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Beetroot Risotto

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Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime!

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

**I received free samples of Progresso Cooking Stock mentioned in this post at no cost.**

Risottno? Risottyes! Far too long my friends! Risotto have been a dish on that long recipe bucket list of mine for a long time. Thing is, I’ve made risotto before…years ago. Years before any diet changes due to celiac, soy or no dairy or egg. That first risotto was the epitome of cheese and decadence, but it created some fond lasting memories for me and I love to tell the story. I don’t remember my exact age, but I was young and this was on of the first recipes I ever made…with my Nintento DS.

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

I loved video games as a kid and we had just about every system. Obviously a Nintento DS was essential. I didn’t just love video games though, as you know, I loved cooking too. So when I saw I could combine the two loves…magic happened. The specific game that led to risotto was called, Personal Trainer Cooking: Gourmet Made Easy. This little chef made led you through some authentic beautiful international dishes. The DS acted like a virtual interactive cookbook while you were cooking the recipe. There was even a grocery list you could be checking off as you shopped for the ingredients.

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

This specific risotto recipe was full of Parmesan, herbs, stock, and white wine. We went out to buy all the ingredients, even made a special stop at the liqueur store for the wine. When we got home (just my mom and I), I started heating the stock and chopping the onion. Little did I know, the bottle opener for the wine was gone. As everything was already cooking away on the stove, my DS personal chef yelling the next step ADD THE WINE, my mom and I were frantically tossing the kitchen looking for something to open that bottle of wine with. My mom quickly got my dad on the phone (after a few attempts of him not picking up! “Come on dad! This is urgent!”). He had no idea where or how to open the bottle. Needless to say, the risotto wouldn’t wait longer and I ended up just using more stock in place of that stubborn wine.

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

But hey, guess what? It still came out fantastic (just like every “fail” does) and I fell in love with risotto (but then never made it again until now.) My little DS personal chef did not let me down! That “game”, if you can even call it that, was pretty bomb. I also made sushi for the first time using that and a killer Greek salad. Anyway, recently I’ve just been having the biggest rice cravings and one of them was for risotto. I wanted a super creamy risotto without the dairy obviously, and the wine (just to make things easier). Some good stock would be the answer to this little conundrum. Progresso recently launched a new line of premium cooking stocks that are rich and deep in flavor without anything artificial. A perfect low-calorie way to add the ultimate creaminess to a perfect healthy risotto. Their vegetable cooking stock is gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan as well. I don’t use cooking stock very much, but I was impressed by the lovely deep flavor it provided to my risotto!

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

I decided to make the beetroot risotto in my favorite cast iron as well. (Maybe by favorite kitchen appliance?) I knew there was nothing the cast iron couldn’t handle, and making a super creamy risotto was no exception! Plus I think it added an even deeper flavor and cooked the rice so evenly!

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

Then I got the idea to take the creaminess even further and to replace the traditional wine, add color, and extra nutrition, I pureed up some beets! Let’s pretend the beets are like a decadent red wine, eh? I knew this risotto would reach the vegan creaminess I wanted now, yet be healthy and nutrient dense. From there I kept the rest of the flavor simple. Just some sweet onion, mint, garlic, and a few dashes of cinnamon and allspice to make this a lovely winter dish. The risotto is actually a bit sweet from the beets and spices, but also has a kick from some black pepper. It’s a fantastic combo!

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

And you know what? I think this would make one perfect Valentine’s Day date night recipe! I mean…just look at that deep red color! Risotto is just so comforting and seems so special too. Yet, don’t worry, this risotto does not take hours or much work. It’s done is less than 30 minutes and all you have to do is keep adding some stock and stirring it in, then waiting to do it again once absorbed. Easy as pie risotto!

Beetroot Risotto

Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

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Beetroot Risotto

Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime!

  • Author: Rebecca Pytell
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: American, Italian
Scale

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat a seasoned cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion, allow to sweat for 3 minutes, then add the processed beets and stir.
  2. Now add the uncooked rice to the skillet and allow the rice to absorb the beet juices for about 3 more minutes, then add the mint, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, and pepper. Stir.
  3. Now add 1/2 cup of the cooking stock to the skillet. Keep the heat to a medium low setting. Stir in the stock then just allow the rice to absorb the liquid. Once most of the stock has been absorbed and the rice is bubbling in the middle, add another 1/2 cup of stock. Continue this process for the full 3 cups of stock, adding half a cup at a time and stirring it in.
  4. The rice will be soft and creamy when complete. Top with additional chopped mint if desired and serve.

