Rice Balls a la Tim

See how to make beefy baked rice balls with tomato sauce. See more

READY IN ABOUT 1½ hrs

Rice Balls a la Tim

Read Reviews (191)

"My father LOVES these -- so I name them after him. I make these softball size as a main course for a quick, filling dinner. Serve with a side of sauce and garlic bread." — QUEENBEE28

Directions

Bring the rice and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the garlic until fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in the ground beef. Cook and stir the meat, breaking it into crumbles as it cooks, until browned and the meat is no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
Place hot cooked rice, ground beef, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup of pasta sauce in a bowl, and mix thoroughly together. Mix in the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese until mozzarella cheese melts. Scoop up handfuls of rice mixture, and gently form into 2 1/2-inch balls. Place balls on a baking sheet, and refrigerate until cool and firm, about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Remove the rice balls from the refrigerator, and roll each in beaten egg and then bread crumbs to thoroughly coat. Return to baking sheet, and bake until the outside of the rice balls is crispy, about 25 minutes. Heat 1 1/2 cups of pasta sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, and cover rice balls with heated sauce to serve.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 15 mins
COOK 45 mins
READY IN 1 hr 20 mins

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jan 14, 2011

They were very good, and different! Here’s a tip I came across recently: to finely chop your ground beef after cooking, use a pastry blender. It’s perfect for this!

—bellepepper

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Feb 28, 2011

These are just alright. Very time consuming and not even worth it. The balls were hard to form and kept falling apart. I even started over making them by adding more cheese to make them stick and they still fell apart. My fiance enjoyed them, but the next time I make them it will be a Sunday night dinner. Much too time consuming for a weeknight meal.

—emmyp24

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245 Ratings

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Jan 14, 2011

I had guests for dinner and needed to come up with something tasty for dinner with ingredients on hand. I was unsure if they would actually hold together without something to bind them other than melted cheese. To my surprise they held together nicely. I did add a bit more in the way of seasonings (Italian) and I made my own marinara sauce rather than using something already prepared. I used 2 lbs of ground beef and 2cups of cooked rice to yield 21 approx 3" diameter meat balls. My friend said she thought it tasted like lasagna in a meatball. I served seasoned green beans, a green salad, and hot dinner rolls as an accompaniment and it was plenty. Thanks for a nice easy meal.

—Avon- status quo PRO

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Jan 14, 2011

DELICIOUS! I did saute some onion and garlic in a little olive oil before adding the rice and water to cook, which added another dimension of flavor. Also, I actually had some pizza sauce that needed used up, so I went with that. I do know that pizza sauce is usually more heavily seasoned than regular sauce, so maybe that's why I didn't feel any other seasonings were needed, as others have mentioned. I was glad to see that these were baked instead of fried, because my usual recipe calls for frying and this was a nice change. Anyway, the flavors of these were great, they remined me of a cross between pizza (I guess from the pizza sauce) and lasagna. Wonderful recipe that I will be making again, for sure~YUM! Thanks for sharing. :)

—Christina

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Apr 01, 2012

These were pretty good. They reminded me of little lasagna balls, even though it was made with rice. It would have taken quite some time, but I made a pot of rice in a rice cooker the night before. I used 2 cups cooked for the recipe, as 1 cup uncooked=2 cups cooked, according to on-line. I always keep 'best marinara sauce yet' from on here in the freezer and used that. It is the perfect sauce. I put them on a large foil lined sheet and got 12 balls. I used a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop and did 4 level scoops per ball. And, they were a generous size! I had to bake about 5 extra minutes to get slightly crispy. The only change I would make is using 1/2 of the bread crumbs, as about that much did not get used. Thanks for the delicious meal change this week.

—Blender Woman

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Jan 25, 2011

I've never had a rice ball and was very curious to try this especially since they're baked and not fried! This went over really well with my family. My toddler even dug right into it and cleaned his plate!!! I followed the recipe exact, except I used Italian bread crumbs because thats all I use. I used my cookie scoop and it made 25 balls! Way more than we needed but we'll eat the leftovers for lunch this week :-) I baked for 30 minutes than put the broiler on high for a few minutes and they were nice and crispy!! We didn't find these bland at all! I used Prego traditional sauce since we had some leftover that needed to be used! Served with texas cheese toast. Thanks Queenbee28, I'll def make these again!

—Kerstin

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Jan 18, 2011

Really interesting twist on something that looks like full blown meatball. My husband down them like crazy. He said they were pretty good. I took a nibble in the beginning stage after I had mixed the cooked rice, ground beef, seasonings, sauce and cheeses....I did feel it needed more of a zest flavor. My sauce was just a traditional jar of pasta sauce, so I know I could have used something that was more vibrant in flavor. I think that really is the key too this recipe. All in all, it was really good. I used a cookie scooper to make perfect balls and the batch made exactly 30. And I double dipped or double coated the balls in egg and (seasoned)bread crumbs. This was a total delight. Will make this again...that can also be a great football party appy as well as a main dish. Nicely done. I'm impressed.

—mis7up

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Jan 14, 2011

We really liked these. The only thing I changed is that I added a generous pinch of dry Italian seasoning to the cooked beef mixture before forming the balls. I used Panko bread crumbs because that is all I had. Mine did not brown up too good (could have been the Panko) so I just stuck them under the broiler for a few minutes. This is one I will make again. Thanks for sharing!

—Soup Loving Nicole

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Nutrition

Calories
643 kcal
32%

Carbohydrates
77.5 g
25%

Cholesterol
163 mg
54%

Fat
22.1 g
34%

Fiber
5.1 g
20%

Protein
30.9 g
62%

Sodium
1122 mg
45%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Rice Balls a la Tim

Serving Size: 1/4 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 643
Calories from Fat: 199

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 22.1g 34 %
Saturated Fat 8.3g 41 %
Cholesterol 163mg 54 %
Sodium 1122mg 45 %
Potassium 697mg 20 %
Total Carbohydrates 77.5g 25 %
Dietary Fiber 5.1g 20 %
Protein 30.9g 62 %
Sugars 13.3g
Vitamin A 16 %
Vitamin C 5 %
Calcium 42 %
Iron 55 %
Thiamin 55 %
Niacin 128 %
Vitamin B6 36 %
Magnesium 27 %
Folate 80 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.