Creamy Pumpkin Sage Risotto with Parmesan and Toasted Walnuts
A creamy pumpkin risotto recipe with arborio rice, crisped sage butter, Parmesan and toasted walnuts. Ready in about 45 minutes on the stovetop.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Rest
- 3 min
- Serves
- 4
Creamy Pumpkin Sage Risotto with Parmesan and Toasted Walnuts is a vegetarian dinner recipe made with low-sodium vegetable broth, unsalted butter, fresh sage leaves. It takes 50 minutes of hands-on time, plus 3 minutes resting, serves 4, and each serving has 580 calories, 13 g of protein and 3 g of fiber.
Pumpkin purée is mostly water, so stirring it in too early loosens the risotto and stalls the rice. Here the rice is cooked the classic way with warm broth first, then the purée goes in for the last few minutes, when it thickens rather than thins. Sage leaves are crisped in butter at the start and that infused butter carries through the whole pan, while toasted walnuts give the soft, sweet rice something to push against.
Ingredients
Risotto
- 5 cups1.2 kglow-sodium vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp43 gunsalted butter
- 16 8 gfresh sage leaves
- 1 tbsp14 golive oil
- 2 medium50 gshallots, finely diced
- 2 cloves6 ggarlic cloves, minced
- 1½ cups270 garborio rice
- ½ cup120 gdry white wine
- 1 cup245 gpumpkin purée (not pie filling)
- 1 pinch0.2 gfreshly grated nutmeg
- ¾ cup60 gvegetarian Parmesan, finely grated
- 1 tbsp14 gcold unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 tsp10 glemon juice
- ¾ tsp4.5 gfine sea salt, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp1.2 gfreshly ground black pepper
To finish
- ½ cup59 gwalnut halves, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp10 gvegetarian Parmesan, shaved (optional)
Kit: Wide heavy-bottomed sauté pan or Dutch oven (3-4 qt), Small saucepan for the broth, Ladle, Wooden spoon, Small dry skillet for the walnuts
Tips
- Risotto should be all'onda — 'on the wave'. If a spoonful holds its shape like rice pudding, it is too tight; add hot broth a tablespoon at a time until it settles back into itself.
- Canned pumpkin purée varies in wetness. If yours is very loose, let the risotto bubble an extra minute after stirring it in before you add the cheese.
- Use a wide pan rather than a tall pot. A shallow layer of rice releases starch evenly and cooks in the time given.
- Taste the broth before you start. Salty broth concentrates as it reduces, and with the Parmesan on top it is easy to overshoot.
Swap ideas
- Replace the pumpkin purée with 1 cup of roasted butternut squash mashed with a fork
- Sweeter and more textured, with visible flecks of squash instead of a uniform orange.
- Skip the wine and use an extra ½ cup broth plus 1 tsp lemon juice
- Loses a little depth but keeps the brightness that cuts the pumpkin's sweetness.
- Use toasted pumpkin seeds in place of walnuts
- Crunchier and nut-free, with a greener, more savoury finish.
- Stir a large handful of spinach in with the pumpkin purée
- Wilts into the rice and makes the bowl a complete meal without a side.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
580kcal per serving
Everything else · 4 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 11.2 g 56%
- Sugars
- 5.1 g
- Sodium
- 1691 mg 74%
- Potassium
- 388 mg 8%
- Calcium
- 184 mg 14%
- Iron
- 2.5 mg 14%
- Vitamin C
- 6 mg 7%
- Vitamin B12
- 0.23 µg 10%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Soup, vegetable broth, ready to serve, Butter, salted, Sauge, fraîche (values from the Anses Ciqual 2017 table, as reproduced by laurentberta.com). No fresh sage entry exists in USDA FoodData Central., Oil, olive, salad or cooking, Shallots, raw, Garlic, raw, Roland Foods Arborio Rice (dry), label serving 1/4 cup dry (45 g): 160 kcal, 0 g fat, 0 mg sodium, 36 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 0 g sugars, 3 g protein, 30 mg potassium, 0.4 mg iron; converted to per 100 g. Ingredients: arborio rice., Pumpkin, canned, without salt, Spices, nutmeg, ground, Cheese, parmesan, grated, Lemon juice, raw, Salt, table, Spices, pepper, black, Nuts, walnuts, english
Method
Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing often, until they smell nutty and are lightly browned, 4–5 minutes. Tip onto a plate straight away so they stop cooking.
