Saffron-Infused Risotto With Crispy Tempeh Chips
Rooted in northern Italian kitchens – where golden saffron and creamy rice meet with a modern twist.
Table of Contents
- ✨ Before We Begin…
- The Cook’s Mind
- A Note on Origin
- Ingredient Focus: Saffron
- My Favourite Way to Eat
- Multi-Purpose Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?
- Handpicked to Go With This One
- Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
- Saffron-Infused Risotto With Crispy Tempeh Chips Recipe
✨ Before We Begin…
There’s something quietly luxurious about a well-made risotto – especially one infused with saffron. That warm golden hue, the gentle scent rising from the pan, the way each spoonful holds together with just the right amount of give. This isn’t fast food – it’s food worth slowing down for, even just a little.
Straight from the Italian Riviera, this is fragrant and light, and gorgeous to look at. We use seaweed and Italian soffrito to infuse a broth with masses of flavour, and use this stock to make a creamy vegan risotto. Topped with aubergine and garlic, it looks perfect and wholesome. The tempeh chips are chunky and crispy because of the seasoned cornflour and this element adds so much texture. Pre-cooking the tempeh makes sure it tastes amazing.
It’s a dish that feels restaurant-level, but rooted in home-cooking heart. One for evenings when you want to cook with care – and eat with quiet satisfaction.
‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer
The Cook’s Mind
This dish teaches you to slow down and watch – risotto isn’t rushed. You’ll learn how to handle saffron with care, using just enough to bring warmth and fragrance without overwhelming the dish. You’ll also get a feel for balancing creaminess with contrast – those crisp, savoury tempeh chips give bite, structure and protein, turning this into a proper main rather than just a pretty plate.
Make-Ahead
Risotto is best served fresh, but you can make it partway ahead – stop just before it’s fully cooked and cool it fast. Finish cooking with stock on the day. A squeeze of lemon and final swirl of butter bring it back to life.
Freezer-Friendly
- Risotto can be frozen, though the texture will soften a fair bit. I wouldn’t do this unless I’ve got leftovers I’d need for easy lunches.
- Freeze in flat containers and reheat with a little extra stock.
- Add fresh herbs or lemon zest to brighten.
Key Substitution Ideas
- If saffron isn’t available, a tiny bit of turmeric can mimic the golden hue.
- Use any short grain rice, though arborio gives the best creaminess.
A Note on Origin
Risotto is a northern Italian classic — traditionally slow-stirred and finished with butter and cheese. This plant-based version honours the technique but brings in its own flair: saffron for depth, and tempeh for texture and richness. It’s a respectful riff — elegant, confident, and entirely its own thing.
Ingredient Focus: Saffron
Saffron gives this risotto its golden hue and haunting aroma. Look for whole threads, deep red and slightly glossy – avoid the dull, orange-tinged varieties. Soak the threads in warm water or stock before adding them to the dish; that way, you release their full flavour and colour. A little goes a long way, and the results are quietly spectacular.
✨ Threaded sunlight — delicate, ancient, and rich with quiet fire.
My Favourite Way to Eat
This is a meal I make when I want to feel looked after – sometimes by someone else, but often just by me. I serve it in a warm bowl, with a glass of something herbaceous on the side and Georgia curled up near my feet. She doesn’t get the risotto (saffron’s not for dogs), but she does get the end of a tempeh chip, because she’s patient and I’m soft.
Multi-Purpose Recipe
This recipe has more than one life. Learn to use its elements across different dishes – and start thinking like a cook, not just a recipe follower.
The risotto base can be made without saffron and flavoured instead with lemon zest, garlic, or herbs – ideal for leftovers or repurposing as risotto cakes the next day. The tempeh chips are their own treasure – serve them atop a salad, crumble them into a noodle bowl, or tuck them into a wrap with hummus and pickled onions. A little leftover rice? Stir it into a soup or broth for extra body.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It feels luxurious without being heavy
- The saffron adds fragrance, colour and quiet depth
- The tempeh chips bring crunch, protein and contrast
- It’s adaptable – both components can stand alone
- It turns simple ingredients into something truly memorable
What Will You Learn Whilst Making This Recipe?
