Frittelle di Riso di San Giuseppe

Name: Frittelle di Riso di San Giuseppe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: About 20 fritters
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 150 g (5¼ oz) carnaroli or arborio rice; 500 ml (2 cups) whole milk; 500 ml (2 cups) water; 1 pinch salt; 1 lemon unwaxed lemon; 80 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar; 15 g (½ oz) fresh yeast; 2 whole large eggs; 30 g (¼ cup) raisins; 2 tbsp liqueur (Vinsanto, rum, or grappa); 250 g (8½ oz) 00 flour; 1 litre (4 cups) peanut or sunflower oil

Also known as frittelle di San Giuseppe, zeppole di San Giuseppe (in some Campanian bakeries)

📍 Lazio — Rome and the Castelli Romani (Frascati, Velletri, Ariccia) ★ 4.3

Last updated Aug 28, 2026 · Reviewed by the WhatWhereVacay editorial team

Roman rice fritters fried for the Feast of Saint Joseph on 19 March — pear-shaped, custardy inside, dusted in powdered sugar.

About Frittelle di Riso di San Giuseppe

Frittelle di riso di San Giuseppe are Roman rice fritters made for the Feast of Saint Joseph on 19 March, the day Italian Catholic tradition sets aside to honour fathers and to mark the end of the winter fast. They are small, golden, pear-shaped, and built on a thick rice pudding base that is chilled overnight, folded with egg yolks, piped into hot oil, and fried until the crust crackles.

The rice itself is short-grain Italian — usually arborio — cooked in milk until it is much wetter than a risotto, almost a porridge, then left to cool so the starches set. Once cold, the pudding is whipped with yolks, sugar, a splash of rum or orange-flower water, and a final fold of whipped egg whites, and the resulting batter is piped through a star tip into deep oil. The fritters come out crisp on the outside, custardy inside, and dusted heavily with powdered sugar as they leave the fryer.

Every Roman pastry shop makes them for the week leading up to 19 March, and bakeries in the Castelli Romani towns — Frascati, Velletri, Ariccia — sell them by the bag, still warm from the oil, wrapped in a square of waxed paper. The tradition is one of the oldest street-fest foods of Rome, and the fried rice dough itself shows how cooks turned leftover rice pudding into a Lenten treat that ended up defining the festival.

🏛️ History & Culture

Frittelle di Riso di San Giuseppe are a traditional fried dessert made for the Feast of Saint Joseph (March 19), a celebration deeply rooted in southern Italy, particularly in Sicily and Campania. The dish's precise origins are debated, but it clearly belongs to the long-standing custom of preparing elaborate fried sweets to honor Saint Joseph, the patron of families and the poor. Rice was a humble, widely available ingredient, making these fritters a fitting offering for a saint associated with abundance and charity.

Regional variations are common: some versions are simple rice fritters studded with raisins and pine nuts, while others are filled with sweetened ricotta or custard, resembling the more famous zeppole di San Giuseppe. In many towns, the frittelle are shared among neighbors and distributed at community feasts, symbolizing hospitality and gratitude. Because March 19 falls during Lent, the treat serves as a festive exception to fasting, celebrating family togetherness and the arrival of spring.

🍳 How to make Frittelle di Riso di San Giuseppe

AI-assisted, not kitchen-tested

Frittelle di Riso di San Giuseppe

Soft, sweet rice fritters traditionally prepared in Tuscany for the Feast of San Giuseppe (Father's Day, March 19). A yeasted rice batter is piped into hot oil, fried until golden, then rolled in sugar.

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 30 min
Total: 60 min
Serves: About 20 fritters
Difficulty: Medium

Recipe ingredients

150 g (5¼ oz) carnaroli or arborio rice, Italian risotto rice; long-grain will not give the right creamy texture
500 ml (2 cups) whole milk
500 ml (2 cups) water
1 pinch salt
1 lemon unwaxed lemon, zest only
80 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar, plus extra for rolling
15 g (½ oz) fresh yeast, or 5 g / 1½ tsp instant yeast; fresh is more traditional
2 whole large eggs, lightly beaten
30 g (¼ cup) raisins, optional but classic
2 tbsp liqueur (Vinsanto, rum, or grappa), optional; for soaking the raisins
250 g (8½ oz) 00 flour, or fine pastry flour; all-purpose works
1 litre (4 cups) peanut or sunflower oil, for frying, in a deep pot

Steps

1 (Optional, the night before) Soak the raisins in the liqueur, cover, and leave at room temperature.
2 In a wide saucepan, combine the milk, water, salt, and lemon zest. Bring just to a simmer over medium heat.
3 Add the rice and cook at a gentle simmer, stirring often, for about 25 minutes until the rice is very tender and the liquid mostly absorbed into a thick porridge. Remove the lemon zest strip.
4 Stir in the sugar until dissolved, then transfer the rice to a large bowl and let it cool to lukewarm (about 40 °C / 104 °F).
5 Crumble the fresh yeast into 2 tablespoons of warm water and stir to dissolve (if using instant yeast, stir it directly into the rice). Pour the yeast mixture into the rice and mix well.
6 Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and leave in a warm, draft-free spot for 1½ to 2 hours, until the mixture is bubbly and puffed.
7 Add the lightly beaten eggs, drained raisins, and the flour. Whisk vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth, glossy, and quite thick but still pipeable (it should drop slowly from a spoon; add a spoonful of milk only if very stiff).
8 Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.
9 Heat the oil in a deep pot to 170–175 °C / 340–350 °F (use a thermometer; a small drop of batter should bubble steadily and rise to the surface within a few seconds).
10 Working in batches, drop heaped tablespoons of batter into the hot oil, or pipe it through a pastry bag with a wide round tip, cutting off walnut-sized pieces with oiled scissors. Fry 5 to 6 fritters at a time so the oil temperature holds.
11 Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning gently, until deep golden brown on all sides. The centers should feel set when pierced; if uncertain, break one open — it should be cooked through with no raw batter.
12 Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on a wire rack set over paper towels (a rack, not a flat surface, keeps them from going soggy on the bottom).
13 While still hot, roll generously in caster sugar so it sticks all over. Repeat with remaining batter, keeping finished fritters warm.
14 Serve warm, the same day. In Tuscany they are traditionally eaten for San Giuseppe, sometimes filled or split and topped with a dab of pastry cream.

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🧺 Key ingredients

arborio rice
whole milk
sugar
egg yolks
egg whites
orange zest
rum or orange-flower water
vegetable oil for frying
powdered sugar for dusting

🍴 Where to eat it

Pick them up warm at a Roman bakery in the week before 19 March — Forno Marco Arti in the Monti neighbourhood and Pasticceria Linari near Piazza Bologna both fry them daily during the feast. In Frascati, the small bakeries around Piazza del Mercato sell them by the bag at lunchtime, eaten standing up with a glass of local Cesanese wine. In Velletri on the 19th itself, the street stalls around the duomo hand out the still-hot fritters wrapped in waxed paper for the procession.

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