Risotto is often looked at as a difficult recipe to create, but I say why? It’s just rice! If you have ever wanted to try making risotto but have been nervous or scared, I invite you to try my lemon risotto and shrimp recipe. It is super easy to make and tastes amazing. When you’re putting together your meal plan, add these ingredients to your shopping list. If you are counting macros, check out my notes at the bottom for ways of adjusting the macros to fit your goals! A great recipe for meal prep!
Risotto with Lemon and Shrimp
Ingredients
- 16 oz Shrimp fresh, uncooked
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ½ tsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Lemons juiced
- 1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 150 g Yellow Onion diced, (about ½ onion)
- 200 g Arborio Rice (about 1 cup)
- 6 cups Water
- 1 tsp Reduced Sodium Chicken Base
- 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 40 g Dubliner Cheese freshly shredded, any white cheddar works.
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley chopped
Instructions
- First, start by marinating the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a large bowl, season with cayenne pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder, and juice from 1 1/2 lemons. (Saving the other half of the lemon for the risotto.) Toss everything together until the shrimp are evenly coated, then place the shrimp in the fridge.
- Pre-heat oven to 400'°, line a baking sheet with tin foil, and set aside. You will cook the shrimp on this tray in the oven a little later.
- Now begin working on the risotto. Heat a large deep pan to medium heat. Add the oil and the onions to the pan once the pan is warm. Cook the onions for 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.
- After 5 minutes add the arborio rice to the pan, cook for one minute to toast the rice a tiny bit. Stirring consistently.
- Add the chicken base in with rice and onions and then begin adding water. Start by adding 1 cup of water. With the temp at medium, your water should begin simmering after only a few moments, if not turn the heat up. You want the water simmering the entire time.
- Stirring often keeping an eye on the rice and the amount of water. Once the water is almost completely soaked into the rice/evaporate add another 1 cup of water. Do this for the first 4 cups of water: cooking 1 cup down completely, before adding each additional cup.
- After 4 cups pull your shrimp out of the fridge and arrange on your baking dish in an even layer. Cut your tablespoon of butter into smaller chunks and distribute those chucks around over the top of the shrimp. Place the shrimp in the oven and cook 6-8 minutes until pink.
- Now back to the risotto. Continue adding the water one cup at a time until you have used up all 6 cups of water. By now your risotto should be cooked. If it is still not to the doneness you would like, add another cup of water. Once you have cooked down the last cup of water, add the cheese to the rice and stir in until completely incorporated. Then remove the risotto from the heat.
- By now your shrimp should be done. Remove the shrimp from the oven.
- Plate the risotto into your serving bowl, then arrange your shrimp on top of the risotto. Using a spoon, drizzle the juices remaining on the shrimp try over the shrimp and the risotto. (TONS of flavor packed in those juices) Then sprinkle with the fresh parsley and enjoy!
Nutrition
QUESTION:
- Are you trying to get better at meal planning?
- Do you find yourself eating the same recipes every few weeks?
- Are you having trouble finding recipes for meal prep?
- Or are you counting macros?
If you are bored of eating the same recipes every week and answered yes to any of these questions, then you are going to want to check out my notes below. Tips on how you can incorporate this lemon risotto and shrimp recipe into your meal plan and meal prep. If you are counting macros I have also included notes on how you can easily adjust the protein, carbs, and fats to meet your macro requirements.
NOTES FOR MEAL PLANNING:
Meal planning doesn’t have to be hard or take a lot of time. In fact, meal planning can be fun when you are provided with easy new recipes each week. Meal Planning can also help save money, prevent food waste, and save you time.
The best things about this recipe is, it’s packed with protein, it shows how easy it can be to make risotto, and it can be adjusted to fit just about any macro goals.
NOTES FOR MEAL PREP:
When meal prepping recipes it is important to think about the best way to store and reheat your finished meals:
FRIDGE STORAGE:
Storing this lemon risotto and shrimp recipe in the fridge will last 5 days. Some people are not a fan of shrimp reheated, I do not have a problem with it. However, if you overcook the shrimp when being reheated it can get a little rubbery, and that I am not a fan of. The risotto on the other hand reheats up REALLY well. So you could always forgo the shrimp with this recipe.