- How to build a risotto with patience and rhythm
- How to infuse stock with saffron and balance its flavour
- How to fry tempeh until it’s crisp but not dry
- How to bring elegance to a plant-based plate without extra fuss
- How to finish a dish with thoughtful garnishes and texture
Handpicked to Go With This One
A few recipes that play well together — flavour friends, not just neighbours.
Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
Got something spare – a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️
arborio rice, aubergine, bay leaf, brown onion, carrot, celery, cherry tomatoes, chilli flakes, dried tarragon, fennel, fennel seeds, fresh flat leaf parsley, fresh garlic, fresh herbs, fresh thyme, hijiki seaweed, lemon, saffron, stock cube, tempeh, white wine
Saffron-Infused Risotto With Crispy Tempeh Chips Recipe
Saffron-Infused Risotto With Crispy Tempeh Chips
A saffron- and seaweed-infused stock brings richness and depth to this velvety risotto. Crisp tempeh shards add texture and a savoury crunch, while roasted aubergine gives the dish softness and depth. It’s warming, golden, and quietly indulgent – the kind of bowl you settle into.
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Ingredients
Ingredients for Step 1
- 15 ml olive oil
- 100 g carrot | unpeeled weight; peeled and chopped roughly
- 100 g celery | cleaned and roughly chopped; use celery leaves if you have them (great flavour)
- 100 g brown onion | unpeeled weight; peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 unit garlic cloves | peeled and bashed
- 1 pinch salt
Ingredients for Step 2
- 1 unit bay leaf
- 1 litre vegetable stock | use gluten-free if required
- 1 tsp hijiki seaweed
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
Ingredients for Step 3
- 400 ml water | approximately this amount, for boiling the tempeh
- 1 pinch salt
- 100 g tempeh
Ingredients for Step 4
- 30 ml olive oil | to fry onion
- 160 g brown onion | unpeeled weight; peeled and sliced into slender petals
- 1 pinch salt
- 125 g fennel | ½ bulb; finely chopped (chop just before you put it in the pan or it goes brown); reserve tops for decoration
- 125 g arborio risotto rice | you could use Paella rice
- 200 ml white wine
Ingredients for Step 5
- 24 g cornflour
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 pinches chilli flakes
- 15 ml olive oil
Ingredients for Step 6
- 1 pinch saffron strands
- 15 ml lemon juice
- 2 units garlic cloves | peeled and ready to grate
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- 80 g cherry tomatoes | chopped into halves or wedges
Ingredients for Step 7
- 15 ml olive oil
- 100 g aubergine | approximate amount; chopped into batons about 1cm thick at the fattest edge
- 2 units garlic cloves | peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 pinch salt | small pinches for each side of the aubergine batons
- 7 ml olive oil
- 2 tsp fresh thyme | 1 tsp to run through the risotto, 1 tsp to dress the dish
Ingredients for Step 8
- 1 unit lemon | unwaxed; zest and a neatly trimmed lemon wedge for each plate
- 2 tsp fresh parsley | chopped
- 5 ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
1. Make soffrito
- Heat a medium saucepan over a low heat, add the oil, and add the chopped carrot, celery, onion and bashed garlic. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Cook gently to soften the veggies and to put some colour on them. Cook for 10-15 minutes.15 ml olive oil, 100 g carrot, 100 g celery, 100 g brown onion, 1 pinch salt, 1 unit garlic cloves
2. Use the soffrito to make the stock
- Whilst the soffrito is cooking, make up the stock in a measuring jug, and add the bay leaf, seaweed and dried tarragon.1 unit bay leaf, 1 litre vegetable stock, 1 tsp hijiki seaweed, 1 tsp dried tarragon
- When the veggies in Step 1 are cooked, slowly add the contents of the jug to the pan and simmer very gently for 30 minutes or more. Remember not to simmer the liquid away. Keep a lid on and turn the heat right down. This is an ideal 'make-ahead' job. You could make it and freeze it, or keep it in the fridge until it's needed.
3. Prepare the tempeh 'chips'
- Put roughly 400ml of water into a saucepan and add a pinch of salt.100 g tempeh, 400 ml water, 1 pinch salt
- Chop the tempeh into batons and add to the water; simmer for 3-5mins, then drain in a sieve to thoroughly dry the tempeh. The process of boiling and then thoroughly air-drying the tempeh is vital.
