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EveryCheese

Fried and grilled

Arancini

Sicilian fried rice balls with a melting cheese centre, filled with ragù and peas or ham and cheese.

Arancini are balls or cones of rice, often coloured with saffron, filled, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. The classic fillings are ragù with peas and cheese, or ham with mozzarella or caciocavallo. They are the great street snack of Sicily, sold in bars and fry shops from Palermo to Catania.

What goes in

Caciocavallo or mozzarella: 14%14%Rice: 38%38%Ragù and peas: 19%19%Breadcrumbs and batter: 14%14%Grated pecorino or Parmigiano: 5%Oil: 10%10%6parts
  • Caciocavallo or mozzarella314%, The melting heart.
  • Rice838%, Cooked firm, often with saffron.
  • Ragù and peas419%, Classic filling.
  • Breadcrumbs and batter314%, The crisp coat.
  • Grated pecorino or Parmigiano15%, Binds the rice.
  • Oil210%, For deep-frying.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Simmer Cook rice with saffron and stir in butter and grated cheese, then cool it completely.
  2. Step 2: Simmer Cook a thick ragù with peas and let it cool.
  3. Step 3: Grate Cut the melting cheese into small cubes.
  4. Step 4: Fill Shape a cup of rice in the palm, fill with ragù and cheese, and close into a ball or cone.
  5. Step 5: Layer Dip in a flour and water batter, then roll in breadcrumbs.
  6. Step 6: Fry Deep-fry until deep golden all over.
  7. Step 7: Serve Drain and eat hot or warm.
  8. Caciocavallo or mozzarella: 14%14%Rice: 38%38%Ragù and peas: 19%19%Breadcrumbs and batter: 14%14%Grated pecorino or Parmigiano: 5%Oil: 10%10%
    Finished Arancini, by share.

Feminine or masculine

In Palermo they are arancina, feminine and usually round. In Catania and eastern Sicily they are arancino, masculine and often cone-shaped, said to recall Mount Etna. The argument is a lively local tradition. The name means little orange, from the shape and golden colour. Many accounts trace the rice and saffron to the period of Arab rule in Sicily, though the fried form came later.

Santa Lucia

On 13 December, the feast of Saint Lucy, many Palermitans avoid bread and pasta in memory of a famine said to have ended when a ship of grain arrived. Arancine are eaten instead, in huge numbers, along with cuccìa, boiled wheat with ricotta. The cheese at the centre should melt into strings when the ball is broken open.

Where it is used

Street snackFeast of Saint LucyBar counter

The cheeses in it

CaciocavalloA favourite Sicilian filling cheese.MozzarellaCommon in ham and cheese arancini.Pecorino SicilianoGrated into the rice by some cooks.

More on EveryCheese

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMozzarella A semi-soft Italian stretched-curd cheese made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Milky and fresh

Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven cheeses you may not know, the cheese days of the week ahead, and one dish explained step by step.