Leftover rice, baked into Cheesy Leftover Rice Muffins with olive oil, fresh basil and pine nuts, will make you think you’re eating arancini, only healthier!
Leftovers
There is something deeply satisfying about giving leftovers a second life, especially rice. A humble bowl that once sat quietly beside roasted vegetables or grilled fish suddenly becomes the star of its own little transformation.
Let’s not forget how many boxes of flavorless rice often sits in your refrigerator from a ‘take-out’ Chinese restaurant, after you ate the good stuff, now begging to be given a little attention, a second chance to satisfy your tummy.
For a humorous story written about these muffins, visit The Petty Revenge of Leftover Rice – A Cheesy Act of Defiance against February!
Leftover Rice
Leftover rice, baked into Cheesy Leftover Rice Muffins with olive oil, fresh basil and pine nuts, will make you think you’re eating arancini, only lighter, simpler, and far less fussy.
If you’ve ever had arancini in a small Italian café, those golden, crisp spheres that give way to creamy rice and melted cheese, you know the joy. But traditional arancini are breaded, deep-fried, and often reserved for special occasions. These muffins borrow that same comforting spirit, but skip the heavy oil bath.
Instead, the rice is folded with good olive oil, fragrant ribbons of basil, nutty pine nuts, and just enough cheese to create pockets of melt. Spoon the mixture into a muffin tin, bake until golden at the edges, and what emerges is magic: a lightly crisp exterior giving way to tender, savory rice inside.
Muffins
Welcome to Muffin Madness! In my family, I have always been known as the muffin queen, simply because over the years I have created so many different muffin recipes, and still creating!
As a single mom of 4, during those insanely disjointed, hectic years of age 6 to 16, with school, hobbies, work and hormones, I needed a friend!
Muffins became my antidote to madness. My friend. How? I needed a quick, healthy and affordable breakfast, a to-go snack and I needed the kids to be able to help make them.
And so, as I share my beloved muffin recipes with YOU, one by one, each and every week for your busy weekday or weekend treats, I hope you will let me know which ones have been your favorite! Yep! Muffin Madness 52!!
Why This Is The Perfect Savory Muffin Recipe
They are portable. They are snackable. They are the kind of thing you “just taste” standing at the counter… and then taste again.
What I adore most is the transformation. Yesterday’s plain rice becomes today’s warm, aromatic, almost Italian-inspired bite. It feels clever. It feels thrifty. It feels like the kind of cooking our grandmothers practiced instinctively, nothing wasted, everything elevated.
And the scent as they bake? Olive oil warming, basil releasing its sweetness, cheese bubbling into little golden freckles across the tops. It’s the aroma of comfort without heaviness.
You might even close your eyes and imagine yourself in Sicily, where traditional arancini are beloved street food, though these oven-baked beauties feel right at home in a modern kitchen.
Cheesy Leftover REAL Rice Muffins
Maybe you found yourself here, in hopes of a recipe made with rice flour?
Come on, we both know rice flour is sandy and gritty, much like corn flour, unless we soften it with other flours.
Rice muffins, made with cooked ‘leftover’ rice is creamy, dense and likened more to a Yorkshire pudding or a Popover. It’s eggy, savory, and layered in Italian flavors.
Mediterranean Leftover Rice
Are you familiar with arancini (Italian fried rice balls)? They are often the Mediterranean go-to for leftover rice.
And while I stole what I love about arancini, for this recipe, and married it with a fresh pesto flavor, also stolen from my winter greenhouse, this Rice Muffin is healthiest because it’s not fried!
Cheesy
Just the sound of that makes you forget every dietary restriction, for a moment, and long to indulge in the luxury of anything cheesy! You know I’m right!
These muffins are cheesy only in an Italian kind of way; that is, in flavor and not 10-inch long strings of melted mozzarella cheese, cheesy.
What Type Of Cheese Is Good For Rice Muffins?
Although we all have our favorite cheeses we liked to cook with, say… on top of our pizza, or in our Mac & Cheese, I used an Asiago or Pecorino Romano cheese, shaved.
Because these cheeses are a hard cheese, rather than a soft gooey cheese, they hold up well to the heat in baked goods. Not to mention that they have a salty, nutty, almost tangy flavor, which bland white rice needs.
Let’s Make Cheesy, Soup Dunking Muffins With Leftover Rice!
The first thing we need to do, is get ahold of some leftover rice, or make a quick batch of it; as I did for this recipe since (I’m sorry to say), I don’t usually get ‘carry out’!
Then, in a mixing bowl, or food processor, simply place the cooked rice, eggs, cheese, olive oil and milk, mix and let stand for 5-minutes to allow the rice to absorb more moisture, making it creamier.
Add the dry ingredients, divide into muffin tins, sprinkle a bit more cheese, top with pine nuts and bake.
