Calories in Risotto

As we all know any food or dish that tastes good, inadvertently has loads of calories that is bad for our health as well as our waistline. One such dish is the creamy risotto. The Italian risotto is the quintessential comfort food that has all the characteristic that a comfort food should have. It has loads of cheese and butter and it is hot and delicious in its creaminess.

There are many types of risottos available and the calories vary accordingly. Risottos such as mushroom and lemon have comparatively less calories than that in lobster and shrimp risotto. You might be tempted to think that risotto is simply a plate of rice and therefore does not contain too many calories, but any dish that has so much of butter, cheese and olive oil is bound to have loads of calories. As risotto calories is considerable, try not to indulge too much into this comfort food and only have small helpings of this divine dish once a week.

Risotto (1 serving)	Calories	Fats (g)	Proteins (g)	Carbohydrate (g)
Cheese Risotto	356	13.12	14.02	44.25

Calories in Risotto Rice

The main ingredient for risotto is the risotto rice. Risotto rice is a very special type of rice that is used for making risotto and it is a short grained rice. The special characteristic of this rice is that it becomes a little sticky when cooked and it also has a high starch content. No other rice can be substituted for cooking risotto rice as any other rice do not have the required high starch content that is essential for cooking this dish. Three main rice varieties are used for preparing risotto and these are Carnaroli, vialone nano and arborio. Here is a list of risotto calories for these three rice varieties.

Type of Rice	Serving	Calories
Arborio	½ cup	320
Carnaroli	½ cup	367
Vialone Nano	½ cup	348

Thus we have seen that carnaroli risotto rice has the highest amount of calories followed by vialone nano and arborio. Purists believe that carnaroli is the best rice for making a creamy risotto but if you are counting calories it is best to opt for arborio. Although risotto rice calories is considerable the main calories comes from Parmesan cheese and butter. If you are on a diet and are still tempted to eat a risotto, ask for the Parmesan cheese to be served on the side instead of putting it into the dish when it is prepared. That way you can control the amount of cheese that you put in the risotto. Another trick is to have small helpings of risotto instead of a plate full of it. You should also order only vegetarian risottos like asparagus and zucchini instead of lobster or cheese risotto as they have lesser calories. Here is a list of various risotto calories like mushroom risotto calories, seafood risotto calories and vegetable risotto calories.

Calories in Different Varieties of Risotto

Risotto Type (1 serving i.e. ½ cup)	Calories	Carbohydrates (g)	Protein (g)	Fats (g)
Mushroom Risotto	150	28.00	3.00	3.00
Asparagus Risotto	200	23.00	5.00	9.00
Garlic Primavera Risotto	280	58.00	8.00	2.00
Tomato Risotto	199	27.00	7.7	4.6
Lobster Risotto	1103	102	21.90	25.05
Chicken Risotto	515	64.8	6.8	16.7
Shrimp and Clam Risotto	275	20	2.5	15.1

As we have seen, risotto is a high calorie dish and so you should only have this delicious dish occasionally. Calories in risotto pudding which is made by boiling the risotto rice in full fat milk is about 204 per serving. Having risotto in moderation and controlling the portion will help you avoid piling on weight after having this dish.