How much does risotto for 4 cost in Switzerland?

Rice isn't the expensive part of a risotto: the base, rice, onion and stock, is cheap. What pushes the bill up is the cheese (Parmesan or Grana) and the ingredient in your variant. A pinch of saffron weighs almost nothing but is the world's most expensive spice by the gram, while mushrooms cost far less. You can see what's on offer this week straight on the Risotto recipe in the Rappn app, which shows the current offer for each ingredient across all 7 chains.

Last updated: July 2026. Prices change weekly: for the current offers use the Risotto recipe in the Rappn app and the offers page, not the figures in this guide.

Rappn compares prices at Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's: free, with no retailer deals.

How much does risotto cost per serving?

For 4 people you need roughly 320-400 g of rice, 80-100 g a head, plus a litre of stock, half an onion, a knob of butter, a little oil, grated cheese and, if you like, half a glass of white wine. It's a short list, and on its own the base is cheap: risotto rice is among the lowest-cost foods per kilo, and a 1 kg bag stretches to two or three dinners. Risotto scales linearly, double everything for 8, and leftovers become arancini or risotto al salto the next day, so cooking generously pushes the cost per serving down further.

Which ingredients drive the cost?

Two items move the bill: the cheese and the variant add-on. An aged Parmigiano Reggiano PDO costs noticeably more than Grana Padano or Swiss Sbrinz, and in a risotto alla parmigiana the cheese is the star. The saffron variant brings in the world's most expensive spice by the gram, yet a pinch is enough for four, so it weighs less on the total than the cheese does. In the mushroom variant it's the dried porcini that add up, while fresh button mushrooms stay cheap. Here's where to act:

Where do you save the most?

The biggest savings are on the rice and the cheese, because those are the largest quantities. Switching to own-brand risotto rice (M-Budget at Migros, Prix Garantie at Coop) cuts the heaviest line without changing your everyday dish; save the Carnaroli or Arborio for guests. For cheese, Grana or Sbrinz give the same creaminess as a Parmigiano PDO for less. The wine you can drop entirely. And because cheese and saffron often go on offer, it pays to buy them on Aktion and stock up: hard cheese keeps for ages in the fridge, saffron for months in the cupboard.

Saffron or mushroom: which variant is cheaper?

Mushrooms are nearly always the cheaper variant, especially in autumn when Swiss seasonal mushrooms cost little. Fresh button mushrooms are cheap year-round; dried porcini cost more, but a small bag goes a long way. Saffron, though pricey per gram, is used in tiny amounts, so the real gap between the two variants is smaller than the per-gram price suggests. Swiss footnote: saffron is grown in Mund, in Valais, but in such small quantities that almost everything on the shelf is imported. And to really keep the bill down, a seasonal variant, pumpkin in autumn, asparagus in spring, peas in summer, costs less than both saffron and premium mushrooms. Risotto is a staple of Ticino and Lombard cooking precisely because it starts from simple ingredients.

Rice, cheese and mushroom prices shift every week across the 7 chains: the same pack is cheaper at Aldi or Lidl one week, at Coop the next. That's why Rappn shows the live offers right on the recipe, open the Risotto and see, ingredient by ingredient, where today's offer is.

So what does risotto really cost? It depends on the variant and on what's on offer this week, not on a fixed number. The honest way to find out is to see it live: open the Risotto recipe on Rappn for the current offer ingredient by ingredient, check this week's offers, and if you want to know which chain suits your whole shop, take a look at the price comparison. No invented numbers, just the real, up-to-date offers.