tasty and versatile vegetarian dish! We intend to check out more of your recipes.
Sarah says
Thanks so much for your thoughtful feedback, Michelle! 😀
TIziano from milano says
Don’t be afraid to add white wine to risotto, it gives extra fantastic flavor, and don’t be concerned about alcohol that will anyway disappear, as steam, during cooking.
amy w says
This is seriously delicious. I used chicken stock instead of vegetable because that’s what I had on hand. I also used Pino Grigio. I can’t wait to make this again. Worth the effort. 10/10
Could be better says
We halved the recipe for two people. Still needed more vegetable broth, would not recommended a risotto with celery .. a risotto isn’t designed to be crunchy so the addition of a crunchy component with a huge presence in the overall meal wasn’t great, we ended up pushing the celery out of the meal halfway through eating. We was clearly very hungry as the portion size for two was a little underwhelming ? Would not recommend. A good risotto recipe is Tesco courgette and feta risotto , which is 10/10!
Carolyn says
Just a suggestion. In the recipe steps change the word “pot” to ” pan”. Obviously that’s what you meant.
Kari Ward says
AMAZING TASTY BITES of SPRING! What a flavorful meal. I sautéed up some chicken for my carnivores to add to their risotto, but I I had made a little more risotto I know they would have been ok with just the dish itself.
Thank you Sarah- a beautiful tasting dish once again! Paired really nice with my lemon-lavender kombucha, and the Sauvignon blanc and Floriana white wine❤️
Sarah Bond says
So happy to hear it, Kari! Enjoy! 😀
Rose says
This was so good with some scallops seared in lemon butter ! I followed the recipe to a T and it was perfect. Maybe I added a bit more butter but whatever. Love it.
Ellie Parker says
This was delicious! I saw some of the reviews mentioned it was too much lemon, I can’t get enough so I used 1 1/2 lemons and all the zest. It was pretty easy for a risotto, and so good. Also used bone broth rather than veggie broth. Will make again!
Sarah Bond says
So happy to hear it, Ellie! I also like things more lemony (clearly, haha) 🙂
Jennifer says
Just harvested some lemon basil I grew this year, so it’s fresh as can be! Can this lemon basil be a good substitute for the lemon juice & zest? If so, how much do I need of the lemon basil to equal the lemon juice and zest (and regular basil) for this recipe? It is definitely strong in both basil flavor and strong lemon flavor.. more like the zest than juice of lemon! I’m not sure what to use it in aside from maybe pesto.
Sarah Bond says
Oh yum! You could try omitting the lemon zest and using the lemon basil instead. If it needs more lemon flavor you can alway garnish with a bit of lemon zest before serving 😀