Turn your leftover rice into these crunchy delicious cheesy rice balls! They are made with leftover rice, quinoa, whatever vegetables you have on hand, and cheese. Serve as is or with warm marinara sauce for dipping. Yummy!

Cheesy Rice Balls

It seems like I always have a ton of leftover rice in my fridge. Duh! So here I am, throwing a simple yet very tasty recipe for cheesy quinoa rice balls to use up the leftover rice.

This is a simple recipe for using up your leftover rice all at once. They make a great appetizer, or finger food and use up leftover rice with. You have to use short grain rice, though. You will need the stickiness from the short grain.

How to make Cheese Rice Balls

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Here is my leftover rice cooked with some quinoa seeds. I like to add quinoa when I cook my rice. Quinoa doesn’t have much flavor so they don’t alter the flavor of rice too much, and I love the texture they add.

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This is a great time to use any scraps of vegetables that you might have in your fridge.  I used green onion and a little red chili (finely minced). I saute them in a tiny bit of oil just to wilt.

You can use finely chopped some carrot, pepper, zucchini, or even broccoli would work great, too.

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Mix rice with vegetables and cheese. I used Italian cheese mix, including Parmesan cheese. Any melt-able cheese will work.

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Rolled them into golf ball size.

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Coat with flour and egg…

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..then roll them in Panko breadcrumbs.

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Fry them in oil until golden brown.

One trick I use when I do deep-frying is that I tilt-over the pan to the side to make a deep pocket of oil. That way you don’t need to waste too much oil for deep frying. Yes, you can call me “the wise one!”  🙂

Cheesy Rice Balls

If I used mozzarella cheese, the rice balls would have that oooy-goooy melted cheese stretching out. But Italian cheese mix offers a very good taste.

Bite into one. You will love the way it is or serve with warm marinara sauce. That would be divine! Hope you enjoy these rice balls!

It is the summer season again. For me having a gypsy-like life but without the tent to carry along, I am leaving again to look for another adventure in a country I’ve never been to.

In other words, I am moving again. Where? I will let you know when I arrive. Hopefully everything will arrive safely in one piece.

I was told that 1/2 of my belongings are in a random warehouse in Belgium, and the other 1/2 is in US. And my destination this time is not close to neither of the location. I just hope that all my possession comes in one piece without the missing pieces. When I moved to Malaysia last time, my sofa arrived safely but without the cushions, and nobody knew when/where they lost the cushions. Maybe they are still floating somewhere in the pacific ocean? Who knows? Ahhhh, the joy of moving!

Until I see you again in whole, have a great summer, my dears. I will keep up the postings with travel, but recipe posting might take some time.

Deep fried cheese rice balls with quinoa.

Cheesy Quinoa Rice Balls

Turn your leftover rice into these delicious cheesy quinoa rice balls! They are made with leftover rice, quinoa, whatever vegetables you have on hand, and cheese. Serve as is or with warm marinara sauce for dipping
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Ingredients

  • 2 cup cooked short grain rice
  • 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese , or Italian cheese mix
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp oil
  • 3 green onion , finely chopped
  • 1 red chili, seeded and finely minced
  • salt and pepper , to season
  • some flour , for coating
  • 2 eggs , beaten
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 3/4 cup oil , for frying
  • marinara sauce, for dipping, optional

Instructions 

  • Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute green onion and red chili for 30-60 seconds to wilt seasoning with salt.
  • In a mixing bowl combine rice, green onion and chili mixture, cheese. Mix well and from into small balls. Roll the rice balls in flour, egg and breadcrumbs.
  • Heat oil in s small pan over medium heat until hot. Deep fry the rice balls until the crust gets golden brown. Adjust the heat so the rice balls don't get brown too quickly. Serve hot as is or with warm marinara sauce.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @beyondkimchee on Instagram. I love to see your masterpiece.