Bolognese Risotto

  • 5MINS
  • 25MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 333KCAL

If you like the bol but not the spag, then this Bolognese Risotto will be right up your street. The combination of these two Italian classics is sooooo tasty. Not only is it slimming friendly, it’s a properly satisfying meal for the whole family!

  • Batch Cook pinchofnom.com
  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Bolognese Risotto pinchofnom.com
4

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories333
  • Carbs46g
  • Protein21g
  • Fat4.5g
  • Saturates1.7g
  • Sugars14g

Bolognese Risotto - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

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 like the bol, but not the spag then this Bolognese Risotto will be right up your street! Not only is it slimming friendly and perfect if you’re counting calories or following a plan like Weight Watchers, but it’s also a properly satisfying meal for the whole family!

This Bolognese Risotto has all the classic Italian flavours that you’d expect, but with the creaminess of a rich risotto.

You can add whatever veg you like to this recipe, so if you’re not too keen on something then just replace it with whatever you prefer. You could also top this Bolognese Risotto with a little parmesan to bring out the Italian flavours – just remember to adjust the calories or Points accordingly!

What diets is this Bolognese Risotto suitable for?

This Bolognese Risotto recipe is suitable for dairy free diets.

It can be made gluten free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;

  • Beef stock

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

Do you need any special ingredients to make Bolognese Risotto?

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

NEW TIP
Use gravy granules if you run out of beef stock!
Made this vegan by adding vegan meatballs instead of mince and I used vegetable stock cubes, also I didn't have a courgette so added peas, sweetcorn and mixed peppers. It was absolutely delicious!!!!
Much easier to cook than I expected. Tasted amazing
A great way of getting hidden veg into fussy kids
Happy Chef, clean plates all round!
Added a few shavings of fresh parmesan and a bundle of wild rocket on top just to finish it off- well, I am a chef's wife!
Added diced yellow pepper
I added a finely diced yellow pepper and then topped with Parmesan and shredded fresh Greek basil. I also think finely diced celery would be a great addition.
Delicious!
Neither of us like courgettes so we used celery instead
Easy to follow recipe
We like to let risotto rice simmer for about an hour to ensure it cooks fully, so we left it in the stock for this. Then prepped the veg, including extra plus carrots. Cooked the mince then put it all together with the passata and herbs. Delicious 😊
Saucepan cooked
Due to the size of my frying pan I cooked my bolognese risotto in a saucepan (the biggest I had) it made it easier for me and less mess too.
We’re not a lover of mushrooms so we easily removed them from the recipe and just substituted them for more carrots

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

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‘Great bolognese with a creamy risotto, beautiful.’

Matt Bushby

This post contains affiliate links: what this means

You really don’t need anything special to make this Bolognese Risotto, but you do need a large frying pan like this one from Amazon!

How many calories are in this Bolognese Risotto?

There are 333 calories per portion in this Bolognese Risotto, which means it falls into our Everyday Light category.

This Bolognese 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

Chop the onion, garlic, carrot and courgette into small dice. Spray a large frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and cook for 2 minutes on a moderate heat to soften slightly.

Step 2

Add the minced beef to the frying pan and brown – this will take around 5 minutes.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

Once the mince has browned, add the arborio risotto rice. Combine fully with the veg and meat.

Step 4

Add the tomato passata, tomato puree and herbs and combine fully. Season to taste – you may need a little pinch of sweetener if it tastes particularly sharp.

Step 4 pinchofnom.com

Step 5

Gradually add the beef stock to the frying pan – 250mls at a time is usually enough. Stir frequently and continue to add more stock as it reduces in the frying pan, until you have 250mls remaining. This will take around 15 minutes.

Step 5 pinchofnom.com

Step 6

When the rice is almost cooked and you have around 250mls of beef stock left, slice the mushrooms and add to the risotto. Stir to make sure they are covered and add the remaining stock. Cook for a further 5-6 minutes until the rice is cooked but still has a little bite.

Step 7

Serve immediately with some parmesan to your taste!

Bolognese Risotto - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with this Bolognese Risotto?

This super filling Bolognese Risotto really is a meal in itself, but would also go really well with the following starter, accompaniment and dessert:

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How do you know when Bolognese Risotto is cooked?

You should cook this Bolognese Risotto for around 25 minutes or until the rice is cooked but still has a little bite.

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 Bolognese Risotto in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within an hour.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Bolognese Risotto in the fridge for a day.

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 Bolognese Risotto?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

  • Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

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 Bolognese Risotto?

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

From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.

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

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Bolognese Risotto

If you like the bol but not the spag, then this Bolognese Risotto will be right up your street. The combination of these two Italian classics is sooooo tasty. Not only is it slimming friendly, it's a properly satisfying meal for the whole family!
  • Prep Time
    5 MINS
  • Cook Time
    25 MINS
  • KCals 333
  • Carbs 46G

Ingredients

  • 150 g Arborio risotto rice
  • 250 g lean 5% fat minced beef
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 onion
  • 4 chestnut mushrooms
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 400 g tomato passata
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp dried basil
  • 1 litre beef stock (made from 2 beef stock cubes)
  • low calorie cooking spray

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

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Instructions

  1. Chop the onion, garlic, carrot and courgette into small dice. Spray a pan with low calorie cooking spray and cook for 2 minutes on a moderate heat to soften slightly.
  2. Add the minced beef to the frying pan and brown - this will take around 5 minutes.
  3. Once the mince has browned, add the arborio risotto rice. Combine fully with the veg and meat.
  4. Add the tomato passata, tomato puree and herbs and combine fully. Season to taste - you may need a little pinch of sweetener if it tastes particularly sharp.
  5. Gradually add the beef stock to the frying pan - 250mls at a time is usually enough. Stir frequently and continue to add more stock as it reduces in the frying pan, until you have 250mls remaining. This will take around 15 minutes.
  6. When the rice is almost cooked and you have around 250mls of beef stock left, slice the mushrooms and add to the risotto. Stir to make sure they are covered and add the remaining stock. Cook for a further 5-6 minutes until the rice is cooked but still has a little bite.
  7. Serve immediately with some parmesan to your taste!

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.



We agreed with Slimming World to remove their trademarked terms from our website

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