Notes

I used 1 package of Love Beets and threw them in my food processor.

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 Beetroot Risotto | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Ultra creamy vegan and gluten-free beetroot risotto. A delicious and beautiful side dish done in 30 minutes. This healthy risotto recipe will have you winning dinnertime! [ad]

I couldn’t believe how fast and easy this all come together. Who needs wine? Who needs dairy? All you need is some great rice, cooking stock, and something a little fun and unique like creamy beets! (A magic cast iron helps too!) Now who’s craving risotto? I know I am! I think I may just whip some more up this week! This creamy beetroot risotto is going to become a winter staple, I can tell!

So tell me:

+ Have you ever made risotto?

+ What was your favorite video game(s) growing up? I have too many, but the big ones were Harvest Moon for the Nintendo GameCube, Golden Eye for Nintendo 64, and The Sims 2 for the PC (I was a Sims addict! But the period of all the Sims 2 (and expansion packs) was the best!

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Comments

  1. Lisa says

    I made this last night and it was absolutely stunning, thank you for the recipe! I served it with maple syrup roasted parsnips and some fine green beans – delicious 🙂

    Reply

  2. Shannon says

    This is SO beautiful and delicious sounding! I’ve been on the Love Beets bandwagon lately, it’s really nice having beets around (that aren’t from a can) that are already cooked so that I can actaully use beets in weeknight dinners.

    Reply

  16. kimmythevegan says

    Risottyes! haha =)
    This is the prettiest risotto I have ever seen! It’s usually so bland and boring, you really came up with a fun, unique twist on a traditional favourite.
    Nice!

    Reply

  21. Nikki Frank-Hamilton says

    Love risotto and beets, this has to be an incredible dish, as I’ve said before, your combinations blow me away, I’m always interested to see what you’ll come up with next. And this one is amazing! Good luck, this deserves to be a winner! Pinned!

    Reply

  23. ShoeboxofM says

    That’s an impressive recipe! When I first saw beetroot risotto I thought it would involve spiralized and riced beetroot (hmmm…) but this is much less faff.

    I cook risottos to use up butternut squash and go for the super lazy method of cooking the whole thing in the oven.

    I like games too, my first gaming loves were always platform games like Mario, Sonic and the Disney games on the Master System and Mega Drive. Now I’m more into short story games like Life is Strange at the moment!

    Reply

  25. Kristen Chang says

    It’s been a while since I’ve made risotto, but I love how you incorporated the beets! Very creative!
    My fav video game growing up was donkey kong. I beat it many times over!!

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Risotto is going to be making a regular appearance now!
      I love the Donkey Kong game on the original GameBoy (in black and white!)

      Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it isn’t filling! Vegan foods are more filling!

      Reply

  33. Allie says

    What a beautiful dish. I love that you added the beet puree. I love a good risotto (which is exactly what I posted about for the Progresso contest 🙂

    Reply

  39. Erika says

    I just made this tonight and this is yum! I tweaked it by adding an extra cup of veggie broth and used pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon/allspice, but definitely a keeper recipe! Thanks!

    Reply

  41. lindsay says

    love how you’re made this dish more nutritious! great idea. BEETS for the win and glad you gave risotto another chance. hehe.

    Reply

  42. Hollie says

    We recently got a cast iron and I love it. Honestly it was one of the best purchases we got for our kitchen. This beetroot risotto looks amazing as well. It’s making me hungry for lunch!

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Yes! I am seriously so so so glad I bought one! I always end up regretting certain kitchen things I buy, since I end up using them only a few times, but the cast iron. Goodness! Everyday!!!
      And thank you!!

      Reply

  43. Melissa @ vegan does it says

    Wow! Love that color! And cast iron skillets for the win. Beets are so yummy and I’ve been eating tons of rice lately for some reason so this sounds fantastic. I love the story that goes a long with it too. I was always a big Mario fan especially Super Mario World and Mario Kart.

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      I think I could marry my cast iron <3
      Beets and rice...life sustaining!!!
      Mario is the most classic icon! I have so many favorites!

      Reply

  47. Sophia @Veggies dont bite says

    What a gorgeous dish!! And such a great way to get healthy into risotto. I love risotto! Beets are so darn pretty, I wish I loved them more. I have tried so many times to love them. But I had an “incident” when we bought our new home and just finished remodeling our white kitchen…I was giving beets a millionth try, and they decided to explode ALL over my beautiful white kitchen! They have officially been banned ever since then LOL! One day, maybe I’ll give them another try…until then I will just swoon over you beautiful pics!

