🍙 Arancini

Name: Arancini
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italy · Sicily
Ingredients: 400 g arborio rice; 1.1 l water and a pinch of saffron; 250 g ground beef; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 250 ml tomato sauce; 150 g mozzarella, cut into small cubes; 150 g breadcrumbs, plus a batter of 100 g flour and 150 ml water; Oil for deep-frying, salt and pepper

Origin: Italy · Sicily

468kcal

per serving · 180 g

260kcal

per 100 g

14 gProtein8 g / 100 g

22 gFat12 g / 100 g

54 gCarbs30 g / 100 g

Arancini are Sicilian rice balls: arborio rice cooked until sticky, wrapped around a filling of beef simmered in tomato sauce and a cube of mozzarella, then rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. The shell is crisp and golden, the rice inside soft, and the cheese melts into strings when you bite in. They are sold warm as street food and served as a snack or starter.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

Not vegetarianbecause of: ground beef

Not veganbecause of: mozzarella, ground beef

Contains glutenbecause of: breadcrumbs

Contains dairybecause of: mozzarella

Not keto30 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

arborio ricemozzarellaground beeftomato saucebreadcrumbs

Recipe

6 servings90 min

Ingredients

400 g arborio rice
1.1 l water and a pinch of saffron
250 g ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
250 ml tomato sauce
150 g mozzarella, cut into small cubes
150 g breadcrumbs, plus a batter of 100 g flour and 150 ml water
Oil for deep-frying, salt and pepper

Method

Cook the rice in salted water with the saffron until all the water is absorbed and the rice is sticky, about 18 minutes. Spread on a tray and cool completely.
Fry the onion in a little oil, add the beef and brown it, then stir in the tomato sauce and simmer 20 minutes until thick. Season and cool.
With wet hands, flatten a handful of rice in your palm, add a spoonful of the beef and a cube of mozzarella, and close the rice around it into a ball.
Dip each ball in the flour-and-water batter, then roll in breadcrumbs to coat evenly.
Deep-fry in oil at 175 °C for 4–5 minutes until deep golden. Drain on paper and serve warm.

How to make it lighter

One large arancino of about 180 g is roughly 470 kcal — a full snack or a light meal on its own.
Bake instead of frying: spray the coated balls with oil and bake at 220 °C for 20–25 minutes until golden.
Make them smaller, about 60 g each, and pair two with a big green salad.

History

Arancini take their name from the Italian for little oranges, because of their round shape and golden colour. Their origin is often linked to the period of Arab rule in Sicily in the 9th–11th centuries, when rice and saffron were brought to the island, though the fried, breaded version is thought to be much later. In Palermo they are traditionally eaten on 13 December, the feast of Saint Lucy.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →