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Risotto really can be an easy family dinner with store cupboard ingredients and no excessive stirring!
This Oven-Baked Risotto with Bacon and Cheese is a comfort bowl-full of creamy goodness, ready in under 30 minutes and involves zero faff.
Do I have a spare 20 minutes to stir a risotto? Nope. Do I have the inclination? Definitely no.
Instead I have devised a cunning plan to get around this excessive behaviour around risottos, which I truly love.
My own really simple cheat’s way of making Oven Baked Risotto – no stirring involved!
OK, it’s not quite what you’d get from giving it 20 minutes of TLC like the traditional dish, but I’ll forgive it for the lack of effort involved.
Why you’ll love this No-Stir Oven Baked Risotto recipe
⭐️ Made in under 30 minutes
⭐️ Uses store cupboard and freezer ingredients
⭐️ Easy comfort food
About this Oven Baked Risotto
As with all the best dishes from Italy, a traditional risotto is simple but special.
It’s an unpretentious meal that uses a few unfussy ingredients that has big results in terms of flavour and texture.
To make a really authentic risotto, however, takes practice and patience. Learn some tricks in this How to Make Authentic Italian Risotto for Beginners guide if you’re interested in going the extra mile.
Or you can cheat your way to dinner with my this easy recipe, or try my Butternut Squash Risotto recipe if you want a vegetarian risotto.
Ingredients for Bacon & Cheese Oven Baked Risotto
- Oil
- Onion – Frozen or fresh (I always use pre-chopped frozen)
- Garlic – Fresh, jarred or paste is fine
- Smoked bacon – Smoked will give the best flavour, but you could use streaky if you prefer or whatever you have
- Arborio rice
- Vegetable stock
- Tinned tomatoes
- Fresh thyme
- Peas – Or petit pois
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Butter – Optional
- Parmesan cheese – Stir in or sprinkle on top, or both!
How to make Oven Baked Risotto
1. Heat the oil in a lidded pan and fry the onion, garlic and bacon. Add rice and stir well. After a couple of minutes, add the stock, tomatoes, thyme and pepper. Stir, put the lid on and bake for about 20 minutes.
2. Take out and add peas and butter. Check seasoning. Put lid back on and put back in the oven for a few minutes. Stir through cheese or sprinkle on top.
Hint: Check the risotto when it’s been in the oven for 15 minutes. If the liquid has all been absorbed, add a little more stock.
Substitutions
- Bacon: You could try swapping the bacon for chopped up chorizo or pancetta instead, or leave out altogether if you want to make this a vegetarian risotto
- Thyme: If you don’t have fresh, you could use dried thyme or Italian mixed herbs
- Butter: This is optional but it does make the risotto deliciously creamy just stirred through at the very end
Risotto Leftovers
In the fridge Just be sure to follow cooked rice food safety guidelines (i.e. do not leave it hanging about at room temperature, cool it very quickly and then reheat fully before serving).
Top tips
Consistency
Make sure you serve it before all of the liquid has been absorbed. You want it to be a little saucy.
FAQs
Yes you can, but it won’t have the same creamy, saucy (technical term) texture. You may also need to adjust the cooking time a little.
I have tried-and-tested lots of one-pan pans and put together a pan review here. I hope it helps!
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Oven Baked Risotto {with Bacon and Cheese}
Ingredients
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 1 Large onion, See notes
- 2 Cloves Garlic, Peeled and crushed
- 200 g (7 oz) Smoked bacon, Cut into small pieces | See notes
- 300 g (10.5 oz) Arborio Rice
- 1 litre (4.25 cups) Vegetable stock, From a cube is fine
- 400 g (14.5 oz) Tinned tomatoes
- 1 tsp Dried thyme
- 200 g (7 oz) Petit pois or peas, Frozen is fine
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
To serve:
- 50 g (2 oz) Butter, Optional | See notes
- 75 g (3 oz) Parmesan cheese, Grated | See notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy, oven proof/hob proof saucepan (which has a lid).
- Fry off the onion, garlic and chopped bacon until the onion is soft and the bacon has started to brown.
- Add in the rice and stir everything together until the rice is well coated.
- Allow to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until the rice starts to look shiny.
- Add in the stock, the tomatoes and the thyme, along with some ground black pepper.
- Stir well and put on a well fitting lid.
- Pop into the oven for 20-30 minutes until the rice has cooked and has absorbed most of the stock.
- Take out of the oven, add the peas and the butter if you're using, check for seasoning and add salt only if needed (this will depend on the bacon you used). Give everything a good stir and pop the lid back on for a couple of minutes until the heat of the risotto has warmed the peas through.
- You can then either stir through the cheese or serve with the cheese sprinkled on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published on June 17, 2020 and updated later to make improvements.
Loved this. My daughter had thirds as she said it was the best meal I have ever made. Totally going on regular meal plan
I made this with fresh tomatoes and it was absolutely delicious!
Can I leave out tomatoes?
I have made this dish so many times both with bacon and chorizo and they are both fantastic. So easy to make and delicious to eat!!
I love this, and always have whats necessary for making it . Very handy if you can’t get to the shops.