Arancini di Riso: Sicilian Rice Balls
Arancini are delicious, crispy, deep fried Sicilian balls of rice. They have a meat sauce and mozzarella cheese filling and crunchy breadcrumb coating. Similar Italian rice balls are called supplì in Rome and the nearby region.
Arancini di riso, or Sicilian rice balls (or Italian rice balls) are one the most delicious dishes that I have ever discovered while traveling.
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My First Time in Sicily
When I was 19 years old, I spent 9 weeks traveling in Europe. I actually make myself jealous when I think about this now.
However, even though I was young, I really did appreciate everything I did and was able to see at the time. This is because I had worked very hard to pay for the trip myself. I bought my airline ticket and paid my transportation costs within Europe. However, I was lucky that I was able to stay with family everywhere I travelled.
I was in Southern Italy visiting my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for the longest part of my trip (5 weeks). While there, my Uncle Nino, Aunt Rita and cousin Marco stopped by our village to visit the family. They were driving from Scotland to their other home in Sicily. When Uncle Nino heard how long I planned to be there, he asked me if I wanted to go with them (!)
Let’s just say I didn’t have to think about my answer: I packed a small bag and was on my way to Sicily that afternoon. Never having been there before, I was absolutely elated at the thought of traveling somewhere new in Italy, especially since it was completely unplanned.
Crossing the Strait of Messina on a ferry from Reggio Calabria at dusk was magical to me: the far-off twinkling lights on the island where my grandparents had once lived, beckoned us to the shore. “La Bella Sicilia” looked so enticing in the evening, and the Mediterranean breeze made the atmosphere even more wondrous that night. I couldn’t wait to experience all that Sicily had to offer.
Taormina, Sicily
My aunt and uncle were the most gracious and generous hosts while I was there, and took me to several towns and interesting places. However, I did have a favorite:Taormina. To this day, it is most definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
The views were breathtaking; from the beautiful town of Taormina, to Etna off in the distance, I was in awe.
My aunt and uncle not only introduced me to their family, friends and favorite local places, but also to Sicilian food and drink. Some of which I had never tasted or heard of before (and yes, I was already a “foodie” back then). Uncle Nino knew of restaurants which were in remote homes on desolate mountainsides. I sometimes wondered how he actually found them!
I was introduced to granita with Sicilian brioche for breakfast. There were restaurants by the sea.
Seafood is one of the highlights of Sicilian cuisine, and I tasted swordfish and prawns (like large shrimp) which were simply prepared, yet incredibly flavorful due to every town’s proximity to the sea on such a relatively small island.
My standards for swordfish were raised to such a high level, that it’s difficult for any swordfish I have elsewhere to live up to the flavor which spoiled me all those years ago. This is definitely one of the downfalls of tasting truly outstanding food.
What are Arancini?
One of the Sicilian delights my relatives introduced me to were called “arancini,” which means “little oranges”. Similar creations (but different in many ways) are called “supplì”* in Rome and Lazio).
Arancini are crunchy, deep fried balls, or cones of rice, which traditionally hide a center containing a tomato meat sauce, and peas.
I often see arancini on menus in Italian restaurants here in Los Angeles, but I don’t ever remember seeing them back then (not that I was frequenting a lot of restaurants at that age). Although they are called arancini, the ones I ate in Sicily were cone-shaped, like these in this photo, and they resembled pears more than oranges.
*Suppli are very similar to arancini, except for the center filling is usually only cheese and they aren’t always round in shape.
How do you make Italian rice balls? (Arancini and Supplì)
Arancini are made by forming plain risotto into either conical, or round shapes, with mozzarella in the center. To add even more confusion, these supplì are often called “arancini di riso al telefono” because when you break and pull them apart, the mozzarella forms a long string, like a telephone line.
Alternatively, peas and the tomato meat sauce are hidden in the middle of other types of arancini. However, all of them are dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and deep fried–can you just picture that? Here, I’ll help you.
These are sold as snack foods at pizza shops, bars and similar places in Sicily, and in Southern Italy and they may have “travelled” throughout Italy now. However, I never saw them anywhere in the northern part of the country when I was there last few times.
Never made risotto? Learn how easy it is with my step by step risotto recipe.
