Butternut Squash Risotto

  • 10MINS
  • 20MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 213KCAL

This Butternut Squash Risotto is a great slimming friendly way of using up some leftovers whilst making a tasty calorie counting and Weight Watchers friendly meal!

  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
  • Gluten Free pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Butternut Squash Risotto pinchofnom.com

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories213
  • Carbs49g
  • Protein4g
  • Fat0.3g
  • Saturates0.1g
  • Sugars3g

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card below. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb!

This Butternut Squash Risotto is a great slimming friendly way of using up some leftovers whilst making a tasty calorie counting and Weight Watchers friendly meal!

Perfect as an autumnal dish, risotto is our idea of comfort food and this low calorie version is satisfying and filling.

Risotto is a Northern Italian dish, made with a high starch, medium or short grain white rice. This rice absorbs liquids and releases starch – and this is what gives risotto its creamy consistency.

If you fancy something a bit different you can try using a rice, barley and spelt mix instead of the usual Arborio rice. We used the Gallo 3 Grain Rice, Barley and Spelt Risotto mix and it was AMAZING!

We like to garnish this Butternut Squash Risotto with a couple of shavings of parmesan and some butternut squash seeds toasted up in the oven.  Just remember to check the nutritional values of anything you garnish the risotto with.

What diets is this Butternut Squash Risotto suitable for?

This Butternut Squash Risotto recipe is suitable for vegetarian, vegan, dairy free diets.

This recipe can be made suitable for a gluten free diet as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;

  • Stock cubes

Please make sure to double and triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make Butternut Squash Risotto?

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Hints & Tips

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Amazing!
I added peas, bacon and chives!

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How many calories are in this Butternut Squash Risotto?

There are 213 calories per portion in this Butternut Squash Risotto, which means it falls into our Everyday Light category.

This Butternut Squash Risotto is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Peel and chop the butternut squash and place into a microwaveable container with a couple of tablespoons of water. Cover with cling film and cook until almost cooked through.

Step 2

Meanwhile, chop the onion and crush the garlic. Spray a frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and fry the garlic and onion for a couple of minutes until tender. Add the rice and combine with the onion and garlic.

Step 3

Pour in 300mls of water and add the stock pot and nutmeg. Continue to stir occasionally until all of the water has been absorbed.

Step 4

When the butternut squash has finished cooking in the microwave, add it to the rice and mix. Add another 300mls of water and continue to stir occasionally.

Step 5

After another 5-6 minutes, when the moisture has all been absorbed, add the final 300mls of water. Stir more frequently now to encourage a creamy consistency – this should take about 5 minutes.

Step 6

Make sure the rice is cooked to your liking, and serve immediately with a garnish of your choice!

What could I serve with this Butternut Squash Risotto?

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How do you know when Butternut Squash Risotto is cooked?

The perfect Butternut Squash Risotto will have a creamy consistency. Make sure the rice is cooked to your liking, the onion and garlic is tender, and the butternut squash is cooked through.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Butternut Squash Risotto in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Butternut Squash Risotto in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

As we all know you can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice, but, it’s not actually the reheating that can cause issues, it is, in fact, the way that the rice has been stored beforehand where the problem begins.

Rice can contain spores that are resistant to heat and can survive the cooking process.

If cooked rice is left standing at room temperature these spores can grow into bacteria. At this point, the bacteria can be destroyed by reheating the rice thoroughly.

You should remember to do the following if you’re going to keep leftover rice:

  • Cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) then put it in the fridge immediately. You can split larger portions up into smaller batches to cool quicker.
  • Reheat and use any leftover rice (stored in the fridge) within one day.
  • When you reheat any rice, always check it is steaming hot all the way through.
  • Don’t reheat cooked rice more than once.

Can I freeze Butternut Squash Risotto?

We don’t recommend freezing this recipe.

How do I reheat Butternut Squash Risotto?

From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

For more information about reheating rice please take a look at the NHS website.

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Butternut Squash Risotto

This Butternut Squash Risotto is a great slimming friendly way of using up some leftovers whilst making a tasty calorie counting and Weight Watchers friendly meal!
  • Prep Time
    10 MINS
  • Cook Time
    20 MINS
  • KCals 213
  • Carbs 49G

Ingredients

  • 200 g butternut squash or pumpkin
  • 200 g risotto rice
  • 1 vegetable stock pot
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • 900 mls water
  • low calorie cooking spray

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Peel and chop the butternut squash and place into a microwaveable container with a couple of tablespoons of water. Cover with cling film and cook for 5 minutes until almost cooked through.
  2. Meanwhile, chop the onion and crush the garlic. Spray a frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and fry the garlic and onion for a couple of minutes until tender. Add the rice and combine with the onion and garlic.
  3. Pour in 300mls of water and add the stock pot and nutmeg. Continue to stir occasionally for around 5 minutes until all of the water has been absorbed.
  4. When the butternut squash has finished cooking, add it to the rice and mix. Add another 300mls of water and continue to stir occasionally.
  5. After another 5-6 minutes, when the moisture has all been absorbed, add the final 300mls of water. Stir more frequently now to encourage a creamy consistency - this should take about 5 minutes.
  6. Make sure the rice is cooked to your liking, and serve immediately with a garnish of your choice!

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7 comments

See what others have to say

JennieTuesday 3rd March 2020

Just making this in my electric pressure cooker!!! Hope it turns out ok? Looks soooo yummy ?

Reply

    Steve CowderoyMonday 11th May 2020

    Hi Jennie, Thanks for getting in touch with us, please let us know how its goes.

    Reply

Natalie DawnTuesday 23rd April 2019

Hi I have frozen butternut squash do I still Chuck it in the microwave first? Would it need longer?

Reply

    CateTuesday 23rd April 2019

    Hi Natalie!

    You could either defrost it in the microwave or add a few minutes to the cooking time.

    Hope that helps! 🙂

    Reply

StephanieSunday 28th January 2018

Hey there! I want to make this recipe to use up some pumpkin I have spare. Do you know if this is suitable for freezing? Thanks!

Reply

EmilyFriday 29th December 2017

When do you use the nutmeg? As part of the final garnish or earlier on? Thanks 🙂

Reply

AlexMonday 30th October 2017

Hi

How long do you think it would take to cook this in an IP

Thanks

Reply

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