Easy Vegan Oven Baked Risotto

Are you ready for a hands-off one-pot risotto that can be baked in the oven? Not only does this recipe taste exquisite, but it is very cheap to make and uses everyday ingredients.

If I see a vegan risotto on a restaurant menu, I’ll always get it because it’s one of my favorite meals. 

I always used to avoid making risotto at home because a traditional risotto requires constant stirring in a pan.  When I discovered that you could bake a risotto in an oven completely hands-off, I was over the moon. 

This recipe is so easy to make because you can throw it into a casserole dish, bake it in the oven and forget about it until it’s ready. 

Not only is this recipe delicious, but it’s also extremely cheap to make.  It tastes gourmet and very expensive, but nobody will know it actually costs just £0.62 or $0.75 per serving.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• This recipe and all recipes on my website are suitable for the special diets, vegan, plant based, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, free from refined sugar, and vegetarian
• This recipe contains 381 calories per serving
• This recipe contains 12.5g protein per serving
• This recipe contains 57mg of calcium per serving
• This recipe contains 7.5g of fiber per serving.
• This recipe is made from a combination of vegan protein, whole food sources of carbohydrates, vegetables, essential fats, and ingredients that make the dish extremely tasty.
• This recipe takes 5 minutes of active preparation time and 40 minutes of cooking time.  You can use the cooking time to get on with other things.
• This recipe is made extra tasty by the addition of my homemade Italian seasoning and vegetable stock powder.
• I have simplified this recipe by limiting the number of ingredients and using everyday ingredients such as mushroom, onions and peas.

Ingredients

Ingredient Substitutions

• Olive oil: Use any oil you choose.  Or omit the oil completely and just saute the vegetables in a little water.
• Onions: You can omit the onions or replace them with a vegetable of your choice.
• Mushrooms: You can omit the mushrooms or replace them with a vegetable of your choice.
• Garlic: You can omit the garlic or replace it with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
• Peas: You can replace the peas with any canned beans or canned chickpeas.
• Italian seasoning: You can replace it with any dried herbs of your choice.
• Vegetable stock powder: You can replace it with a different stock powder or stock cube of your choice.
• Sea salt: You can replace it with any salt of your choice or 1 tablespoon of tamari.
• Risotto rice: You can replace it with any other short grain rice but not long grain rice.
• Lemon juice: Replace this with lime juice or remove it completely.
• White wine: You can replace this with either water or stock.
• Basil/Cilantro/other fresh leaves: You can omit the fresh herbs or replace them with any fresh or dried herbs of your choice.

The Structure Of A Plant Based Plate

Each of the recipes I create fits into my Plant Plate System.  This system incorporates 5 food groups into every meal. 

The 5 food groups are 1) Plant Protein, 2), Leaves, Fruit, And Veg, 3) Aesthetic Additions, 4) Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates, and 5) Taste

This recipe is a complete meal because it contains all 5 components of my Plant Plate and contains around 400 calories per meal.

The diagram below helps you see the 5 different components of a Plant-Based Plate.

Click here to discover more about my Plant Plate System and some of the benefits of eating this way.

Here’s how this recipe is structured according to the Plant Plate System.

Adding each ingredient to the following categories helps you to easily see how to make substitutions. It also lets you know the exact reason why the ingredient is in the recipe.

Plant-Based Protein

• Mushroom
• Peas

Leaves, Fruit & Veg 

• Onion

Aesthetic Additions

• Basil

Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates

• Rice

Taste

• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Italian seasoning
• Stock powder
• Lemon juice
• White wine
• Vegan cheese
• Vegan butter

Recommended Equipment

Here are the main kitchen equipment tools I have used to create this recipe.

How To Make This Recipe

• Heat the oil and add chopped onion, mushrooms and garlic.
• Then add the peas, seasoning, rice, salt, lemon juice, white wine and boiling water to the pan and stir.
• Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and bake.
• Once the rice is cooked, stir in the cheese, butter and basil leaves and serve.

How To Reduce The Calories

If you’d like to reduce the calories of this recipe even further, I suggest removing the olive oil.  You can saute the vegetables in a little water instead of oil.

How To Increase The Calories

If you would like to increase the calories for anybody who is going to be eating a serving of this recipe, I suggest you serve them an extra side dish.

What Is The Secret To A Good Risotto?

1. The secret to a good risotto is to use short-grain rice.  This makes the dish stick together and gives it a wonderful consistency.   
2. If you have to choose between under-cooked and over-cooked, always choose overcooked as undercooked rice isn’t nice at all.  
3. Don’t rinse your rice because you don’t want to remove the starch.  The starch helps bind the recipe together.
4. Serve it immediately.  Risotto goes cold quickly and leftovers never taste as good.

How To Store Leftovers

This recipe keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.  Defrost it before using it. Reheat it by warming it up gently in a pan.

More Cheap Gourmet Vegan Dinners

This recipe is part of my cheap, restaurant-quality vegan dinner series.

If you’re looking for easy, cheap gourmet vegan dinners, check out some of my other recipes:

• Quick Vegan Meatballs And Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce
• The Ultimate Vegan Meatloaf With Gravy Recipe
• 5 Minute One Pot Vegan Chili

You can see all of my vegan dinner recipes here.

Recipe

Now it’s your turn to make magic with food.