Stanley Tucci Just Shared His Favorite Way to Use Up Leftover Risotto

We love new ways to use up leftovers, and fortunately for us, Stanley Tucci just shared his favorite way to jazz up his leftover risotto.

The actor-turned-food enthusiast spilled on his Instagram his go-to method for enjoying risotto after its prime: frying the rice dish into small cakes.

"I made risotto the other night, which I didn't eat, so I turned it into risotto cakes," Tucci explained.

Here's how to make Tucci's risotto cakes—as well as the best way to make the main course a bit healthier.

"What I've done, this is what it looks like, I put some breadcrumbs in, two eggs, mixed it all up, little extra cheese, little extra salt, put into some homemade breadcrumbs mixed with some panko breadcrumbs," Tucci explained while showing the prepared leftover risotto mixture in a bowl. "And then I roll it and I bread it."

The perfect risotto recipe for this? Our Basic Risotto recipe. Described as "flavorful" and "easy" by fans, this four-step dish has eight servings, making it perfect to enjoy fresh and then save the rest for re-creating Tucci's risotto cakes. Here's how he fries up each portion:

"I cook it in regular olive oil—not extra-virgin olive oil—and vegetable oil, mixed. And this is what they come out looking like," Tucci said, holding the perfectly fried risotto cake in his hand. "They're really, really, really good."

We believe him: they look golden and delicious! Instead of pan-frying the cakes, we think adding the cakes to an air fryer will give that satisfying crunch without the oil. Plus, we love recipes like our Air-Fryer Crab Cakes and Air-Fryer Potato Cakes, so air-fryer risotto cakes are bound to be incredible.

At the end of the video, Tucci stated that he will be enjoying a cocktail with the risotto cakes. If you're looking to follow in his footsteps, check out these apple cocktail recipes well-suited for fall. And speaking of fall, Tucci reminded us that some of our favorite fall dinner recipes exist. We'll be making our Butternut Squash Risotto with Mascarpone and Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese ASAP this season.

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