Arancini are crisp on the outside with a creamy, cheesy center. Children and adults love these classic Italian rice balls. They such a treat fresh off the stove, stuffed with glorious gooey cheese.
This arancini recipe is similar in flavor to one of the most popular recipes on my site; Instant Pot Chicken and Rice (a one-pot meal). If you loved that dish, you’ll enjoy these cheesy rice balls!

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Arancini Recipe
Arancini are a satisfying treat filled with risotto-like creamy rice, ham, sweet peas, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese. Serve with warmed marinara sauce, these are wonderful for lunch on their own or paired with a fresh Caesar Salad.
This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite Italian cooks: Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and is based on her “Arancini di Riso” (Rice Balls) from her book, Lidia’s Favorite Recipes. Thank you Lidia for introducing me to this wonderful treat!
Arancini Video Tutorial
Learn all of our best tips and tricks for making the best Arancini! One bite into a cheesy rice ball and you’ll know they are well worth every bit of effort.
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What is Arancini?
Sicilian Arancini are rice balls stuffed with cheese and other fillings such as cheese and meat, the coated with bread crumbs and deep fried. The fillings vary by region but arancini have been popular in Italy for centuries.
Even if you aren’t a fan of “deep fried” foods, give this one a try. Arancini are coated in a light layer of fine Italian bread crumbs and the rice is compacted, so they hardly soak up any oil and do not have the taste or mouth feel of a deep-fried food. It is a cross between Risotto and Cheesesticks. Two of my favorites combined into one irresistible dish.

Pro Tip:
Use Italian-style breadcrumbs to enhance the authentic Italian flavor of Arancini. Italian Style bread crumbs also have a finer crumb which helps bind the outer layer to the rice ball and creates an irresistible crisp texture.

How to Make Rice Balls
Cook the Arancini Rice Mixture: In a heavy pot, sautee onion with olive oil and butter until soft then add ham and cook until golden then stir in the rice. Add white wine and cook until mostly evaporated then add hot chicken broth and 1 tsp salt. Cover and simmer until liquid is mostly absorbed. Stir in the peas, cover and cook another 2 minutes.

Cool the Mixture – Spread rice mixture onto a baking sheet to cool. Once rice is at room temperature, stir in parsley and parmesan. Form rice balls with wet hands, using a heaping ice cream scoop of rice for each. Stuff each rice ball with a cube of mozzarella cheese and form a tight ball to enclose the cheese.
Form the Rice Balls – Set up 3 shallow bowls. Bread the rice balls one by one, dipping first into the flour, then the beaten egg and finally rolling in bread crumbs.

Fry the Rice Balls – Once all of the arancini are formed, heat 1″ of vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot (350˚F), add arancini in batches without crowding and cook for about 3 minutes total per batch, turning to get all sides golden brown.

Drain and Serve – Transfer fried rice balls to a paper towel-lined platter and serve warm with marinara, or with ranch (as my son prefers), or skip the dip and just enjoy them! :).

Can you Eat Rice Balls Cold?
Arancini are best served warm when they are creamy and cheesy in the center. They are just as good freshly cooked as they are reheated, especially when you reheat in the oven to re-crisp the exterior.
How do you Reheat Arancini?
Once arancini are fried and cool to room temperature, you can store them in the refrigerator or freezer (in a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag).
- To reheat frozen arancini – There is no need to thaw. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400˚F for 20 minutes.
- To reheat refrigerated arancini – bake on a rimmed baking sheet at 400˚F for 15 minutes.

I hope you give these classic Italian Rice Balls a try. Everyone of all ages loves Arancini. Who can resist a crisp fried ball of rice stuffed with cheese?
Love Rice? Try Our Best Rice Recipes:
- Shrimp Fried Rice
- How to Cook Rice on the Stove
- Beef Rice Pilaf (Plov)
- California Rolls
- Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- Chicken Fried rice
- Chicken and Rice Soup
Arancini Rice Balls

