School Lunchbox
Baked Cheese Fried Rice Balls, No-Boredom School Lunch
Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Servings
4
Level
Medium
These cheesy fried rice balls are the perfect solution for a school lunch that's a little different from the usual - last night's leftover fried rice gets transformed into cute bite-sized snacks with a savory, gooey melted cheese center. Baked instead of fried, so they're lighter but still crispy on the outside and soft and savory on the inside. Kids will love how easy they are to pop in their mouths, and Mom won't have to worry about packing a spoon in the lunch box.
🧂 Ingredients
🍽️ Servings: 4
Adjust the servings and the ingredient amounts & nutrition below update automatically.
- 3 plates (about 600 grams) leftover cooked white rice/cold rice
- 2 chicken eggs
- 1 carrot, finely grated
- 100 grams minced chicken meat or chicken sausage, finely chopped
- 1/4 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- 1 tbsp halal oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 100 grams cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes for filling
- 50 grams shredded cheddar cheese for topping
- 100 grams breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp cooking oil for sautéing and brushing
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👩🍳 Instructions
- 1 Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil, then sauté the garlic and onion until fragrant and softened.
- 2 Add the minced chicken or sausage, and stir until it changes color and is fully cooked.
- 3 Add the grated carrot, stir briefly until slightly wilted.
- 4 Add the white rice, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, pepper, and bouillon powder. Mix well until the seasoning is evenly absorbed into the rice, cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it cool slightly.
- 5 Once the fried rice has cooled a bit, add the sliced green onion and 1 egg, and mix well until fully combined.
- 6 Take about 2 tbsp of the rice mixture, flatten it on your palm, place 1 cube of cheddar cheese in the center, then shape and press it into a ball so the cheese is completely sealed inside.
- 7 Beat the remaining 1 egg in a bowl. Roll each rice ball in the beaten egg, then roll it again in the breadcrumbs until evenly coated.
- 8 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes. Arrange the rice balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving space between each ball.
- 9 Brush the surface of each ball lightly with cooking oil using a pastry brush so they turn out golden and crispy.
- 10 Bake for 20-25 minutes until the surface is golden and crispy, take them out briefly, sprinkle shredded cheese on top, then bake again for 3-5 minutes until the cheese melts.
- 11 Remove from the oven and let cool briefly before packing into a lunch box, so the trapped steam doesn't make them soggy and they stay crispy longer.
💡 Tips
• Use rice that's completely cold (refrigerated overnight) so the texture is firmer and easier to shape without being overly sticky.
• If you don't have an oven, these rice balls can be shallow-fried in a little oil until golden as an alternative cooking method.
• You can prep these the night before up to the breadcrumb-coating step, store them tightly covered in the fridge, then bake them in the morning to save time.
• Swap the cheese filling for boiled quail eggs or chopped smoked beef for a flavor variation that kids will still love.
📊 Nutrition Facts / serving
310
Calories (kcal)
14 g
Protein
12 g
Fat
36 g
Carbs
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