What Does Cheesy Leftover Rice Muffins Taste Like?
If you were to close your eyes and take a bite, you would taste both a delicate textured Yorkshire pudding and a bright and talkative Italian Pesto!
Perfect for dunking into your winter soups and stews, or a lovely side dish to a summer salad!
Additionally, I think you will find these cheesy rice muffins the perfect meal to put in your children’s lunches, yours, or ideal for on-the-go, like airplane travels!
Ingredients Needed To Make The Magic
- Cooked Rice – This is the foundation, the quiet hero. Day-old rice is ideal, slightly dried and ready to absorb flavor. Whether it was once served beside roasted vegetables or tucked under grilled salmon, it now becomes something entirely new. The grains hold their shape, creating that tender-but-structured texture reminiscent of arancini, but without the frying.
- Eggs – Eggs bind everything together, giving the muffins their gentle lift and custardy interior. They transform loose rice into something sliceable, portable, and satisfying. Think of them as the structure behind the comfort.
- Grated Cheese – Here is where the richness slips in. A handful of grated cheese melts into the rice, weaving creamy pockets throughout. Parmesan adds a salty, nutty depth. Mozzarella gives that soft, stretchy pull. Even a sharp white cheddar can lend personality. This is your chance to use what you love, or what needs using.
- Milk – Just enough to soften and unify. Milk ensures the interior stays tender rather than dry, giving the muffins that almost soufflé-like center beneath their golden tops.
- Flour – A small amount provides stability. It helps the muffins hold together while keeping the texture light. Nothing heavy here, just enough to support the structure.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder – This gentle duo adds lift. The muffins puff slightly in the oven, becoming airy instead of dense. It’s that subtle rise that keeps them from feeling like packed rice cakes and instead more like savory little bakes.
- Salt – Essential. Rice needs seasoning to shine. A careful pinch wakes everything up, especially the basil and cheese.
- Fresh Basil – Ah, basil. When sliced into thin ribbons, it perfumes the entire batter. As it warms in the oven, it releases a sweet, green fragrance that makes the kitchen feel alive. It’s what nudges these muffins toward that Italian café feeling.
- Pine nuts – Toasted lightly before folding in, pine nuts add delicate crunch and buttery depth. They mimic the subtle nuttiness you might find in pesto, and every so often you get that little bite, soft rice, melted cheese, then the gentle snap of a pine nut. It’s the surprise that keeps you reaching for another.
The Simple Tools To Make It Happen
- Mixing Bowl – This is where transformation begins. A generous bowl gives you space to fold, stir, and combine without compressing the rice. You want room for everything to mingle gently, not be mashed.
- Wire Whisk – The whisk is for the eggs and milk, beating them until pale and frothy. That little bit of air is what helps the muffins bake up tender rather than dense. It’s a small step that makes a noticeable difference.
- Measuring Tools – Nothing overly precise here, but balance matters. A proper measure of flour, milk, and leavening ensures the muffins rise softly and hold together beautifully. Think structure, not stiffness.
- Muffin Pan (preferably silicone) – The shape-maker. A standard muffin tin turns a humble mixture into something portioned and portable. Each well cradles the rice as it bakes, helping the edges become golden and lightly crisp, almost like the outer shell of arancini, but achieved with dry heat instead of oil.
- Cupcake Papers – Optional, but helpful if using a metal muffin pan. They make removal effortless and clean-up easy. If you prefer more browning along the edges, you can lightly oil the pan instead and skip the liners for a crisper exterior.
- Oven – The quiet alchemist. The oven coaxes the cheese into melt, toasts the pine nuts further, and sets the eggs into a soft, savory custard around the rice. As the tops turn lightly golden, the kitchen fills with basil and warm cheese, the kind of aroma that draws people in without calling them.
My Muffin Madness Cookbook
Now that I’ve got you thinking outside the box about muffins, are you ready to try other creative and delicious muffin recipes you won’t find anywhere else?
Hot off the press this year: My Muffin Madness Cookbook!
Cheesy Leftover Rice Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Cooked rice
- 3 Eggs
- 1 cup Grated cheese extra for topping
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
- 3/4 cup Milk any type
- 1 1/2 cup All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt or to taste
- 1/2 cup Fresh basil chopped
- 1 tbsp Pine nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Prepare muffin tins with baking paper cups.
- In a mixing bowl or food processor place the cooked rice, eggs, cheese, oil and milk, whisk lightly and allow to sit for 5-minutes.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and chopped basil leaves. Mix until the batter is smooth but don’t over mix.
- Divide into prepared muffin tins, sprinkle remaining cheese on top and finish with a few pine nuts on each.
- Bake until golden and tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Great to dunk in soups and stews or simply more olive oil and pepper with a glass of wine.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.