- Have a read of Step 5 now, so you know what's coming. During Step 5, you will pan-fry the tempeh in oil for a few minutes having coated it in seasoned cornflour, to add some colour and texture.
4. Prepare risotto base
- Heat the oil in the Le Creuset on a low heat, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook the onion slowly to caramelise the onionStir and cook the fennel with the onion for around 5 minutes, until the fennel has softened and the onion and the fennel have slightly changed colour and become a little browner.30 ml olive oil, 160 g brown onion, 1 pinch salt, 125 g fennel, 125 g arborio risotto rice, 200 ml white wine
- Add the risotto rice and stir to coat in the oil in the pan, for 3-4 minutes. It will start to become translucent. See 'Rescue' section in the Notes below.
- Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated.
- Meantime, prepare the fennel and once you've cut it, immediately add to the Le Creuset. If you don't add it immediately it will turn brown on the edges. Remember to retain the fennel fronds for dressing the dish.
5. Pan-fry the tempeh 'chips'
- Mix the cornflour with the pepper, salt and chilli flakes, and then put the tempeh pieces that you've cut into batons and boiled in Step 3, into the cornflour. Gently turn the tempeh batons in the cornflour to thoroughly coat the tempeh. The tempeh sits fine for a bit in the cornflour.24 g cornflour, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, ¼ tsp salt, 15 ml olive oil, 2 pinches chilli flakes
- Choose a frying pan which has a large enough base for the tempeh to sit in a single layer all at the same time. Heat the oil to medium-hot, and pan-fry the tempeh for a few minutes to add some colour and texture. Ok, so you want the tempeh to be really crispy and I watched a learner try this for the first time. He was so worried about burning the tempeh that the heat was down too low, so the batons weren't crispy.
6. Add the stock to the risotto
- At this point, you need to do Step 5 and Step 6 at the same time.With the stock pan in one hand, and a sieve in the other, pour some of the stock into the Le Creuset risotto pan. Add the lemon juice and stir. Grate in the garlic and stir. Add the saffron strands and stir. Water is needed to activate the saffron so that's why we add the saffron now, when there is water present.15 ml lemon juice, 1 pinch saffron strands, 80 g cherry tomatoes, ½ tsp fennel seeds, 2 units garlic cloves
- Continue to stir until the stock has gone, and then repeat. Keep adding the stock. You'll see how I do it in the video demo.
- When you're adding the final couple of measures of stock, add the fennel seeds. About 2 minutes before the end, add the tomato wedges and 1 tsp of fresh thyme to the risotto. You want the tomato wedges to retain their structure so really do add the tomato right at the end.
7. Cook the aubergine and garlic topping
- Towards the end of Step 6, when you're on the last bit of stock, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and tip the pan to spread the oil around the pan. Add the prepared aubergine ensuring that you put the aubergine slices on their sides, and add a pinch of salt. You want to add colour to the sides of the batons.15 ml olive oil, 100 g aubergine, 2 units garlic cloves, 2 pinch salt, 7 ml olive oil
- Fry in this quite dry pan for a couple of minutes and then turn over to colour the other side of the baton for a couple of minutes, again a small pinch of salt
- When both sides are coloured and are becoming a little translucent, add the 7ml of oil and the garlic. Stir fry the mix for a couple of minutes and strenuously avoid burning the garlic.
7. Finish the risotto and plate
- Spoon the risotto into the bowls, top with the aubergine and garlic and then some tempeh chips. Continue to dress the dish with the chopped parsley and remaining thyme, add a lemon wedge and using the small grater, add the lemon zest over the dish. Add the fennel tops reserved from Step 4. You could get a little cheffy with some extra virgin olive.2 tsp fresh thyme, 1 unit lemon, 2 tsp fresh parsley, 5 ml extra virgin olive oil
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 968kcalCarbohydrates: 106gProtein: 20gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 31gSodium: 2524mgPotassium: 1413mgFiber: 12gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 10243IUVitamin C: 43mgCalcium: 244mgIron: 7mg
Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.
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COPYRIGHT
© The Golden Polar Bear, 2025. Recipes and photography by Julia Savory. If you share this, please pass it along with kindness and if possible share a link back to this site. #ForTheAnimals
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
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