Arancini Italian rice balls are the perfect appetizer or even entree for anyone craving something fried, cheesy, and dumped on with marinara sauce. Think of these as fried mozzarella sticks, formed in the shape of little balls or as the Italian name calls them “little oranges” stuffed with rice and cheese. It’s a pretty simple recipe that takes just a few steps to make. The key is to make sure you’re using chilled rice from refrigerator, good parmesan and mozzarella cheese, and good Italian breadcrumbs to make sure you’re getting all the amazing flavors.
Arancini Italian Rice Balls Recipe
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked white rice (risotto), cooked to package instructions and chilled
- 1 cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grates Parmesan
- 1 egg
- 4 oz block of mozzarella cheese, cut in 8 pieces
- 1 cup marinara sauce, for dipping
- oil for frying
Instructions
- In a frying pot, add enough oil to cover a few inches and heat on medium heat
- Combine the rice, Parmesan and 1 egg in a medium bowl
- Form each rice ball by taking a small portion of the mixture in the palm of your hand squeezing it firmly and stuffing one cube of mozzarella inside each ball. Repeat this process to form 8 arancini.
- Dip each arancini in the breadcrumbs rolling around until completely covered.
- Once the oil is hot, add a few breaded rice balls to the pot and fry them until golden brown, about 5 minutes
- Repeat the frying process with the remaining arancini.
- Serve the arancini warm with a side of warm marinara sauce.
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