Italian Inspired One Pot RICE AND BEANS Recipe | Under £1.50/$2 Per Portion

This one pot rice and beans recipe is satisfying and totally delicious. It’s full of the flavours of Italy such as olives, sun dried tomatoes, basil and of course lots of olive oil. It’s perfect served on its own or with a light salad of rocket with balsamic vinegar. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

One pot Italian inspired rice and beans

Ingredients:
300g brown basmati rice : 95p
1 onion : 10p
1 stick of celery : 5p
1 carrot : 5p
1 tbsp tomato puree : 6p
4 garlic cloves : 16p
1 bay leaf : 5p
1 tbsp dried oregano : 5p
1 small bunch of basil : 50p
Small handful of green olives : 30p
Small handful of sun dried tomatoes : 50p
1l vegetable stock : 5p
1 can chopped tomato : 45p
2 cans of cannellini beans : 98p
Rocket : 85p
Balsamic glaze : 10p

Final cost : £5.20 / $6.70
Cost per portion: £1.30 / $1.67

Method:

– Finely chop the onion, celery, and carrot. Slice the garlic, basil stalks and leaves, sun dried tomatoes and olives.
– Keep back a few sundried tomatoes, olives and the smaller basil leaves to garnish the dish.
– Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large based saucepan over a medium-low heat.
– Add in the finely chopped onion, basil stalks, celery and carrot. Season with salt and pepper. – Cook for 10-15 minutes until soft but not coloured too much.
– Add in the garlic, tomato puree and oregano. Cook for 1 minute.
– Add in the brown basmati rice and cook for 1 minute stirring regularly.
– Add in the chopped tomatoes, vegetables stock, and drained cannellini beans.
– Bring the rice and beans to a boil. Cover with a lid, turn down the heat to low and leave to simmer for 40-45 minutes or until the rice is perfectly cooked. Every 10 minutes or so check on the rice and give it a stir to make sure it’s not sticking. Adding more vegetable stock if needed.
– Remove the pan from the heat and leave for 5 minutes before serving.
– Garnish with the leftover olives, sun dried tomatoes, basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
– Serve with a rocket drizzled with balsamic glaze and enjoy.

0:00 Intro
0:22 Vegetable prep
2:13 Cooking
4:03 Taste test
4:55 Outro

My name is George and I’ve been a chef for 7 years. I’ve transitioned to a plant based diet so I’m sharing my journey of cooking delicious whole foods! Follow along for recipes, cooking tips and all things plant based.