Arancini (Italian Fried Rice Balls)

Originally posted to Foodista by Gaila Perez. Foodista recipes are released under a CC-BY license.
Ingredients
Rice Mixture
- 1 lb of arborio rice (this is the type of rice used to make risotto)
- 4 oz of fresh mozzarella, grated
- ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- Ground black pepper
Filling
- 4 oz of ham, chopped
- 1 tablespoon of butter, chopped
Assembly and cooking
- 1½ cups of breadcrumbs
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- A little olive oil
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
Steps
Prepare rice
- Boil rice in salted water until soft. Drain well.
- Mix in grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Cool.
Assembly
- Combine chopped ham and butter for the filling.
- Spread breadcrumbs on a plate or tray. Spread flour on another plate.
- Beat eggs a little in a bowl.
- Spread a spoonful of cooled rice in hand. Add filling in the middle. Close the rice over the filling with the other hand. Set aside.
- Shape remaining rice and filling the same way, each ball the size of a small lemon.
- Roll balls in flour. Dip in beaten egg. Roll in breadcrumbs to coat.
Cooking
- Heat a few inches of oil in a large pan. Fry balls, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over.
- Drain arancini on paper towels.
- Warm marinara sauce.
- Spoon sauce onto serving plates. Place 3 to 4 arancini on each plate. Serve right away.
Notes from the original
- When frying, the oil level should be at least halfway up the balls. Turn them once to fry on each half.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Arancini (Italian Fried Rice Balls)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-19, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Arancini 002.jpg by No machine-readable author provided. Gmelfi assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






