One of my favorite Italian appetizers is Italian rice balls, also known as arancini. These rice balls are stuffed with cheese, and fried to golden brown perfection! YUM! Basically fried rice balls filled with creamy risotto! I love to dunk these in pesto or marinara sauce for the most scrumptious appetizer EVER! Enjoy!
Serve these up as a snack, small plate, or an appetizer. These crispy, golden brown delights are perfect to serve at a group event, holiday, or party! These come together in no time and this recipe makes the perfect amount of arancini for sharing.
The best part? You can make the risotto filling the day before, store them in the fridge overnight, and assemble the next day! SO easy and SO cheesy!
For more deliciously crispy recipes, see my homemade chicken egg rolls and my Crispy Zucchini Fries recipe!
Fried Rice Ball Ingredients
The best thing about this recipe is that it comes together so quick! Many of these ingredients you already have in your fridge or pantry! For this savory, and flavorful Italian rice ball recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- Olive oil-The olive oil is used for making the risotto and for breading the arancini balls. Feel free to use your favorite tasting oil like olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil in this recipe.
- Shallot-A shallot is recommended for this recipe due to its delicate sweetness, however you can also use a regular onion here as well.
- Garlic-Freshly minced garlic while preferred, can also be substituted with dried minced garlic or garlic powder.
- Italian seasoning-Using dried herbs here makes this recipe super easy! Use dried Italian seasoning, dried basil or dried oregano.
- Black pepper/Salt-Ensure that you season your risotto with salt and pepper.
- Arborio rice-Arborio rice is the traditional rice used for risotto and is preferred for this recipe.
- Vegetable stock-Use your favorite stock here. You can use chicken, turkey, vegetable, or seafood stock for this recipe.
- Mozzarella Cheese-Feel free to use your preferred cheese for this recipe. However, for the melty cheese effect, I recommend a mozzarella or provolone cheese.
- All purpose flour-You can also use gluten-free 1:1 all purpose flour for this recipe.
- Panko bread crumbs-While panko bread crumbs are preferred for their crispiness, you can also use regular, or gluten-free, bread crumbs.
- Canola oil-A high temperature frying oil with a low smoke point is preferred for frying these Italian rice balls such as canola oil or vegetable oil.
- Optional: Marinara sauce-Serve your fried rice balls with optional dipping sauces such as marinara sauce.
See recipe card for additional details and quantities.
Italian Rice Ball Instructions
For the full instructions and measurements for how to make this delicious recipe, please skip down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!
Use the following step-by-step instructions for how to make these deliciously crispy Italian rice balls:
Heat a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan, then diced shallot. Season with salt and pepper and then add the minced garlic and rice. Then add ¼ cup (or a ladle-full) of vegetable stock at a time to rice. Mix until absorbed fully.
Chill the risotto in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then form a 2 tablespoon round ball of chilled risotto, make an indent with your finger, and add your mozzarella cheese to the middle.
Then roll the risotto ball in your hands until the mozzarella cheese and covered.
Preheat your canola frying oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (use a thermometer). While the oil is preheating, roll each risotto ball into flour first.
Then roll the rice ball into olive oil until evenly coated.
Lastly roll the rice ball into panko bread crumbs until completely coated.
Fry for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Then place on cooling rack to drain the excess oil and season with salt.
Enjoy warm with your favorite dipping sauce!
Hint: Instead of rolling your arancini rice balls in olive oil for the breading to stick, feel free to also use an egg wash (3 eggs plus 3 tablespoons of water) if you would prefer to use eggs an your binder.
Can I make these arancini rice balls in an air fryer?
Yes! To make these fried Italian rice balls in the air fryer you would still follow the above step-by-step instructions but instead of heating your oil of choice for deep frying, you would preheat your air fryer. Set your air fryer to 390 degrees Fahrenheit and set the time to 12 minutes.
Spray your air fryer basket with oil spray, place the rice balls in the air fryer, spray the balls with oil spray on all sides, and then close the air fryer basket. Flip the rice balls half way through. Then remove when they are golden brown. Allow time to cool, season, then enjoy!
Arancini Substitutions
As amazing as these crispy arancini balls are, they are easily made vegan or gluten-free! Perfect for the whole family!
- Vegan – instead of using mozzarella cheese to stuff your rice balls, substitute for vegan mozzarella.