Don’t be intimidated by these delectable treats as they are quite easy to make, as long as the rice is cooked properly. I’ve seen lots of other recipes giving horrible directions that will doom the user to failure. It really saddens me, because sometimes they even use MY PHOTO with their recipe!
Here’s an arancini mould you can buy to make perfectly formed pear shaped arancini but it’s the 80g size, so these are appetizer sized. NOTE: this is the original arancini maker mould MADE IN SICILY by Arancinotto. All the others on Amazon are Chinese knock-offs which are selling for much less, and when they break you’ll know why. Buy the original!
Tip~
Don’t try to use regular rice, or boiled or steamed rice as it will not stay together when you try to form a ball or cone. You will be rewarded for your efforts, believe me.
*NOTE: if you are able to make the risotto a few hours ahead of time, or even the day before, this will work in your favor as it can be refrigerated so that it sticks together more easily.
Arancini di Riso: Sicilian Rice Balls
recipe adapted by Christina Conte makes about 12 to 16, depending on size
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Make the risotto by adding the rice to the heated oil in a large sauté pan, and stirring quickly for one or two minutes. Quickly add the white wine while stirring. With the heat on medium high, begin adding the chicken stock a little at a time, and continuously stirring, until all the stock has been used and the rice is cooked, yet still al dente.
Taste, adding salt if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Add an egg to the risotto and mix well, then refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
To make the arancini~
- Place some rice in your hand and flatten it into your cupped hand, but don’t make it too thin, or the filling will ooze out.
- Place a piece of (mozzarella if you like), and/or a little tomato sauce (and peas, if using) in the center of the cupped rice.
- Next, close the rice around the filling and shape into a ball.
- If you’d like to make conical shapes, flatten the bottom of the ball, and make the top more pointed.
Now, roll the shaped arancini in flour.
Then, roll them in the beaten egg.
Finally, roll in the breadcrumbs; I like using this set of trays.
Set aside until all of the rice has been used.
Fry the Arancini
Heat some oil in a deep fryer, pot, or wok until it is very hot.
Add the arancini, and cook quickly, turning often so they don’t brown too much on one side. If serving immediately, fry for a few minutes, so the cheese will melt in the center.
(If you’d like to serve them at a later time, remove them quickly after just browning; then, just before serving, place them on a baking sheet and re-heat in the oven at 400ºF for 5 to 10 minutes.)
Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate or tray.
Serve plain, or place on tray with a little tomato sauce and garnish with basil for a nice presentation, but this is not a typical Sicilian way to serve them. (If you’d like to serve them at a later time, remove them quickly after just browning; then, just before serving, place them on a baking sheet and re-heat in the oven at 400ºF for 5 to 10 minutes).
THE WORLD IS A BOOK, AND THOSE WHO DO NOT TRAVEL READ ONLY ONE PAGE.
-St. Augustine
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Arancini di Riso: Sicilian Rice Balls
Ingredients
FILLING:
- 1 cup meat sauce as in spaghetti sauce, not raw tomato sauce for vegetarian
- 3 oz cooked peas optional
RISOTTO:
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 oz white wine
- 30 oz vegetable stock
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cups Arborio rice or Carnaroli
BREADING:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 24 oz oil for frying
Instructions
Make the risotto
- Make the risotto by adding the rice to the heated oil in a large saute pan, and stirring quickly for one or two minutes. Quickly add the white wine while stirring.
- With the heat on medium high, begin adding the chicken stock a little at a time, and continuously stirring, until all the stock has been used and the rice is cooked, yet still al dente (I have a risotto recipe here on my blog). Taste; adding salt if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Add an egg to the risotto and mix well, then refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
To make the arancini:
- Place some rice in your hand and flatten it into your cupped hand, but don’t make it too thin, or the filling will ooze out. Place a piece of mozzarella, and/or a little tomato sauce (and peas, if using) in the center of the cupped rice. Next, close the rice around the filling and shape into a ball.
- If you’d like to make conical shapes, flatten the bottom of the ball, and make the top more pointed.
- Now, roll the shaped arancini in flour, then roll them in the beaten egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Set aside until all of the rice has been used.
