Name: Creamy Sausage & Rosemary Risotto
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 medium onion, finely diced; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 400g (1 lb) sausage meat; 150g (2/3 cup) arborio rice; 4 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped; 500ml (2 cups) chicken stock; 15g (1 tbsp) butter; 60g (1/2 cup) grated parmesan; salt and pepper, to taste

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This deliciously creamy sausage risotto with rosemary is a delicious dinner packed full of both flavour and protein! It’s the perfect comforting meal for anyone in need of warming up.

large bowl of risotto with a patterned napkin and some fresh rosemary

Sausage risotto might just be my new favourite type of risotto. After all, the sausage meat is super flavourful and goes perfectly with the freshness of the rosemary. I mean, what could possibly be better than sausage and rosemary?

And not only does this risotto have sausage meat and rosemary, but it’s also packed full of butter, onion, garlic and parmesan – all of the building blocks of a perfect risotto! And trust me, sausage, onion, rosemary and parmesan are an unexpected match made in heaven. I mean, how many people usually put sausage and parmesan together?

What do I need to make this recipe?

You really don’t need that much to make this recipe. After all, it’s essentially just a regular risotto recipe but with sausage meat and fresh rosemary!

However, there are a few small things to note here. After all, if you want your risotto to turn out perfectly creamy, then you’ll need to make sure you use the correct ingredients.

Please scroll down to see a full list of ingredients with measurements.

olive oil – ideally a relatively good quality oil
onion and garlic
sausage meat – you can either buy the meat alone or buy the same weight’s worth of good quality sausages and remove the casings
risotto rice – I like to use arborio rice, but you can also use carnaroli or any other rice labeled “risotto rice”
fresh rosemary – I grow my own, but you can also buy it just as easily! Try not to use dried rosemary here if you can help it – fresh is better by far.
chicken or vegetable stock – from a stock cube works just fine here so long as it’s low sodium. After all, sausage meat is usually fairly salty.
butter – again, ideally fairly decent quality. And whatever you do, try to avoid using margarine or oil here!
freshly grated parmesan – try not to use pre-grated parmesan here since pre-grated includes anti-clumping agents which may make your risotto lumpy and chalky once the parmesan melts into it

See? Not too much at all! And best of all, all of the ingredients are pretty cheap! Plus, you probably already have a fair few of the ingredients!

Plus, it’s always best to keep things simple – after all, if you add too many different ingredients and flavours then most dishes become so overwhelming that the flavour just falls flat!

How do I make this creamy sausage risotto?

The method here, as with the ingredients, is pretty simple. After all, it’s essentially just a regular risotto with added sausage and rosemary.

Please scroll down for a full, detailed method.

heat the oil in a saucepan
add the onion and garlic and soften
add the sausage meat and brown it
toast the rice together with the rosemary
add the stock a little at a time and simmer
once all the stock is used, gently stir in butter and parmesan
serve and enjoy!

See? Super simple! And if you need more instruction, feel free to check out my master post on how to make a perfectly creamy risotto! All of the tips and tricks still apply to this one, even with the sausage and rosemary.

How to customize your sausage risotto

There are so many ways that you can customise this recipe! So, I’ll split these suggestions into sections so that you can easily skip to the ideas that you’re looking for.

Add some veggies

I’d suggest using peppers here for sure – either green or red, ideally, depending on your preference. Simply add them at the start with the onion and garlic.

You could also add peas or spinach (at the end with the butter and parmesan) to get even more vegetables in there. Plus, of course, you can always serve it with a salad!

Make it vegetarian or vegan

First of all, you’ll need to substitute the sausage meat. Personally, I’d recommend removing the casings of some veggie/vegan sausages and using the filling as a substitute. I’d particularly recommend choosing a brand of sausages with good flavor such as a herby vegetarian sausage.

Next, you’ll have to substitute the butter (if vegan). Here you can simply use vegan butter.

Finally, there’s the parmesan. To be honest, you can use any Italian hard cheese here and many supermarkets do carry a vegetarian alternative.

However, if you’re vegan and can’t find a parmesan substitute that’ll melt then just use a little nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and extra vegan butter.

What to cook next

Well, of course, you could always make another risotto. Why not try one of these?