- Gluten-free – use gluten-free panko bread crumbs, along with gluten-free flour to make this recipe!
Arancini Variations
These delicious Italian rice balls make the best appetizer and are perfect for dipping, here are some optional dipping sauces to serve alongside your Arancini:
- Marinara sauce
- Sour cream
- Whipped ricotta
- Pesto
- Ranch dressing
- Garlic infused olive oil
- Truffle oil
For the recipe for the healthy ranch dressing that I used to pair with this recipe, see my ranch dressing recipe!
Equipment
Equipment needed for this recipe includes: a medium saucepan, a medium pot, and a pot for frying. Alternatively, if you are air frying your arancini balls, then you would need an air fryer instead of a frying pot.
You will also need 3 bowls for building your breading station, for the flour, olive oil, and panko bread crumbs. It may also be helpful to have a wire rack, or cooling rack, for allowing excess oil to drip off.
Storage
You can store your arancini in an air tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
You can also freeze your rice balls in the freezer for up to 3 months! I recommend wrapping your Italian rice balls in parchment paper and aluminum foil and place in a freezer safe plastic bag to ensure continued freshness.
Note: please see the reheat instructions below.
Reheating Instructions
When reheating your Arancini after storing in the fridge, or the freezer, I recommend reheating in the air fryer at 390 degrees Fahrenheit, or in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, to help them crisp back up in the warming process.
Top tips
- Ensure that you fry in small batches so that your oil temperature does not drop too low when frying. Then ensure even frying and a crispy, golden brown texture.
- Instead of rolling your arancini rice balls in olive oil for the breading to stick, feel free to also use an egg wash (3 eggs plus 3 tablespoons of water) if you would prefer to use eggs an your binder.
- You can make the risotto filling the day before, store them in the fridge overnight, and assemble the next day!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
While arancini can contain meat, it does not always have meat stuffed inside. Most of the time arancini are stuffed with a variety of cheeses or sauces in the center.
Arancini are typically served as an appetizer, or small plate, and therefore are typically enjoyed with your hands as a finger food. You can also enjoy with a fork or knife.
While arancini balls are often deep fried to create that crispy golden crust, you can also air fry your arancini balls as an easier way to prepare this delectable Italian dish.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Italian Rice Balls:
Italian Rice Balls (Arancini)
Equipment
- 1 Medium-sized pot For the stock
- 1 Medium saucepan For the risotto
- 1 Large pot For Frying
- 3 large shallow bowls For breading the rice balls
- 1 Wire rack Optional
Ingredients
Italian Rice Balls
- 1/2 Cup Olive oil Plus more for rolling
- 1 Small Shallot Diced
- 2 Garlic cloves Minced
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 Tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Cups Arborio rice
- 3 Cups Vegetable stock or your preferred stock
- 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese or your preferred cheese
- 1 Cup All purpose flour
- 1 Cup Panko bread crumbs or regular bread crumbs
- 2 Cups Canola oil For frying
- 1 Cup Marinara sauce Optional: for dipping
Instructions
Italian Rice Balls
- Heat a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan, then diced shallot. Cook for 2 minutes until translucent. Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
- Then add the rice to pan with the shallot and garlic mixture. Mix and cook for 1 minute to slightly toast the rice. Preheat small pot with vegetable stock over low-medium heat.
- Then add 1/4 cup (or a ladle-full) of vegetable stock at a time to rice. Mix until absorbed fully, then repeat until all of the stock is gone. Continue until the rice is soft and no longer crunchy. Let the risotto cool and then place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes at least.
- Then form a 2 tbsp round ball of chilled risotto, make an indent with your finger, and add your mozzarella cheese to the middle. Then roll the risotto ball in your hands until the mozzarella cheese and covered.
- Preheat your canola frying oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (use a thermometer). While the oil is preheating, bread your risotto balls. Place flour in one bowl, olive oil in another bowl, and then panko bread crumbs in a third bowl as your breading station.
- Roll each risotto ball into flour first, then olive oil, and then panko bread crumbs until completely covered.
- Fry for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Then place on cooling rack to drain the excess oil and season with salt. Enjoy warm with your favorite dipping sauce!
Best arancini balls ever!!! I made these at home and they tasted like they were from a restaurant 😋