Arancini
Date Completed: 2/15-16/2026
Book: Magnolia Table Volume 2 by Joanna Gaines
Chapter: Appetizers & Starters
Overall Score: 8/12
Recommended? We love arancini! Who wouldn’t love little bites of fried risotto?! It’s a favorite out-to-dinner appetizer and brings back many fun memories of The Majestic steakhouse in downtown Kansas City. We used to order it every time we were there. I feel nostalgic thinking about sharing a plate of these while enjoying the live jazz! When G and I watched Joanna make these arancini on her cooking show a few years ago, we immediately put them on our must-try list. And there they stayed; the only thing holding us back was our fear of frying. Well, we conquered that fear this week! I think it was well worth the fried-food smell that lingered in our kitchen for a few hours. If you’re interested in trying some frying, this would be a great recipe to check out!
Process Report:
Process Score: 2 - Quite Involved
We made this recipe over the course of two days, even though I could have fit it into one day (with just a touch better time management). I meant this to be a Valentine’s dinner to serve alongside chicken spiedini, but I underprepared and didn’t make it to the grocery store in time. The next night, I still didn’t start early enough for the risotto to cool before frying it. We ended up eating spiedini on Sunday and arancini on Monday. It may not have gone as planned, but we ended up enjoying a yummy set of back-to-back dinners!
You start by sautéing diced onions, then toasting some arborio rice with them. Cup-by-cup, you add hot broth and keep stirring until the rice absorbs it. It was fun to see the texture changing with each new addition of broth! The process took about thirty minutes in total.
After all the broth is absorbed, you add the flavor! Parmesan cheese and lemon zest! With a little cream and butter for good measure! We had to hit pause before this step because we realized we had forgotten to pick up the parmesan from the store. Oh well! G ran out to grab it, and we were able to continue before long. Once we were back in action, we spread the risotto out on a sheet tray to cool.
The next day, we picked back up by making Jo’s Marinara sauce. It was a fairly simple combination of red onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and herbs!
While the sauce simmered away, we started shaping the risotto into balls. G was in charge of spraying my hands with oil in between every few so that it wouldn’t stick. Worked like a charm! After a brief freeze, I dredged each in flour and egg, and then rolled them in panko bread crumbs. They waited in the refrigerator while we heated about six cups of oil to 350 degrees in our dutch oven.
The big moment had almost arrived! Luckily, it was only about two inches of oil in our deep pot, but we were still very careful. G even more than me: he patiently waited for the oil to heat on medium-high heat while I kept suggesting we crank it up.
We got to use a new-to-us tool to fry them: our spider strainer! We just purchased it in January from our favorite kitchen store, Prydes.
I loaded up about four arancini at a time, released them into the shimmering oil, and let them fry for a few minutes until the crust reached a gorgeous golden brown. The sizzling sounds made a fun soundtrack during the wait! Then, I used the strainer to scoop them back out of the oil and over to some paper towels to cool off! We needed to do about four batches, so each of us got a few turns at the helm of the fryer. What a thrill!
Taste Report:
Taste Score: 2 - So Good
Yes, these are so good!
The crust was crispy and salty. The inside was chewy and cheesy, but the rice was al dente, so it still had a nice bite! The hint of lemony essence that came through from the zest was just the right touch to balance the fried-food vibe these had going on. Obsessed!
The marinara sauce made for a wonderful accompaniment to the arancini, too! It added a sweet/earthy note and even more texture to each bite. Great dipping!
I always love homemade, but I don’t think you’d need to go with this specific recipe. Anything would do the job!
Mess Report:
Mess Score: 2 - Moderate
As I mentioned, this unexpectedly became a two-day affair. I neglected to get a mess photo on either day. It was as you’d imagine, though! I will take this opportunity to warn you one more time of a different element of the mess: there was a lingering oily smell in our kitchen for several hours. Strong enough to make me second-guess serving these up for a dinner party. Maybe with the windows open and a nice candle lit to balance it out?
Leftover Report:
Leftover Score: 2 - Flexible
Here’s a very exciting part: these reheated quite well! I kept them in a glass container in the refrigerator for several days. I used the air fryer (our comfort-zone method of frying) to warm them back up. About six minutes at 400, and they got their crispy crusts back! I meant to try freezing some, too, but maybe next time. They were just too good to save for long!
Now that we’ve faced our frying fears, so many new cooking doors are open to us! What next? Maybe donuts? Maybe onion rings? You never know what we’ll try. But for now: order up!