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Fried Mozzarella Sticks have melty mozzarella inside a crispy, seasoned Italian breadcrumb coating.
These Fried Mozzarella Sticks are a great option when you are looking for a quick, easy and delicious appetizer to serve at a party or impromptu gathering.
You can make them ahead of time and keep a stash on hand in the freezer. Then, it takes just minutes to fry up a crispy-on-the-outside, melty-on-in-the-inside plate of Fried Mozzarella Sticks with marinara sauce on the side for dipping.
How do you make Fried Mozzarella Sticks?
To keep things super-simple, we make our Fried Mozzarella Sticks with mozzarella string cheese sticks (although you can buy block mozzarella and cut it into sticks if you prefer).
Remove the cheese sticks from their wrappers, then dredge them in a flour – egg wash – breadcrumb mixture, and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
At this point, you’ll want to freeze your coated mozzarella sticks for a few hours before you fry them. This will allow the outer coating to fry up and prevent the inside from getting overly melty and ooze out.
Then, just before serving, heat up vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet – then fry your Mozzarella Sticks until golden brown on the outside. (It only takes about 60 to 90 seconds to fry up!)
Serve immediately with some marinara dipping sauce. (We have an easy, delicious homemade marinara sauce recipe here, or use your favorite jarred variety to make things even easier.)
Can I make these Fried Mozzarella Sticks ahead of time?
Yes! If you want to keep some of these Fried Mozzarella Sticks on hand, once they’ve firmed up on the cookie sheet in the freezer, place them in a plastic bag or container for longer-term storage.
Then fry them up anytime you’d like – following the same steps in the recipe. You can even keep some of the marinara sauce on hand – jarred, store-bought varieties, or if you made our homemade marinara sauce, keep portions of that in zipper seal bags in the freezer.
You may enjoy these other appetizer recipes:
- Eggplant Fries with Marinara Sauce
- Baked Zucchini Fritters with Smoky Dipping Sauce
- Duck Fat Fries
- Baked Zucchini Fries
- Parmesan Truffle Fries
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Fried Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
1 pound string-cheese mozzarella sticks, removed from wrappers
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons corn starch
4 whole eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dry basil
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetable oil, for frying
Marinara sauce, for dipping (make our homemade marinara sauce or use your favorite store-bought variety)
Instructions
Note: This recipe requires the breaded cheese sticks to be frozen before frying so leave yourself at least two hours of freezer time.
Remove wrappers from string cheese and keep refrigerated.
Line up three wide bowls. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper, or any pan that will fit into your freezer compartment.
In one bowl mix flour with salt, pepper and corn starch. In the second mix eggs and milk and in the third mix breadcrumbs, basil, oregano, garlic powder and grated Parmesan cheese.
Dip the cheese sticks a few at a time into flour mixture, shake excess and dip in egg, shake excess then roll in the breadcrumb mixture.
Shake off excess, then back into egg then finally again into breadcrumb mixture to fully coat.
Lay out onto the parchment lined pan and repeat for the remaining cheese sticks.
Freeze for at least two hours or longer. Discard breading mixtures.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F to be able to keep the cheese sticks hot between batches.
In a heavy bottomed pan, such as a cast iron skillet, place about an inch and a half of oil and get the oil to 350 degrees F. Make sure the temperature is at that temperature throughout. Cooler than 350 and they will be greasy and higher than 350 and they will get too dark before the inside melts.
Cook 4-5 at a time for about 60-90 seconds until golden brown in color. Remove to paper towels with a spider or strainer to drain then hold in the oven while you cook the remaining cheese sticks.
Serve with marinara sauce.
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