Ingredients
For the Arancini Rice Balls:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup ham, finely diced (about 3 oz)
- 2 cups Jasmine rice, un-rinsed
- 1 cup Chardonnay, (dry white wine)
- 5 cups chicken broth, or stock (hot)
- 1 tsp salt, (plus more to sprinkle fried arancini)
- 1 cup frozen peas, fully thawed
- 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 24 (1/2-inch) cubes
For Breading/ Frying:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs, beaten with a fork
- 1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs
- Oil for frying, vegetable, canola, or grapeseed oil
Instructions
- Using a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid, over medium/high heat, add 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter. When hot, stir in diced onion and saute until soft and golden (4-5 min). Add finely diced ham and cook another 2 min or until golden. Add rice and stir to coat with oil.
- Pour in 1 cup white wine and cook until mostly evaporated (2 min). Add 5 cups hot low sodium chicken broth and 1 tsp salt then cover and simmer until liquid has been absorbed by the rice (about 15-17 min). Stir in the peas in, then cover with a tight fitting lid and finish cooking (2 min). Rice should be soft and the liquid mostly absorbed. Spread rice mixture onto a large rimmed baking dish to cool.
- Once rice is at room temperature, stir in 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley and 1 cup parmesan cheese. Form rice balls with wet hands, using a heaping ice cream scoop for each. Stuff each rice ball with a cube of mozzarella cheese and form a tight ball with the rice mixture to enclose the cheese.
- Set up 3 shallow bowls, the first one to have 1 cup flour, the second with 3 beaten eggs, the third with 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs. Dredge each rice ball in flour, shaking off the excess, then dip one-by-one in the beaten egg allowing excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Finally, roll balls in breadcrumbs until evenly coated. It’s best to roll and bread all of the rice balls before beginning frying since the frying is quick.
- Add an inch of vegetable oil into a deep pot over medium heat. Once oil is hot (350˚F), add the breaded rice balls in batches without crowding the pot and cook about 3 min total per batch, turning to get all sides golden brown. Transfer to paper towels, sprinkle right away with salt and serve warm with marinara.
They’re done – very rustic looking and definitely delicious – I had 2! Took many hours, partly due to frustration when they didn’t roll into balls even with wet hands – they kept falling apart so I watched a movie. Use Jasmin rice!!! Using Basmati made 30 balls.
I found this recipe and am so excited to try it, just wondering a few things, what can I replace the wine with that has no alcohol? Can I use bacon? Can I use olive oil to fry since that is all I have?
Hello there, I have not tried any substitutions for wine. More broth will probably work but the flavor isn’t going to be the same.
Can you substitute panko bread crumbs for textures instead of Italian bread crumbs.
I have to test it out to advise. If you try that, we’d love to know how it goes!
My grand daughter and I made these yesterday and our family really enjoyed them. Even though I prepped all the ingredients before hand these took a little while to make. We also had more than this recipe called for following the recipe as printed. The rice balls were approximately 2 1/2″ round. They were good with or without the marinara sauce.
Hi Natasha! I’d like to know what would be a good substitute for the Chardonnay?
Hi Susan! You can use another dry white wine.
Your video is so much fun; it made me want to try this recipe, and guess what? I did! It’s perfect! Thanks for giving us such a great and effective recipe aaaand such a fun video to watch! Thank you!
That’s so great to hear! Thank you for trying my recipe.
Can you use Basmati rice instead of Jasmine?
I am preparing this week and have Basmati in the house
Thanbks
Hi Richard, I haven’t tested this with Basmati rice to advise. If you try that, we’d love to know how it turns out!
I’m still in the process of making them – I’m using basmati rice and it doesn’t look at all like yours – not sticky enough, and I added more parmesan. The balls are falling apart, the wet hands make a difference so am letting them sit for a while then will do the flour, egg, and bread crumbs. Say a prayer for me as they’re for a client. Love your antics while you prep – that’s half the fun – keep it up!
I hope they work out Judy!
They finally worked out – very rustic (bumpy) but delicious. Will use Jasmine in future.
I’m so glad it worked Judy!
My family did to care for the rice balls as they thighs they were too bland and tasteless.
Since they are quite time consuming and not cheap to make, can you suggest some dips or toppings or something to add some flavor to the balls?
Hi Penny! I’m sorry they weren’t enjoyed. I’ve never had these be bland. They get so much flavor from the cheese, ham, onion, etc. Did you skip any ingredients or make modifications? You can use marinara sauce as a dip, or even ranch. I’m sure other dips could work too but those would be my first go-to’s.
I was wondering, if this recipe could be baked instead of deep fried? Even though not much oil is absorbed by them. Thanks, Karen
Hi Karen! I have not tested baking these in the oven.
Hello Natasha! I’m asking what l can substitute for the wine in your riceball recipe? Thankyou!
Hi Les, I have not tried any substitutions for wine. More broth will probably work but the flavor isn’t going to be the same.
My daughter and I were so excited about this recipe. It was alright but not a favorite.
Hi Monica, can you describe what you didn’t like about them and maybe I can help troubleshoot?
This recipe was send in an e mail saying look at my gluten free recipes. I was excited until I noticed it’s not a gluten free recipe.
Hi Michelle, one of our readers commented and shared this “substituted the flour with potato starch and the breadcrumbs with gluten free breadcrumbs … delish!” Hope that helps.
Hi Natasha,
I received this recipe in an email titled Check Out My Latest Gluten-Free Recipes! However this isn’t GF. Can you please tell me what to use to make these GF? They look delish!
Hi Caroline, one of our readers commented and shared this “substituted the flour with potato starch and the breadcrumbs with gluten free breadcrumbs … delish!” Hope that helps.
Had them in while visiting Sicily a few years back and loved the can’t wait to try your recipe ♥️
My first time making these Arancini Rice Balls and they turned out great! So adorable and fun to eat. Gone in minutes!
That’s great to hear, Sha!
My favorite and my first time making at home! I am planning on making again for my in laws when they visit. So good!
That’s wonderful, Beth!
This recipe blew me away! So good and so simple to make. Can’t wait to make these again!
Sounds great! I’m happy to know that you loved this recipe so much!
I would like to know if I can make them with plain cooked rice? do you think it would hold a shape?
That might work but various types of rice require slightly different cooking times and water measurements.
My husband is diabetic so I was wondering if I could use the cauliflower rice instead of the Jasmine rice for this recipe. I am a big fan of yours and I even got your recipe book for Christmas. Every recipe I have tried is always delicious ! 😋😋 This one looks absolutely yummy !
Hi Suzanne! Unfortunately, I have not tested that to know what the outcome would be. I’m sorry.
Hi Natasha,
I’ve made these a few times and is one of my favorite recipes of yours. I freeze on a cookie sheet after frying and cooling then put in ziplock freezer bags to store in freezer. Then when my husband and I want some, I take out and bake till hot and crispy. Love your videos and recipes and have your beautiful cook book. Thanks!
That’s great, Karen! Thank you for sharing.