Carbonara Risotto
This is not your traditional carbonara recipe! We've mixed together two of our Italian favourites and created a super creamy, delicious dish.
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NutritionPer Serving
- Calories431
- Carbs66g
- Protein22g
- Fat8.5g
- Saturates3.3g
- Sugars5.3g
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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!
If you love Italian food as much as us, you’ve just found your new favourite recipe! We’ve brought together two classic dishes and created Carbonara Risotto.
It may not be traditional but it is 100% delicious!
We’ve used extra light, low fat cream cheese to make this risotto incredibly rich and creamy, whilst being lower in calories than a full fat carbonara or risotto.
Like any risotto, this recipe takes a little more time and effort to make, but the payoff is a super creamy, flavour-packed dinner that tastes so indulgent but is still slimming friendly.
What diets is this Carbonara Risotto suitable for?
Carbonara Risotto can be enjoyed on gluten free diets, as long as you substitute the chicken and vegetable stock cubes for gluten free alternatives.
If you’re cooking for people with allergies, be extra careful when checking ingredients and preparing food.
Do you need any special ingredients to make Carbonara Risotto?
As with any risotto recipe, you will need some Arborio rice. This particular type of rice helps the risotto get its traditional creamy texture.
It is readily available in most supermarkets and can be found in the grains aisle.
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A good quality, large frying pan like this one from Amazon is ideal for making risottos and other Italian dishes.
A microplane grater is a handy piece of kitchen equipment. Use it to finely grate your parmesan.
How many calories are in this Carbonara Risotto?
There are 431 calories per portion in this Carbonara Risotto, which means it falls into our Weekly Indulgence category.
To cut down the amount of calories even more, you could simply halve the portion size and serve with a healthy accompaniment.
This Carbonara 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
Spray a large frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the gammon pieces, onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften and the gammon is seared.
Step 2
Add the rice and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Step 3
Begin to ladle in the stock. Add two ladles and stir well. Once the liquid has absorbed add more and repeat. It will take around 30 minutes to add all the stock.
Step 4
While the risotto is cooking, take a separate frying pan and spray with low calorie cooking spray. Cook the mushrooms for 5 minutes until they have some colour and set aside.
Step 5
When you get to the last few ladles of stock add in the mushrooms, white wine vinegar and Parmesan. Keep stirring well.
Step 6
At the end add in the cream cheese and stir a few more times over the heat so it combines well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
What could I serve with this Carbonara Risotto?
Carbonara Risotto is filling enough to be enjoyed as a main meal.
For a special occasion, why not serve it as the main course as part of an Italian themed feast alongside these dishes;
How do you know when Carbonara Risotto is cooked?
You should cook this Carbonara Risotto until the gammon is cooked all the way through, the rice has softened and all of the stock has been absorbed. This will take around 30 minutes.
To keep your family safe, the advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and maintained that temperature for 2 minutes.
How long can you keep Carbonara Risotto in the fridge?
Rice can be a source of serious food poisoning as it can contain heat resistant spores that may turn into bacteria if it’s not stored properly.
You should always take extra care when cooling and reheating dishes that contain rice.
- Make sure it’s cooled and refrigerated as soon as possible after cooking
- Use chilled rice within a day
- Always reheat until piping hot, and never more than once.
Can I freeze Carbonara Risotto?
As when keeping rice in the fridge, make sure to do the following if you plan to freeze it:
- Cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) then freeze it immediately. You can split larger portions up into smaller batches to cool quicker.
- Freeze as soon as the rice is cold.
- When you reheat any rice, always check it is steaming hot all the way through.
- Don’t reheat cooked rice more than once.
How do I reheat Carbonara Risotto?
From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 3-5 minutes until piping hot.
From frozen: Allow to defrost overnight in the fridge, and reheat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes until piping hot.
For more information about reheating rice please take a look at the NHS website.
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Carbonara Risotto
This is not your traditional carbonara recipe! We've mixed together two of our Italian favourites and created a super creamy, delicious dish.
-
Prep Time
10 MINS
-
Cook Time
38 MINS
- KCals 431
- Carbs 66G
Instructions
- Spray a large frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the gammon pieces, onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften and the gammon is seared.
- Add the rice and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Begin to ladle in the stock. Add two ladles and stir well. Once the liquid has absorbed add more and repeat. It will take around 30 minutes to add all the stock.
- While the risotto is cooking, take a separate frying pan and spray with low calorie cooking spray. Cook the mushrooms for 5 minutes until they have some colour and set aside.
- When you get to the last few ladles of stock add in the mushrooms, white wine vinegar and Parmesan. Keep stirring well.
- At the end add in the cream cheese and stir a few more times over the heat so it combines well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
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Recipe notes
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6 comments
See what others have to say
EllenSaturday 3rd December 2022
What can I use instead of white wine vinegar?
HollyWednesday 21st December 2022
Hey Ellen, you could swap the white wine vinegar for cider vinegar or rice vinegar, hope that helps!
N smithswanSaturday 21st May 2022
Can I just ask – is the gammon cooked already. Or is it put in raw and then cooked
HollyMonday 23rd May 2022
Hey Natalie, The best way to tell the difference is gammon is raw and ham is when it’s cooked. So this recipe uses gammon, hope that helps!
Enid LowtherSunday 8th May 2022
Can this be made in one pot pressure cooker
HollyMonday 9th May 2022
Hey Enid, we haven’t tested this recipe in a pressure cooker but we have a handy guide HERE for recipe conversion which you might find helpful!
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