Mushroom Risotto Camping Recipe

Serves 2 | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes

Mushroom risotto is a staple vegetarian dinner dish for good reason – it’s filling, flavorsome, and an all-around crowd-pleaser.

Table of Contents

Why risotto?

Risotto was the first meal I learned to cook on moving out of the home. My dad made it regularly while I was growing up and passed his recipe on when I moved to London and realized I had no idea how to cook proper food for myself. Over time my cooking repertoire expanded, but what kept me returning to risotto was how varied it was – you can adapt a basic risotto recipe to include whatever vegetables and herbs you’ve got to hand. Of course, some combinations work better than others. My personal favorites include: 

  • Tomato, basil, and feta,
  • Pumpkin, feta, and sage
  • Pea, zucchini, and mint
  • Mushroom

A traditional risotto

For those unfamiliar with it, traditional mushroom risotto is made by simmering risotto rice for 20 minutes or so while stirring and gradually adding hot stock to the dish. The rice releases starches while cooking, giving the dish its creamy consistency. The risotto is finished by stirring parmesan cheese and cold butter.

In this mushroom risotto recipe, we’ve made a few tweaks to get it right for camping. In particular: 

  • Dried mushrooms – We’ve used dried mushrooms instead of fresh ones to help keep our packs light and prevent having to carry as much perishable food as possible. 
  • Use a mug to decant your stock – Risotto is typically a two-pot dish. We’ve adapted it for one pot by adding in stock from a mug instead of another pot. 
  • Be flexible with your ingredients based on your location – Traditionally, risotto recipes include wine and butter. Depending on where you’re camping, you may not have these available. We’ve suggested a few workarounds.

Gear you’ll need

Camping stove – we used a pot and Blackstone, but any camping or backpacking stove with a capacity of 1L or more and the ability to adjust the temperature to a simmer is fine. 

Cup – with at least 400ml capacity and preferably well insulated. We are a Sea to Summit Delta Insulated Mug.

Spoon – to stir the risotto with. We used a spork from Light My Fire. As it’s plastic, it doesn’t scratch the non-stick coating on the Jetboil. 

Bowl or plate – to eat from. We used an enamel bowl.

Knife & chopping board – to prep the onion and garlic. Our tip – if you’re not traveling far, cut it at home and carry it in a ziplock bag so you don’t need to carry a knife around.

Recipe

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

120g arborio rice (or another type of risotto rice, like carnaroli or violone nano)

80ml wine (1/3 cup or 3 fl oz) (optional) – red or white, whatever your preference

400ml stock (1 2/3 cups or 13.5 fl oz) – if not using wine, use 500ml stock (2 cups or 17 fl oz)

16g dried mushrooms

1 tbsp dried parmesan cheese

1 tbsp dried parsley flakes

1 tbsp butter – if you’re away from a cooler, use powdered butter or 1/2 tbsp olive oil instead

What to do

  1. Boil water to prepare your stock. Once boiled, prepare stock by directions and pour it into a mug or secondary container.
  2. Add vegetable oil to Jetboil, along with onion and garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes on a low heat until translucent but not coloured.
  3. Add rice and stir for a minute to coat with the oil, onion and garlic mixture.
  4. Add wine, if using. Stir the rice in a circular motion until wine is close to absorbed. The risotto should be lightly simmering as opposed to boiling.
  5. Start adding your stock, 1/4 at a time, stirring continuously. Add your next batch of stock just before the current one is totally absorbed – not allowing the stock to completely absorb will help prevent the risotto sticking to the stove, which happens more easily when the pan is dry. Give the base and corners a good stir as you go to help prevent the risotto sticking.
  6. When you’ve used 3/4 of your stock, add your mushrooms. 
  7. Once all the stock is in and close to absorbed (around 20 – 25 minutes later), turn off the heat. Stir through the butter (or olive oil), along with the parmesan cheese and parsley flakes. Cover and leave for a minute to allow the cheese to melt into the dish.
  8. Serve immediately. 

A FEW PARTING THOUGHTS

Cooking a dish that requires gradual simmering, like risotto, uses quite a bit of fuel. When cooking this recipe, we used an average of 38 grams of fuel each time – that’s over a third of a standard 100 gram Jetboil fuel canister. No one wants to be eating half-cooked rice, so do make sure you’ve got enough fuel before you start cooking this one. 

If you’re backpacking for multiple days and are trying to conserve fuel, consider cooking your risotto in advance at home and dehydrating it – that way you can just add water to it to bring it back to life, cutting the gas you’d use from 38 grams to less than 5 grams.

Jimmy Carroll

About The Author

Jimmy is the culinary adventurer behind OutdoorAppetite.com. Jimmy is not only committed to demystifying the art of outdoor cooking but also to sharing his latest findings and techniques. Whether you're just starting out or are a seasoned pro, Jimmy welcomes you to join in the exploration of this flavorful outdoor journey.

 jimmy@outdoorappetite.com  https://www.outdoorappetite.com