Want a delicious and filling appetizer that can be made into a meal? This Arancini recipe is an Italian classic made of deep fried rice and cheese, a dish that you cannot resist.
We love cheese in this household, any appetizers that revolve around cheese win us over all day every day and there is no lying there.
I could pretty much live off of appetizers anyways, I mean who wouldn’t want a plate of various different finger foods? But this Arancini are one of my absolute favorite ones.
The crispy outer coating on these encases the cooked rice and ooey gooey cheese that is just waiting for you in the center of these.
If you ever find yourself like me with extra cooked rice because I’m one of those people that choose to think I’m cooking for an army instead of just a few, Arancini is one of those dishes that will easily use up that excess.
If you have never tried these before, you are absolutely missing out. They come in various forms, with some people adding different things, but one thing that I do is highly suggest that you try it at least once, and then you won’t stop!
Some of our other favorite appetizer recipes on our site include: Cheese Curds, Fried Mac and Cheese Balls, and Pepperoni Stromboli.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Great way to use up extra rice
- Comes together with only a handful of ingredients
- Can be served as an appetizer or a full meal
- Kids and adults love these, so filling and tasty
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Cooked white rice
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
Eggs
Mozzarella cheese
Italian breadcrumbs
Oil for frying
Marinara sauce for dipping, optional
HOW TO MAKE ARANCINI, STEP BY STEP:
- Heat oil to 375 degrees F.
- In a bowl, mix together your rice, parmesan, 2 eggs, salt and pepper.
- Form portions of rice around cubes of cheese.
- Press around cheese creating a ball shape, squeeze tightly to make sure they hold together. Repeat until all rice and cheese are used. If you have rice leftover that’s ok.
- In a small bowl whisk together your remaining eggs. In a separate small bowl place your bread crumbs.
- Dip arancini in egg until coated.
- Then dip in the breadcrumbs until covered.
- Place on sheet pay while you repeat for each remaining ball,
- Place 2-3 balls in oil and fry until golden and heated through, about 3 minutes.
- Place on paper lined towels to drain.
- Repeat until all are done. Serve with marinara sauce and enjoy!
I mean seriously how can you NOT want to make these Arancini! I can’t contain myself because these are what I crave the majority of the time!
WHAT IS ARANCINI?
Arancini is considered a stuffed rice ball, which is typical filled with cheese, ragu and sometimes include peas as well. Our version of Arancini is filled with melty mozzarella!
WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD IN?
Now you know how I like to stray from the traditional at times, so these bad boys can be switched up and adapted any way you like them.
We have filled these with various different cheese types including: muenster, cheddar and gouda. We have also included bacon in the rice itself and we absolutely LOVE that.
You can even add in some diced ham or prosciutto for some additional delicious flavor.
SHOULD ARANCINI BE SERVED HOT OR COLD?
I totally think these are best served hot fresh from the fryer. Just be careful when handling them and taking your first bite so you don’t burn your mouth.
When they are nice and hot the cheese in the center is all gooey and melted and just pure heaven. As they cool off the cheese will turn back to more of a globular texture for lack of a better term.
CAN I MAKE THESE IN MY AIR FRYER?
Yes! If you are a fan of the air fryer, these can be made it it. To do that, preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees F and spray your basket with olive oil spray.
Place your Arancini in the basket and then I suggest spraying the balls with more spray to help them get golden. Cook for about 10 minutes, you can flip halfway through if you’d like. Then remove to a serving dish.
HOW TO STORE:
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container where they will keep for up to two days in the refrigerator.
These can also be frozen, freezer in a freezer safe container where they will keep for for up to 2 months.
When you want to enjoy your leftovers again I suggest popping them back into a deep fryer briefly, just to heat them back up all the way through.
You could even reheat them in your Air Fryer.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can fill these with other things in addition to cheese and rice, I shared some suggestions above.
- These can easily be doubled to make more to have on hand.
- I used Italian style breadcrumbs for the breading of this recipe but you can use Panko or homemade breadcrumbs.
- Instead of cooked rice you can use day old cooked risotto. This risotto holds together nicely and keeps the ball form very easily when you go to fry them.
- I love my deep fryer, but you can also make these in the air fryer as well, see above on how to do that.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Looking for that new favorite appetizer/meal that takes minimal ingredients and will fill you up but keep you coming back for more? Then you absolutely need to make my Arancini.
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If you’ve tried this ARANCINI or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Arancini
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups cooked white rice
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
- Salt
- Pepper
- 5 eggs
- 10 cubes mozzarella cheese cut from the block about ½-inch diced or cheese of your choice
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- Oil for frying
- Marinara sauce for dipping optional
Instructions
- Heat oil to 375 degrees F.
- In a bowl, mix together your rice, parmesan, 2 eggs, salt and pepper.
- Form portions of rice around cubes of cheese.
- Press around cheese creating a ball shape, squeeze tightly to make sure they hold together. Repeat until all rice and cheese are used. If you have rice leftover that's ok.
- In a small bowl whisk together your remaining eggs. In a separate small bowl place your bread crumbs.
- Dip arancini in egg until coated.
- Then dip in the breadcrumbs until covered.
- Place on sheet pay while you repeat for each remaining ball,
- Place 2-3 balls in oil and fry until golden and heated through, about 3 minutes.
- Place on paper lined towels to drain.
- Repeat until all are done. Serve with marinara sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- You can fill these with other things in addition to cheese and rice, I shared some suggestions above.
- These can easily be doubled to make more to have on hand.
- I used Italian style breadcrumbs for the breading of this recipe but you can use Panko or homemade breadcrumbs.
- Instead of cooked rice you can use day old cooked risotto. This risotto holds together nicely and keeps the ball form very easily when you go to fry them.
- I love my deep fryer, but you can also make these in the air fryer as well, see above on how to do that.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2015
Ducks n a Row
Wow, Alli, what a GREAT recipe! Pinned yummed tweeted ♥
Sinea
sahana
Sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing with us at #HomeMattersParty. We would love to have you again this week.
Jeff
What gorgeous photographs and a delicious- looking recipe!
Jacqueline (PiperCooks)
Love arancini! Good looking recipe. Pinning!