This Creamy Chicken, Pumpkin, Bacon & Baby Spinach Risotto is one of our most popular risotto recipes! A kid-friendly favourite that the whole family will love!
Risottos have always been one of my very favourite things to make in my Thermomix! Forget standing over the stove-top stirring a risotto, our Thermomix risotto recipes are so simple to make, family-friendly and any leftovers can be frozen.
What You Need
This Chicken, Pumpkin, Bacon & Baby Spinach Risotto is made from a few basic ingredients:
- parmesan cheese
- minced garlic (or 1 garlic clove)
- brown onion
- olive oil
- bacon
- chicken breast
- arborio rice
- chicken stock powder (or homemade chicken stock)
- water
- white wine (or replace with extra water)
- pumpkin (butternut, jap or kent)
- baby spinach leaves
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for ingredient quantities and the full method.
Recipe Substitutions
This is a super versatile recipe that allows for many variations:
- use chicken thighs in place of chicken breast
- omit the bacon
- add some frozen peas in the last 2 minutes of cooking
- use rocket in place of baby spinach
- omit the white wine and replace with extra water
Recipe Tips
If you have leftover roast pumpkin (from dinner the night before!), you can use that instead of cooking pumpkin in the Thermomix. Simply cut it into small chunks and place in the ThermoServer before pouring the risotto over the top.
It's important to allow the risotto to rest for 10 minutes before serving. After cooking, the risotto will be quite liquidy. The risotto will thicken when resting.
A ThermoServer is the perfect thing for resting your risotto and allowing it to thicken. You can use the Thermomix branded ThermoServer or any brand of insulated stainless steel container.
Our Thermomix Dinners Cookbooks
If you hadn't already guessed, we LOVE simple family dinners that you can cook in your Thermomix!
Chicken, Pumpkin & Baby Spinach Risotto
Equipment
- Thermomix
Ingredients
- 80 g parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp minced garlic or 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 onion halved
- 30 g olive oil
- 100 g bacon chopped
- 250 g arborio rice
- 100 g white wine
- 2 tsp chicken stock powder or 1 tbs homemade chicken stock
- 300 g skinless chicken breast cubed into 2-3cm pieces
- 600 g water
- 200 g cooked pumpkin see notes
- 80 g baby spinach
Instructions
- Place parmesan cheese into the bowl and grate on Speed 8 for 10 seconds. Remove and set aside. Wash and dry the bowl.
- Place garlic and onion in Thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on Speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add olive oil and bacon and saute for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, Reverse, Speed 1 (MC off).
- Insert the butterfly whisk. Add arborio rice and wine into the bowl. Cook 100 degrees, 3 minutes, Reverse, Speed 1 (MC off).
- Add the chicken stock powder, diced chicken and water and cook for 18 minutes, 100 degrees, Reverse, Speed 1.
- Place the risotto into the Thermoserver, add the pumpkin, baby spinach and half of the parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.
- Place into a ThermoServer (or similar) and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
- Serve with the remaining parmesan cheese.
Notes
- use chicken thighs in place of chicken breast
- omit the bacon
- add some frozen peas in the last 2 minutes of cooking
- use rocket in place of baby spinach
- omit the white wine and replace with extra water
Anthea Smith says
I love this meal, but have you changed the recipe? I thought previously it was 300g or 350g of Arborio rice about around 900g of liquid all up. It’s definitely not filling up my thermoserver like it used to.
Lucy says
Hi Anthea, yes we have made some changes to this recipe. You are more than welcome to use more rice and liquid if you'd like a larger meal. 🙂
Meredith Speirs says
We cooked it tonight and I thought the same thing... Thankfully I have now seen your comment so know it wasn’t just me. Now to find something else for lunches this week as we didn’t have leftovers.
Kathryn says
How long are supposed to put it on for at Step 4? Thanks in advance
Lucy says
Sorry I'm not sure where that disappeared to!!!! 3 minutes! I've just added it back in!
Meg says
Yummmm, I have made this many times, going to make again tonight! One small thing I do differently is I roast my pumpkin while cooking the rest in thermomix, once all cooked, I just stir in pumpkin...omg it’s so good ?
Lucy says
Perfect!!!
Jo Cousins says
Yum. This was a hit with hubby and my fussy 5-year old. I served hers before adding baby spinach and pumpkin. I also used half an onion as it doesnt' agree with me that much. The rice was a tad mushy though - any tips there? Pumpkin was cooked perfectly so I finally got the sizing right (about 1cm cubes).
Lucy says
Oh that's SO great to hear!!! You could try chopping the chicken a little smaller and then cooking for a minute or two less if you'd like the rice less well cooked.
Caroline Baldwin says
Tasty, quick and child friendly. What more could I ask for?! Only had regular cheese and used brown onion, still tasted great. Thank you!
Julie Salter says
Leftovers. Refrigerate the leftovers overnight. I made aranchini balls. Added a bit of breadcrumbs and an egg to risotto. Rolled into balls flattened and added a little cube of mozarella cheese rolled again then rolled in panko breadcrumbs with a little bit of olive oil into panko crumbs. Placed balls in small muffin tray and baked for 20 minutes on 180. The best!!!
Lucy says
YUM!!!!
Jodi says
I roast the pumpkin. So good