Can You Freeze Arancini?

How to Freeze Arancini

Freezing cooked arancini is a great way to save yourself time ahead of your upcoming dinner party, as arancini balls can be reheated in a matter of minutes once they’ve thawed. This makes them the ideal prepare-ahead snack food to impress your guests.

To freeze cooked arancini, follow the simple steps below: 

1. Cool
   Regardless of how you’ve cooked your arancini, you will need to leave them to thoroughly cool before you place them in the freezer. The best way to do this is to place them on a cooling rack to allow airflow to circulate around each of the balls. 
2. Freeze Initially
   Once cooled, line your arancini balls on a tray covered with greaseproof paper. Ensuring they’re not touching one another, place the tray on a flat surface in the freezer for a couple of hours until the balls are frozen solid. 
3. Transfer to a Freezer-Safe Bag
   After freezing them initially, you can now transfer your arancini balls to a freezer-safe bag without worrying about them losing their shape.
4. Label and Freeze
   Press as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing it. Then, write the date that you prepared your arancini, as well as their use-by date, before placing the bag in the freezer. Remember, you can freeze arancini for around three months.

3 Tips for Freezing Arancini

Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing arancini to have the best results:

• Reheat From Frozen – If you’re planning to fry your arancini balls in oil, you can add them to the pan straight from the freezer without defrosting them. This is one of the things that make arancini such an ideal dinner snack to prepare ahead of time. 
• Use Cheddar or Mozzarella – The best cheeses to use in your arancini recipe are cheddar and mozzarella (you can even use both). Be mindful of the fact that soft cheeses don’t freeze well, so it’s important that you stick with hard cheeses if you think you might freeze your arancini. 
• Breadcrumbs Prevent Arancini From Falling Apart – While homemade arancini are hard to beat, it’s not easy to get the consistency right. In fact, you might find that your balls fall apart once you put them in the pan, which is the last thing that anyone wants. Adding half a cup of breadcrumbs to your arancini mixture is a top tip to prevent your balls from falling apart and will make them extra crunchy at the same time. 

How Long Can You Freeze Arancini?

You can freeze arancini for around three months.

It’s best not to keep arancini leftovers in the fridge for any longer than two days, as they will begin to dry out.

If you don’t think you will enjoy your arancini within a few days of preparing them, it’s best to freeze them right away, so they will be nice and fresh when you come to reheat them.

You Can Freeze Arancini for up to 3 Months

How Do You Defrost Arancini?

If you’re planning to reheat your arancini balls in oil, you can take them straight from the freezer and fry them from frozen. However, if you would prefer to defrost them, you can do so by taking the balls out of the freezer and letting them thaw in the fridge.

It will take several hours for the arancini to thaw thoroughly, so you should remove them from the freezer the night before you plan to use them.

Can You Refreeze Arancini?

You should only freeze arancini once. By freezing the balls initially and then transferring them to a freezer-safe bag, you ensure that you can easily remove the exact amount of arancini you need at any given time.

This means you don’t have to worry about freezing them more than once. 

Do Arancini Freeze Well?

Cooked arancini freeze really well. In fact, you probably won’t tell the difference between frozen arancini that has been reheated and freshly prepared and cooked arancini balls.

Providing you wrap the arancini well and freeze them while they’re still fresh, they will be good in the freezer for around three months, providing you with the perfect Italian appetiser any time you want to impress your family or dinner guests. 

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing arancini or arancini in general, then these may help:

Can You Freeze Arancini Before Frying?

We would advise against freezing them before frying or cooking as there’s no benefit in doing so. By freezing arancini after frying, you can simply reheat them from frozen in a matter of minutes without ruining the texture or structure. 

Can You Freeze Risotto?

One of the key components of any arancini is the risotto filling. But could you freeze risotto on its own without making arancini? Yes, you can freeze risotto. Once cooled, bag it up and then freeze.