Pour the broth into a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer, then keep it on the lowest heat. Adding cold broth to risotto drops the pan temperature and slows the rice, so it needs to stay hot throughout.
Melt 3 tbsp butter with the olive oil in a wide heavy pan over medium heat. Add the sage leaves in a single layer and fry until they stop sizzling loudly and turn a shade darker, 45–60 seconds. Lift them out onto paper towel — they will crisp as they cool — and leave the sage butter in the pan.
Add the shallots to the sage butter with a pinch of the salt and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent but not browned, 4–5 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds more.
Add the rice and stir constantly for 2 minutes, until the grains are coated and the edges look translucent with an opaque white dot at the centre. Pour in the wine and stir until the pan is almost dry, about 2 minutes.
Add a ladleful of hot broth (about ¾ cup) and the remaining salt. Stir often over medium heat until the liquid has nearly all been absorbed and the spoon leaves a clean trail across the pan, then add the next ladleful. Continue this way for 16–18 minutes, until the rice is tender with a faint firmness at the core. You may not need all the broth — keep any that is left over.
Stir in the pumpkin purée and nutmeg and cook for 3–4 minutes more, until the risotto is heated through and glossy and the raw edge of the purée has cooked off.
Take the pan off the heat. Beat in the grated Parmesan, the cold cubed butter and the lemon juice vigorously for about 30 seconds — this is what makes it creamy. Loosen with reserved hot broth until the risotto spreads slowly when you tilt the pan. Season with black pepper and more salt to taste.
Rest for 2–3 minutes, then serve in shallow bowls topped with the toasted walnuts, the crisp sage leaves crumbled or left whole, and shaved Parmesan if using.
Storage: Risotto is best eaten within 20 minutes of cooking. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days; reheat gently in a saucepan with a splash of broth or water, stirring until loose and steaming. It will not be as creamy as it was fresh. Alternatively, chill overnight and shape into arancini. Do not freeze — the rice turns grainy.
Questions
- How much protein is in creamy pumpkin sage risotto with parmesan and toasted walnuts?
- Each of the 4 servings has 13 g of protein, 3 g of fiber and 580 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is creamy pumpkin sage risotto with parmesan and toasted walnuts vegan?
- No, it's vegetarian rather than vegan because it contains unsalted butter and dry white wine and vegetarian Parmesan and cold unsalted butter and vegetarian Parmesan. Everything else in it is plant-based.
- How long does creamy pumpkin sage risotto with parmesan and toasted walnuts take to make?
- 15 minutes of prep and 35 minutes of cooking, so 50 minutes of hands-on time, plus 3 minutes of unattended resting.
- Can you make creamy pumpkin sage risotto with parmesan and toasted walnuts ahead?
- Risotto is best eaten within 20 minutes of cooking. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days; reheat gently in a saucepan with a splash of broth or water, stirring until loose and steaming. It will not be as creamy as it was fresh. Alternatively, chill overnight and shape into arancini. Do not freeze — the rice turns grainy.
- What can I substitute in creamy pumpkin sage risotto with parmesan and toasted walnuts?
- Replace the pumpkin purée with 1 cup of roasted butternut squash mashed with a fork — sweeter and more textured, with visible flecks of squash instead of a uniform orange.. Skip the wine and use an extra ½ cup broth plus 1 tsp lemon juice — loses a little depth but keeps the brightness that cuts the pumpkin's sweetness.. Use toasted pumpkin seeds in place of walnuts — crunchier and nut-free, with a greener, more savoury finish.. Stir a large handful of spinach in with the pumpkin purée — wilts into the rice and makes the bowl a complete meal without a side..
- Does creamy pumpkin sage risotto with parmesan and toasted walnuts contain gluten or nuts?
- We can't say from our data — this recipe uses an ingredient we don't hold allergen information for, so treat the ingredient list as the only source of truth and check the labels on what you buy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published September 21, 2026 ·Italian