There are a few ways you can choose to store this recipe in your fridge:
- You can store as one large meal or as individual servings. I always prefer individual servings. This allows me to only reheat the number of servings that will be eaten.
- However, if you know you will eat the entire recipe when it is time to be reheated, go ahead and store it as one large serving.
For fridge storage, you can use: zip lock bags, plastic containers, or glass food containers. I prefer to use glass containers, as this allows me to reheat and eat the recipe right out of the same container. Which in turn saves me time, dirty dishes, and makes clean up easier. It also saves on waste, either tossing out the used zip lock bags or eventually having to replace the plastic containers.
Be sure to allow the recipe to cool completely before closing the container or placing it in the fridge. If you close the container or place the recipe in the fridge before it has cooled you could have built up condensation within your container, thus watering down the recipe.
TIPS FOR RE-HEATING AFTER BEING IN THE FRIDGE:
- If reheating only one serving: Put some of the risotto on top of the shrimp, then loosely cover with a damp paper towel, this will help to keep the shrimp moist. Then microwave for 90 seconds, stirring halfway through.
- If reheating as an entire meal, I recommend heating on the stovetop. Adding about 1/4 cup of water slowly as the ingredients begin to warm. This will add a little more moisture back into the recipe. Cook for about 5 minutes until warmed thru. You could also add a tiny bit more cheese or chicken stock instead of water, this will add additional creaminess and flavor to the recipe.
- I do not recommend reheating the entire recipe in the microwave, it is a guaranteed way to overcook the shrimp. But if you skipped the shrimp you could reheat the entire risotto recipe in the microwave. To do this, cover the risotto with a damp paper towel (the damp towel helps to add moisture to the dish) and microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Feel free to add more cheese!
FREEZER STORAGE:
This is not a great freezer meal prep recipe, so I would not recommend storing the shrimp or the risotto in the freezer after cooking. Plan to eat this recipe within 5 days of making it.
NOTES FOR COUNTING MACROS:
PROTEIN:
The majority of the protein in this recipe comes from the shrimp. You can easily adjust the amount of shrimp without changing the flavor of this recipe.
- For every 1 ounce of shrimp, you can increase or decrease the protein macro by 6 grams.
So go ahead, add as much or as little protein as you would like to this recipe.
Rice is the main source of carbohydrate in this lemon risotto and shrimp recipe. Adjusting the amount of rice either increases or decreases the amount of carbs.
- For every 1/4 cup (50 grams) of arborio rice there is 40 grams of carbs.
If making adjustments to the rice, you will also want to make adjustments to the amount of water you cook the rice in. Using about 2 times water to rice.
FAT:
This recipe is extremely low in fat with only 7.8 grams of fat per serving. Each week I like to include one low-fat recipe to accommodate those looking to cut weight.
However, if you are looking to increase the fat in this recipe you could:
- Increase the amount of butter the shrimp is cooked in. For every 1 tablespoon of butter, there are 11 grams of fat. You can increase this recipe to as many as 4 tablespoons of butter.
- Or you could increase the amount of cheese. But it is important to remember that cheese also contains protein. Therefore, making adjustments to the cheese will adjust both the fat and the protein macros: For 20 grams (1/4 cup) there are 4.25 grams of fat and 5.5 grams of protein.
With this recipe being so low in fat you cold choose to add fat into your diet in other ways:
- Enjoying nuts as a snack during the day.
- Adding a fatty ingredient to this recipe…I always love adding avocado to just about anything.
- Or just simply enjoying avocado as a snack
Incorporate additional fat however you see fit, use your imagination!
When counting macros and making adjustments to the protein, carbs, and fat in this lemon risotto and shrimp recipe, you will want to keep in mind the number of servings you are making.
If you LOVE shrimp you are going to love my: