Make a restaurant quality Shrimp and Scallop Risotto in the comforts of your own home in an hours time. This hearty Italian dinner of slow-cooked risotto, fresh vegetables, bay scallops, and plump shrimp.
If you love shrimp and scallops you are going to love this recipe for Shrimp and Scallop Risotto. Last week I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner until I decided that I wanted something homey. That’s when I decided to make some risotto. Risotto, to me is the ultimate comfort food. A food that I wasn’t introduced to until I was an adult.
I always have shrimp and bay scallops in the freezer as a fall back when I forget to defrost meat or just don’t know what to cook. So I concocted a seafood style risotto. This is now my go-to scallop risotto recipe whenever I’m craving seafood mixed with comfort food!
Table of contents
Ingredients
- Chicken broth – I like to use a low-sodium chicken broth.
- Butter – Full fat butter either or salted or non-salted.
- Seafood – Shrimp and Bay scallops
- Vegetables – Zucchini, frozen green peas, red bell pepper, onion
- Arborio rice – Arborio rice is the type of rice you will need to make risotto.
- White wine – You will need white wine to deglaze the pan.
- Parmesan cheese – I love to add Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano.
- Parsley – Fresh minced parsley works best.
- Salt and pepper
Directions for Shrimp and Scallop Risotto
In a saucepan, bring the 2-½ cups chicken broth to a boil; cover and keep at a simmer.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the zucchini & red bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 5 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons butter and the onion to the saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the onion is softened, about 8 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the
How to Cook Risotto
Add 1 tablespoons butter and the onion to the saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Next, add fthe rice and stir until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until evaporated, about 2 minutes.
Stir in ½ cup of the hot broth mixture, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring and adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain a low simmer, until the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Repeat, adding ½ cups of the remaining broth mixture at a time and allowing the liquid to be absorbed, until the rice is tender, about 18 minutes.
Add the frozen peas to the risotto. Stir and add a little more broth. Put a lid on the risotto and let it stand for 3-5 minutes. Stir, and repeat if needed.
Remove the skillet off the heat once cooked and set to the side until ready to serve.Half way through the seafood cooking, stir in ½ cup Parmesan and the parsley; season with salt and pepper if desired.
How to Cook Shrimp and Scallops
While the rice sits, add the remaining 1 tablespoon to a large saute pan. Pat dry the shrimp and scallops. Place them in a pan that is on medium-high heat. Season them with salt and pepper and cook until shrimp are opaque and color and scallops are golden. During the last 30 seconds of cooking add the vegetables in with the seafood to reheat them.
Divide risotto evenly among plates. Top with the vegetable mixture, shrimp, and scallops. Top with the ¼ cup of additional Parmesan cheese.
FAQs
Here are all the frequently asked questions readers have asked when making this recipe.
This seafood risotto recipe makes enough for 4 adult portions.
What is risotto? For those who have never had it, Risotto is a creamy Italian rice dish that tastes similar to the American mac and cheese. Unlike the typical rice recipe, this rice does not require to cook in a pot of water. Instead, Risotto is cooked very slowly in a stock pot by adding ½ cup of liquid at a time and stirring until the rice absorbs the liquid. Then repeat until all the broth is used and the risotto is creamy and soft in texture.
If you are finding the risotto rice still hard you need to add additional broth and continue to cook. Remember, low and slow is the ticket here when it comes to risotto. Lots of stirring and letting the Arborio rice suck up the broth. Cooking until the rice is velvet and creamy in texture.
Yes, it’s great the next day; however, might be a little thicker and starchier in tastes. You can simply add a little chicken broth before reheating to thin out the risotto.
Yes, Arborio Rice is naturally gluten free. Depending on what you put inside your risotto will depend if the dish remains gluten free. If you follow my shrimp and scallop risotto recipe it will be gluten free!
Tips & Tricks
Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks I’ve learned when making this recipe.
- Frozen vs. Fresh Seafood – I almost always use frozen shrimp and scallops. Make sure you defrost the seafood prior to cooking by either placing in the refrigerator the night before or running over cold water until defrosted.
- Seafood – You can use any mix of seafood that you desire for this recipe.
- Sear – For a restaurant quality meal, you can sear the scallops and shrimp in a saute pan with a tablespoon of butter. Then top on the risotto once you are ready to serve. Always pat the shrimp and scallops dry prior to searing. This will ensure a nice golden brown sear.
- Creamy Risotto – For extra creamy risotto you need to be patient and prepared to stand at the stove top stirring the arborio rice.
