Chicken Risotto in the Steam Oven
Risotto baked in the steam oven — no stirring. Chicken toasts with the rice for colour, then everything steams together; parmesan and butter beaten in at the end for creaminess. One dish, about 40 minutes mostly hands-off, for 5 adults.
One dish in the steam oven · ~40 min (mostly hands-off) · serves 5 adults Risotto baked in the steam oven — no stirring. Chicken toasts with the rice for colour, then everything steams together. Parmesan + butter beaten in at the end for creaminess. No onion/garlic — leek carries the base.
Ingredients
- 600 g boneless chicken thighs, diced (check carefully — no bone fragments)
- 400 g risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli) (risotto rice swells more — not the 800 g long-grain rule)
- 1 leek, finely sliced
- ½ medium zucchini, grated (hidden)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ~1.3 L stock (homemade or additive-free), brought to the boil — keep a little extra hot
- 1 lemon, zested + a squeeze of juice
- 30 g butter (beaten in at the end)
- 50 g parmesan, grated fresh from the block
- salt + pepper (added late)
- 1 head broccoli + 3 carrots (plain steamed side)
Method — by station
Everything happens in one wide Pyrex glass baking dish in the steam oven. The hob stays off. Heat the stock in a saucepan while the toast phase runs — the only exception.
🔥 In the steam oven — toast phase (~10 min)
Steam oven — no preheat needed; set it going from cold.
- Combigaren + Heißluft, 200 °C, 10 % humidity. Toss the rice, chicken, leek and olive oil together in the Pyrex dish; spread evenly. In for ~10 min, stirring once halfway, until the grains look glassy and the chicken has taken light colour. (Glass browns more gently than metal — light colour is enough.)
🍳 On the hob — just the stock (while the toast phase runs)
- High heat: bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan. It must go in hot or the steam phase stalls.
🔥 In the steam oven — steam phase (~23 min)
- Stir the grated zucchini into the dish, then pour the boiling stock over and level the surface. (Pyrex: pour the hot stock onto the hot dish only — never onto cold glass.)
- Switch to Dampf, 100 °C, 100 % humidity, and steam ~23 min.
- With ~12 min left, put the broccoli and carrots in alongside on a perforated tray to steam plain.
- Grain check at 20 min: bite a grain from the centre. Chalky core → give it 3–5 min more with a splash of extra hot stock if it looks dry.
🥣 To finish (off the heat)
- Rest the dish 2 min, then check a piece of chicken is cooked through (no pink).
- Lift out the baby’s portion now — rice, chicken and veg, unsalted, no parmesan, chicken cut small.
- Beat in the butter, parmesan, lemon zest and a squeeze of juice until glossy and creamy. Loosen with hot stock if it tightens.
- Lift out the children’s portions, then salt and pepper the rest to taste.
🍱 To assemble
- Risotto into each container, steamed broccoli and carrots alongside. Cool, then fridge. Don’t forget your work portion.
Notes
- Reheat: steam oven, lid off, Dampf 100 °C, ~10–12 min, with a splash of water or stock — risotto tightens overnight and needs the loosening.
- Best within 2 days.
- The no-stir oven method trades a little of the classic wave-like texture for a completely hands-off cook — the butter + parmesan beat at the end brings the creaminess back.
- Herb option: fold chopped parsley or chives in at step 9.