Cook Dairy-Free Pasta Dishes Like Risotto For Super Creamy Results

If you love creamy pasta dishes but want to make your dinner dairy-free, the good news is you don't necessarily need cream or cheese to make pasta with a rich and luxurious texture. Instead, you can cook your pasta risotto-style — in rich, flavorful liquid — for a deliciously creamy and dairy-free result. All you need is a short cut pasta (like gemelli, farfalle, or orzo) and some vegetable broth.

Making creamy pasta without the dairy takes a page from classic Italian risotto recipes, where short or medium-grain rice (typically arborio) is cooked by toasting the grains in a pot, then gradually adding in stock. As the rice absorbs the flavorful liquid in increments, its starch is released, and the grains cook and soften. This creates the infamously creamy texture anyone who has had a bite of risotto knows and loves.

Luckily, the same method can be translated to pasta for a creamy texture, all without adding in cream, butter, or cheese. For a dairy-free pasta dish that resembles risotto, you can use the rice lookalike — orzo pasta — and make an "orzotto" that cooks quicker than the rice version. Or, substitute for any short pasta shape you like and cook the whole dish in one pot or pan. To cook an easy dairy-free pasta using the risotto method, just make sure you have a box of pasta and a flavorful stock on hand; plus some onions, garlic, and white wine if desired.

Cooking pasta like risotto will introduce both flavor and texture — all without dirtying an extra pot or having to craft a separate sauce. To make a creamy dairy-free pasta dish, cook your alliums and aromatics as usual and toast your pasta grains or pieces. The key to making a creamy pasta is adding the vegetable stock or broth in gradually and letting it absorb into the pasta before adding more. As you add in more broth, the starch will begin to release from the pasta and into the cooking liquid, creating a creamy and perfectly cooked al dente pasta all at once.

Equally as crucial to knowing that not all noodles are pasta is the importance of using short cut pasta shapes like rotini for this dish. Short pasta and orzo work best for this method (as opposed to long strands of spaghetti) so that you can adequately toast the pieces, then coat them as a creamy, starch texture develops. All that's required is a little patience as you add in the stock — but once you start adding in the liquid, it doesn't take too much longer than your typical water-boiling pasta method.

When making dairy-free pasta cooked like risotto, the key is to use a flavorful stock. If you're keeping things plant-based, use a hearty homemade vegetable stock or broth. Of course, you can always use the boxed kind or bullion cubes, too. With a flavorful stock and sautéd alliums, the creaminess and richness of your cooked pasta will speak for itself. Simply garnish the dish with salt and pepper, and serve.

However, there is definitely room for culinary creativity as well. Garnish the dish with lemon juice and fresh herbs like basil. Or you can toss your risotto-style pasta with a light coating of bright and herbaceous pesto. Take inspiration from mushroom and roasted garlic risotto by cooking mushrooms with the onions before toasting the pasta. Add in asparagus, green peas, and microgreens for vibrancy and crunch. 

Note, sometimes risotto is created using butter to sauté the onions and then garnished with cheese. If you're not opting for dairy-free and just want to try the creamy pasta method, you're welcome to introduce ingredients like butter and grated Parmesan to the mix. Similarly, you can swap veggie broth for chicken stock if you're not concerned about making the dish vegetarian. Either way, you'll have a creamy pasta dish, without the need to make a roux or add lots of dairy ingredients like cream and cheese.