- Baked Risotto – Don’t want to stand at the stove top and stir? No worries, I have a recipe for baked risotto that helps to take the tedious task of stirring away!
Seafood Recipes
If you love seafood, you’ll love these other recipes.
Still craving Risotto? Try these recipes….
If you make this risotto with scallops and shrimp, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
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Shrimp and Scallop Risotto
Equipment
- Stove Top
Ingredients
- 2-½ cups Low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 tablespoon Butter divided
- 1 Zucchini cut into chunks
- ¼ cup Red bell pepper diced
- ½ Onion finely chopped
- 1-½ cups Arborio rice
- ½ cup Dry white wine
- 20 Shrimp peeled, deveined, tails removed
- 2 cups Bay scallops
- ½ cup Frozen green peas
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese grated and divided
- ¼ cup Parsley finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring the 2-½ cups chicken broth to a boil; cover and keep at a simmer.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the zucchini & red bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 5 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoons butter and the onion to the saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until evaporated, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in ½ cup of the hot broth mixture, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring and adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain a low simmer, until the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Repeat, adding ½ cups of the remaining broth mixture at a time and allowing the liquid to be absorbed, until the rice is tender, about 18 minutes.
- Add the frozen peas to the risotto. Stir and add a little more broth. Put a lid on the risotto and let it stand for 3-5 minutes. Stir, and repeat if needed.
- While the rice sits, add the remaining 1 tablespoon to a large saute pan. Pat dry the shrimp and scallops. Place them in a pan that is on medium-high heat. Season them with salt and pepper and cook until shrimp are opaque and color and scallops are golden. During the last 30 seconds of cooking add the vegetables in with the seafood to reheat them. Remove the skillet off the heat once cooked and set to the side until ready to serve .
- Half way through the seafood cooking, stir in ½ cup Parmesan and the parsley; season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Divide risotto evenly among plates. Top with the vegetable mixture, shrimp, and scallops. Top with the ¼ cup of additional Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Frozen vs. Fresh Seafood – I almost always use frozen shrimp and scallops. Make sure you defrost the seafood prior to cooking by either placing in the refrigerator the night before or running over cold water until defrosted.
- Seafood – You can use any mix of seafood that you desire for this recipe.
- Vegetables – Don’t like peppers and zucchini? Don’t add them!
- Broth – If you don’t want to boil the broth you can always microwave the broth in a liquid measuring cup. Heat until piping hot, and then you can easily measure out the broth as you add more to the rice.
- Multi-task – This dish requires some multi-tasking. For instance in the last few steps, you are cooking seafood while the risotto rest. Half way during the seafood cooking process is when I’ll add in the fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.
- Risotto Resting – Don’t be nervous to walk away and do a quick minute kitchen task while the risotto is cooking. I’ll stir, then do a quick 30 second kitchen task, then go back to stirring.
- Salt – Depending on the type of broth and butter you use will depend if you need to add salt to the risotto at all. I.e., if you use a regular chicken broth (not low-sodium) and a salted butter. No salt should really be needed.
- Creamy Risotto – For extra creamy risotto you need to be patient and prepared to stand at the stove top stirring the arborio rice.
- Baked Risotto – Don’t want to stand at the stove top and stir? No worries, I have a recipe for baked risotto that helps to take the tedious task of stirring away!
Nutrition
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Julie
This looks so delicious. Going to give it a try today. Do you recommend a certain size shrimp? And do you get the cooked or uncooked shrimp?
Thanks!
Katie
Hi Julie–thank you for reaching out. I recommend using medium to large shrimp for this recipe. I always buy uncooked shrimp and if possible peeled and deveined. But if the price is significantly more I’ll take the time to peel the shrimp myself. Never buy cooked shrimp for recipes that call for cooking the shrimp. The shrimp will be rubbery and dried out if you re-cook them again. Hope that helps answer a few of your questions.
Julie
Yes you definitely answered my questions. Can’t wait to make it today! Thank you so much!!
Julie
Brenda Felker
In the recipe for shrimp,scallops and risotto, there is no listing for 2&1/2 cups of water in the ingredients, but it is asked for in the directions. Which is correct, I am surprised that this hasn’t been brought up before and the recipe changed.
Katie
Hi Brenda–thank you for bringing this to my attention. I never use water in any of my risotto recipes, so that was a mistake on my behalf. I only use chicken broth. I hope you enjoyed the recipe as much as I do.