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Thank you!!! I never knew I loved risotto so much until I made it again!
      Omg! Hahahaha! What did you do to them!? *Or what did they do to YOU!)
      (I guess I need to send you some risotto express through the mail, eh?) 😉

      Reply

  48. Michele says

    I remember you mentioning your risotto from way back! I’m such a beet lover so I know this has to be good! And very old school Mario 3 on Nintendo was my all time favorite 🙂

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Yes! I had to bring some risotto action to life!
      The old school games really were the best! Classics never die!

      Reply

  50. Mandy says

    Yay for another cast iron creation!!! I’m in LOVE with this color! Wow! Gorgeous! I’ve been having the biggest cravings for rice lately…been adding it to soup, tacos, you name it. I haven’t made risotto in SO long – I love that this recipe is free from all the ingredients I avoid!! Can’t wait to try this! XO

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Right!? I’ve had the most intense cravings for rice lately too! But it’s just so good!!! And time to make some risotto!!! Creamy winter comfort!

      Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Hahahaha! Well I approve of that too 😉 Risotto all day every day!!!!
      Thank you dear!
      I love the mint!!! Mint and beets is my new favorite combo!

      Reply

  56. Natalie | Feasting on Fruit says

    Most vibrant beautiful risotto I’ve ever seen! It’s really popping against the cast iron background too! I love the beet puree idea, who needs wine. Plus seriously I have no clue how to work a bottle opener even if I could find it in my kitchen. You can tell how much I drink haha! I never knew Nintendo DS had a cooking game, I would’ve been all over that! I had a DS but my mom was kinda anti-video game so we rarely got to play it and only had like 2 games for it which got real boring real fast :p It would be kinda funny to have someone yelling at you what to do next though…like a car navigation system but for the kitchen 😀

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      The Pan never fails 😉
      Haha! Considering I’m pretty bad at opening things (i.e. dropping that pickle jar on my toe…) Oping things is just not my forte!
      They had tons of cooking games! And you know the Wii? I almost turned it on yesterday to play some cooking games!!! I have a Food Network one and this other one…blanking on the name…but cooking games were always fun…but got boring after you “made” all the recipes 😛

      Reply

  61. Phoebe says

    I’m all about Mario Kart for N64! But a cooking game sounds so fun for budding chefs!
    And that risotto looks delicious! Love the beautiful beet color! 🙂

    Reply

  62. Sarah says

    Oh yes for me! Love beets, you can’t beet them! 😉
    I love the coloring! I have a long list of recipes to make with beets this year! Just worried about my new white kitchen as it doesn’t seem to like the strong pigmented foods like carrots, turmeric, and beets. 🙁 In the words of one of my girls I don’t like them, I love them, love emm, love emm!
    Happy Meatless Monday!

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Bahahhaa, no you can’t!
      The problem with colorful foods 😉 I’d rather have a tie-died kitchen though!

      Reply

  63. Nadia's Healthy Kitchen says

    I love the story of your first ever recipe…using the Nintento DS 😛 I bet that experience was so much fun! This risotto looks gorgeous! Love that colour. I’ve never made risotto before but definitely need to try this one 😀

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Bahahahaha! You’re food processor will look a little bloody here, but otherwise, you’re good 😉 I made this dish with a white sweater on and came out free and clean!

      Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      It is so easy!!! Even though most people think it;s hard, there are easy ways to do it and still get the authentic risotto-ness!

      Reply

  66. Linda @ Veganosity says

    Haha! I can just picture you and your mom tearing the kitchen apart looking for the wine opener. Okay, too funny, I made a spinach/basil risotto for dinner last night. I was going to use the beets in my fridge but I didn’t feel like roasting them so I went with a green theme.

    Your recipe is fabulous. I can’t wait to try it. I’m putting it in my back pocket for V Day. 🙂

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Damn wine!! BUT those things always work out for the better 😉
      Haha, yea, when I saw the Love Beets on sale in produce…I knew I could just be lazy and not roast beets myself!
      Ooooo the hubby is going to love 😉

      Reply

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Hey there, welcome to Strength and Sunshine! I’m Rebecca and I’m so glad you’re here! This is your go-to destination for delicious, fun, and (mostly) healthy gluten-free and allergy-free recipes, tips & tricks, advice, as well as celiac and food allergy coaching services!

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