Fry the arancini
- Heat some oil in a deep fryer, pot or wok until it is very hot. Add the arancini, and cook quickly, turning often so they don’t brown too much on one side. If serving immediately, fry for a few minutes, so the cheese will melt in the center.
- Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate or tray. (If you’d like to serve them at a later time, remove them quickly after just browning; then, just before serving, place them on a baking sheet and re-heat in the oven at 400ºF for 5 to 10 minutes.)
- Serve plain, or place on tray with a little tomato sauce and garnish with basil. You can also serve them with a little extra sauce on the side, although this isn't done in Italy.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hello Christina,
I LOVE arancini, and will be trying your recipe soon. I’m just a grandma who loves to cook ( I’m Sicilian). I enjoy making lots of things and arancini is one of my favorites. Your recipe sounds delicious. I will make them with cheese and sauce in them. I had some at a pizza place a while ago, and was amazed how good they were.
I just found your site tonight. I’m surprised I haven’t found you sooner. Thank you, I’ll let you know how I make out.
Pipi
Hi Pipi! So nice to meet you! I think these arancini that you will make you rethink the ones from the pizza place! :) Let me know how they turn out and so glad you found me! (Lots of authentic Italian recipes here!) Grazie! CC
Hi Christina,
Thank you for your response. Ha Ha….yes, I’m sure your aracini will be a HUGE improvement from the pizza parlor, although I must say, theirs were much better than I expected. It had been a while since I had them. My nephew took me and he ordered them.
The other thing I want to make again is the calamari in sauce. I made it a few months ago and it was delicious. I’m just waiting to recover from my shoulder surgery.
Hopefully soon.
Thanks again, Grazi
Pipi
Speedy recovery so you can get back to full on cooking! :)
Thanks Christina, I’m working on getting better. Slow but sure. Takes time away from my kitchen….patience. !!
IMPORTANT
Unless you are using a pasteurized egg, DO NOT add the egg to the cool rice mixture and let it refrigerate overnight. I thought this was an issue and double checked with my son who is a chef. You run the risk of SALMONELLA. I suggest cooling the rice and mixing in the egg just prior to shaping the rice balls. You may want to take that risk but do you want to share the risk with others?
True, but all eggs sold in the US are pasteurized! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurized_eggs
Christina, thanks for the recipe! I’d found a lousy one and cooked them for my Italian boyfriend last week. So disappointing. Can’t wait to make these this week. They sound infinitely better!
Hi Jane, I’m really glad you found my recipe because I have seen so many recipes out there that I know will never work! Did you know that certain sites use other photos for their recipes? In fact my arancini photo has been stolen so many times and used for photos in menus for things like fried cheese balls! It’s just so wrong. In fact, a large newspaper used it with a different recipe for arancini, so people will expect that outcome, but it’s so misleading!
Let me know how they turn out, but I expect that you (and your boyfriend) will be very happy with these! :) Buon appetito!
Yes, I’d seen where you’d written that the copyright was being infringed upon. It’d really bother me, too. It’s a beautiful photo.
I’ll let you know how they turn out! Thanks so much!
What an in intelligent a great answer about the diversity of the American versus the Italian cooking. It is is so true. I hear stories that say.”
I opened my spices closet, and I dump in the sauce “all the avail;ab;e herbs”. A true comments.Regards, John
Hi Christina,
I made these today for an appetizer pre-Christmas dinner. Had them at a chain restaurant recently and thought they were very good and wanted to try them myself. I love to cook and enjoy trying new recipes. I have only made Risotto once. Your directions worked out well. I did not have the rice you suggested on hand and used Sweet Rice, a short grain rice I got in an Asian market. It worked just fine but I am curious. I fried up the first few and found the Arancini to be somewhat bland. Do you think it was because of the rice?I had added some minced ham and some peas, too. I ended up adding some “ham seasoning” I found in my spice cabinet from a bean soup package from a while back. I do my own seasoning and so didn’t use it then but today I was very happy to find it today!
Forming, coating and frying went perfectly!I I even prepped some to fry, left home for a couple hours,came back and fried them. No problem.
I finished frying all of them and put them in a 9×13 glass dish and reheated them in the oven at my sister’s house a couple hours later. Worked out great and everyone enjoyed them.
