Instant Pot Apple Cherry Breakfast Risotto

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Instant Pot Apple Risotto is a comforting, quick breakfast recipe made with creamy Arborio rice, dried cherries, diced apples, apple juice, and warm cinnamon spices.

a white bowl of Instant Pot Apple Risotto with Cherries and diced apples, with a silver spoon sticking out the side and topped with additional milk

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This breakfast risotto lets you start the day on a sweet note, you can control the sweetness levels, and it’s ready in under 20 minutes!

Making a sweet, fruity, and warming bowl of breakfast porridge in the Instant Pot is a delicious hands-off way to start your day on the right note. This apple breakfast risotto is a go-to recipe worth returning to every apple season.

My entire family loves this hearty Instant Pot Apple Cherry Risotto, and we make it year-round. It’s been on the site for a loooong time now, so I took some new photos and added tips. 

A Pinterest Image that reads "Instant Pot Cherry-Apple Risotto: Ready in under 20 minutes" overlaid on a vertical shot with an Instant Pot and bowls of almonds and cherries in the background with a white speckled bowl filled with breakfast apple risotto, garnished with diced cherries and a splash of milk, with a spoon on the side ready to eat

How to Make Instant Pot Apple Risotto

This Instant Pot Apple Risotto recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.

The kind of rice you use is very important for the right texture when making risotto, even in a pressure cooker.

Arborio rice is the variety you want, and it’s usually easy to find at regular grocery stores. Arborio cooks up creamy, so there’s no need to use actual cream in this dish!

If you prefer a breakfast risotto that’s less or more sweet, feel free to adjust the sugar amount to your tastes. You can also add a splash (or more) of cream to the mixture for a richer flavor and texture. 

An overhead shot of all of the ingredients, including brown sugar, diced apples, cherries, cinnamon, and arborio rice, looking down into the Instant Pot cooking pot

How to Prepare the Apples and Cherries for the Breakfast Risotto

Cherries: I usually buy a big pack of dried cherries from Costco or this smaller pack from the grocery store, both of which are a tart cherry variety. I love the burst of flavor they add the dish.

I love to cut the cherries so there’s some in every bite. You can cut them in half, leave them whole, or finely dice them.

Apples: As for the apples, you can control the texture in the finished dish by how large or small you cut them. Very small diced apples will be fully cooked and start to break down by the end of the cook time. Very large pieces will retain a bit of bite to them.

An overhead shot looking into an Instant Pot Duo Nova, with the cooked Instant Pot Apple Risotto cooked and ready to scoop into serving bowls with a wooden spoon

Slow Cooker vs. Instant Pot Risotto

We first adapted this recipe from Crockpot Breakfast Risotto from the cookbook A Year of Slow Cooking. It was so creamy, flavorful, and kid-friendly that we fell in love and have been making it for years!

Slow cooker recipes are generally easy to convert to pressure cooker recipes. Making risotto in the pressure cooker is so much easier than on the stovetop, and it’s still creamy and delicious. Plus, it only takes 15 minutes, compared to the hours it takes in a crockpot!

Tip: If you have other slow cooker recipes you’d like to make quicker, we can teach you how to convert slow cooker recipes to the Instant Pot.

An overhead shot looking into a white bowl filled with apple risotto made in a pressure cooker, garnished with extra cinnamon and a splash of milk

Halving and Doubling the Recipe

This makes enough breakfast apple risotto for 6 people. You can certainly divide everything in half to make a half batch. 

Likewise, you can scale the recipe up to feed more or to have leftovers. As always, be careful not to go past the “Max Fill” line on your Instant Pot. 

🛑 Note: If you are making extra for leftovers, be sure to have extra apple juice, milk, or cream on-hand since the rice will continue absorbing liquid as it cools.

A vertical shot with an Instant Pot and bowls of almonds and cherries in the background with a white speckled bowl filled with breakfast apple risotto, garnished with diced cherries and a splash of milk, with a spoon on the side ready to eat

More Instant Pot Breakfast Recipes

You might be surprised by how many ways there are to use your pressure cooker for breakfast, including these popular Instant Pot Breakfast recipes:


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a white bowl of Instant Pot Apple Risotto with Cherries and diced apples, with a silver spoon sticking out the side and topped with additional milk

Apple Cherry Breakfast Risotto

Servings: 6 servings
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Additional Time: 6 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Instant Pot Apple Breakfast Risotto is a comforting and quick recipe made with creamy arborio rice, dried cherries and apples for bite, and finished with cinnamon and brown sugar.
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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
  • 2 large apples cored and diced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 3 cups milk I used 1%
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries
  • Sliced almonds optional, for serving

Instructions

  • Select Sauté. Melt the butter in the pressure cooking pot, then add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until rice becomes opaque, about 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Add the apples, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar. Stir in the apple juice and milk. 
  • Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 6 minutes cook time.
  • When the cook time ends, use a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid, and stir in the dried cherries.
  • Serve topped with additional brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, sliced almonds, and a splash of milk.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 299kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 189mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 30g

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