• This post is sponsored by Mahatma Rice. Find out where Organic Mahatma Rice products are sold near you.

Crispy Fried Arancini Recipe

This crispy-on-the-outside, ooey-gooey-inside fried Arancini recipe will be your new go-to for hosting, pot-lucks, parties or game-day. Creamy rice mixed with a velvety sauce, coated in bread crumbs then fried to crisp perfection. Don’t forget the marinara for dipping!

It’s no secret that The Hubs loves a good sports game. Being an athlete as a child, there’s something wired within him to appreciate a good game.

March Madness is no exception.

I, for one, could take it or leave it…but add in a few friends, delicious grub and great conversation and I’M IN!

This is precisely why I’m sharing this tasty little treat with you today.

March Madness is upon us and these crispy fried Arancini will have you in “game mode” in no time.

• Choosing the right rice: The only way to get Arancini to hold their shape, have a nice chewy texture and stay moist and gooey on the inside is to choose the right rice for the recipe. We like to use Mahatma’s Organic Long-Grain White Rice for this recipe.
• Cooking the rice correctly: You can’t make Arancini with over-cooked, dry rice. Neither can you make it with rice that’s too sticky (or under-cooked). We cook our rice in bone broth which adds gelatin that firms up when cooling the rice, yet melts when cooking, holding the rice together nicely. Because gelatin firms up when chilled, we’ve added extra for that extra boost of “stick-together-ness”.
• The sauce: Our Arancini recipe includes a rich and creamy veloute sauce made with bone broth, whole milk and has the addition of eggs (traditionally found in Arancini). This makes for a gooey center that doesn’t dry out when frying.
• The coating: Traditional coatings of flour, egg and bread crumbs can get the job done, but we’ve found rolling the rice balls in a flour/water slurry before coating in extra fine bread crumbs gives it that extra “crunch” upon first bite.
• The frying: There’s some debate among Arancini aficionados as to whether they’re traditionally deep-fried or pan-fried. We prefer to pan-fry, but we do use a good solid layer of oil. This helps keep a more even temperature and the ability to quickly adjust as needed while cooking. We also like to use a mild oil, such as avocado oil or refined coconut oil which both have a higher smoke point than many other healthy oils, and they won’t alter the flavor of the Arancini.

How to make the best fried Arancini recipe?

Let us help you! As with any new recipe, they seem harder than they really are! So we’ll show you our tricks along the way.

The process is one of the lengthier ones we’ve shared. But they’re totally worth every ounce of effort, promise! Plus, make them a time or two and you’ll be a pro!

Making the Rice

If you’ve ever made risotto, you know building flavor and taking your time are both key players. The filling for Arancini is no different.

We start by sauteing onions in rich butter and avocado oil. Give those onions a good sweat until they release their juices and start to look translucent.

Then, to give the rice a little more nutty-ness, we’re going to toast it a bit in the oil and onions. So add your rice and continually stir until it’s coated in oil and slightly toasted, but not browned or burned.

Add wine and cook until almost completely evaporated, this will take about two minutes.

Next, stir in two cups bone broth and season with salt. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, stir in one more cup of bone broth and simmer, stirring often, until almost all the liquid is absorbed.

Stir in water, 1/4 cup at a time, until rice is tender, just past al dente, and the consistency of a thick porridge. Season again with salt and pepper.

Making the Veloute

AKA, the creamy sauce that holds the rice together and maintains that ooey-gooey center!

Grab yourself another saucepan and melt butter over medium-high heat until foamy bubbles appear. Quickly whisk in two tablespoons flour until it forms a paste. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook two to three minutes, stirring consistently, until flour is cooked but not browned.

Whisking continually, add in milk and remaining 3/4 cup bone broth and stir until smooth.

Bring to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring continually for about four minutes, or until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and once it’s cooled slightly, whisk in eggs.

This is when the magic happens!

Once your rice is cooked and your sauce is thick, you’re going to combine them in a large bowl and stir until every last grain of rice is coated in creamy, rich gooey-ness!

Before we can continue, we have to let the rice mixture cool and firm up a bit (this is where that gelatin shines!). After the rice is cool, we can roll them into the most delicious balls of joy you’ve ever tasted. The easiest (and quickest) way to do this is to line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour your rice mixture out, spreading it into a thin, even layer.

Pop into the refrigerator until the rice is cooled and thickened (about an hour) and we’re onto the next step.

Forming the Arancini

Grab 1/4 cup of your rice mixture and form a flat disk in your hands. Don’t worry about the rice sticking to your hands…it’s all part of the fun!

Next, grab a cube of your diced mozzarella, stick it in the center of your rice patty, then mold the rice around the cheese to form a ball. Try to keep it even, you want that cheese as close to the center as possible.

Don’t get too hung up on the shape of your Arancini right now, you can always come back and fix them in a bit.

Coating the Arancini

Next we need to set up our “breading station”. You could use a traditional flour-egg-breadcrumb coating, but we found a quicker way is to create a flour-water slurry, give the Arancini a quick “dunk”, then roll them in bread crumbs that have been given an extra whiz through the food processor so they’re extra fine.

Allow the Arancini to rest on a parchment lined baking sheet until all have been breaded.

Cooking the Arancini

I’m normally not a huge fan of fried foods, but for the occasional party (and certainly those special game-day celebrations) fried food is perfectly acceptable within our 80/20 lifestyle. And trust me, these are worth it!

We’re going to fry these babies up in a heavy bottomed cast iron pot which will help keep the oil at an even temperature. But just to be sure, keep a thermometer in the oil to make sure it’s maintaining the proper heat – we don’t want any free radicals on game day!

One by one, drop the Arancini into the oil (be careful, it’s HOT!), working in small batches, roll them around until they’re golden brown and crispy on all sides.

Continue working in batches until all Arancini are fried and serve them immediately (or keep them warm in the oven at 100 degrees F). 

These are best served garnished with fresh chopped basil on top, then dunked in a big ole bowl of marinara.

Mmmm, mmmm!

I can taste them now! (*Resists licking screen!)