I am curious what you think about the rice I used though and would appreciate your comment about it. BTW I cannot even imagine putting sauce on the inside of these lol! I was a mess throughout! Wet hand dry hand, lol. They were fun to make though. I will probably make them again if I can figure out the seasoning issue.
Merry Christmas, Maureen! I’m not sure what the sweet rice is exactly like, but using arborio or Carnaroli rice is pretty critical to this recipe, given that it’s the main ingredient. Most times, when readers find that the recipes they’ve made don’t turn out or taste good, it’s because they’ve used a different ingredient than I’ve listed. You may not follow me, or be new to my site, but one of the things you’ll find different about my instructions in recipes is that I constantly stress the importance of ingredients.
Secondly, it could be that you are used to recipes and cooking with lots of seasonings, which is not something I do. You see, American-Italian cooking is the style which stresses “lots of herbs and spices” however, authentic Italian cooking is the opposite. These arancini are an authentic Sicilian recipe, and if you add the seasoning you described would make them taste completely different, along with ham which isn’t in the recipe. You also omitted the sauce, which is lovely flavor that you’re missing.
My advice would be to make the arancini using the ingredients listed, and following the directions on the recipe. Try how they are meant to taste first, THEN decide whether you want to change the ingredients. I know this may be contrary to everything you are used to doing when you cook (there are many people who do what you do), but I think you might be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
Let me know if you do. CC
I add a little sauce and either parmesan or romano mixed in the rice. Also, I add a piece of pork I cooked in sauce or a piece of Italian sausage with the mozzarella cube.
Sounds good!
Hello, can you add meat to this as well? I would love to make them with meat, cheese and peas. I’m just not sure if I can use regular ground beef with them??
Thank you very much I am very excited to try to make these for Christmas Eve!
Hi Deirdre, yes of course, they usually do have a bit of ground beef in them. I added “Bolognese sauce” as optional in the ingredients. You’ll love them; enjoy!
Christina, did you use fresh mozzarella or can a brick of mozzarella be used? thx
Hi Jeanne, I used dry mozzarella, but I’m sure either one would work. Enjoy! :)
Thank you..
These are amazing. I had them at a Winery in Ontario, Canada a few years ago. I was wondering, if I made them for a birthday party, can I keep them in a warmer? Would they still be okay to serve after a few hours? Or should I make them the day before and refrigerate and then heat them in a warmer?? I’d love to have these there but where we are having the party, there is no kitchen. That’s the bummer.
Hi Karen, actually either option would work. I would probably make them the day before and them bring them to room temperature before placing them in the warmer. They’re not bad at room temperature, so all is not lost if they’re not hot. However, I probably don’t need to tell you that the very best is when they’re hot out of the fryer! :) Let me know how it works out! Happy birthday to the birthday guy/gal! CC
I may sound very “nasty”…I always say…if you want to lose weight have a vacation in England…LOL (there is not edible food there).
I am sorry about my “terrible” comment…but, it is true!
I must admit, I’m having a hard time deciding whether you are an real reader or a spammer due to all your comments, John. Although this recipe is Italian, the goal of my blog has two main parts: to save authentic Italian cuisine from a terrible demise AND to dispel the myth of bad British cuisine. If you have this latter myth as part of your mindset, you have eaten at all the wrong places and/or all the wrong things in England.
Sorry, but it’s true!
Hello Cristina,
First I am not a “spammer”.
Second, I know food.
Third , I cook as hobby (much better than an English’s Chef). Excuse my pomposity. LOL
Fourth. My business took me around the World.
Fifth. You are a gracious person.
Sixth. Nothing beat Italian food.
Seventh. Recently Sicilian’s Chefs have been acclaimed in Europe.
Warmest Regards,
John (Rosati)
P.S. I cannot type…
John….I would advise to book a flat with a kitchen when travelling and self cater, ie cook for yourself…..there are good food shops or supermarkets :)
There is good food out there but often very expensive. Ask around.
OR try Curries!
Re Arancini, would love to make some as had them in Sicily.Yummy! I don’t deep fry and this is a problem. Make good risooto though so maybe have them deconstructed?