Who doesn’t love stretchy and gooey melted cheese? Homemade Mozzarella Sticks are easy to prepare, and will quickly become everyone’s favourite appetizer!
Last weekend, while John.e and McKenna went into town to pick up pizza for dinner, I decided to make some appetizers. One of those were 3 Cheese Jalapeno Poppers. With quite a few jalapenos and lots of cheese on hand, I knew they would go great with pizza!
The other appetizer I prepared were these Homemade Mozzarella Sticks. We are cheese lovers, so we could handle three food items with lots of cheese. You have live a little once in a while, right!? Besides, we have been staying at our house since the lock down started, so we can indulge a little.
EATING IS WHAT I DO BEST LATELY!
Everyone on social media seems to be talking about the fact that they are eating more now that things are at a standstill. The same applies to me. There are a few reasons for this. First, I blog about food, so I’m always baking or cooking something. Seriously, Dear Reader, I prepare recipes every single day.
When we were told that we could start working from home, we packed up our computers and the cats and all three of us headed to the house. After all, there was really no reason to stay in Toronto if we didn’t need to be at the office.
The problem with being at the house though, is that we are in the country. We have been at the house since March. Do you know what the country in Canada is like in March and April? Cold!!!! So we stayed inside. We worked during the day and watched movies at night. All the while, we ate.
Here we are in July and we are still at the house. I’m still eating. My clothing is growing smaller. But yet, I continue to make foods that I know I shouldn’t be eating – like these mozzarella sticks! But, I can’t resist! They are so delicious!
CHEESE STRINGS ARE THE BEST!
If you decide to forget about your weight for now – like I have! – and you want to make these mozzarella sticks, there are a few things you should know first. The most important thing to consider is the cheese.
Cheese strings will make your life so much easier! It might be just me, but I find cheese strings to have less oil content then regular brick cheese. This means that they will melt down better and become more gooey. If you’re in a bind, you can cut block cheese into 1/2 inch strips, but you’ll be better off with string cheese.
Now, not all string cheese is the same. Because the cheese is the star of the show here, you will want to use good string cheese. That, Dear Reader, means you should reach for brand name cheese. Yes, it might cost a little bit more, but it’s the only ingredient that you need to splurge on. The rest you can buy the no name brand stuff.
FLAVOUR OPTIONS
String cheese comes in different flavours too. Obviously, I choose to use the mozzarella variety, but you can use any other type. The most common are mozzarella, cheddar, and marble. But there are many others out there to find if you shop around.
Kraft makes a jalapeno flavour, as well as tomato and basil, and a cracked black pepper. I’m not a huge fan of basil, so I’d certainly give the jalapeno a go. That would be delicious in these sticks!
There’s also a nacho cheese, pepper jack, smoked gouda, and even a pizza flavour. I think the most interesting flavour I’ve come across was barbecue. I saw it once at Walmart, but didn’t try it.
THE COATING IS SO IMPORTANT
When you’ve picked the cheese you want, it’s time to pay attention to the coating. To avoid a mess in your frying oil, you will want to pay close attention to the breading part of this recipe. Don’t rush through it. Make sure you are fully submerging the cheese string into the egg. And be sure to fully cover it with the breadcrumb mixture.
It’s also important to coat the cheese string three times. Don’t be tempted to coat just once or twice. If you think you’re going to lessen the calories or make the mozzarella stick lighter, you won’t. Well, maybe it will have less calories, but it will also be a mess.
Coating in the breadcrumb mixture three times ensures that the melted cheese stays right were it belongs – inside! If the melted cheese oozes out and into the hot oil, you will have a mess to clean up.
I trust you will enjoy these fully! It’s a great recipe to get the kids involved with. They will love rolling the string cheese in the egg and the breadcrumbs.
Homemade Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
- 16 whole cheese strings, cut in half
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons milk
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, seasoned breadcrumbs, salt, and ground black pepper. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the egg and the milk. Set aside.
- Place a wire cooling rack onto a baking sheet.
- Working with one piece of the string cheese at a time, fully dip the cheese in the egg mixture and coat well with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the coated cheese string onto the wire cooling rack to set.
- Continue to do this until all of the cheese strings are coated.
- Again, working with one coated string cheese at a time, fully submerge it into the egg and then roll into the breadcrumbs. Place it back on the wire cooling rack and continue until all strings have been coated a second time.
- Repeat this action so that each cheese string is coated a total of 3 times. Set aside.
- Add enough vegetable oil to a wide pot so that there is 3-4 inches of oil in the pot. Heat the oil to 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the temperature of the oil by dropping in a pinch of the leftover breadcrumb mixture. If it sizzles and floats to the top, the oil is ready.
- Fry the mozzarella sticks in batches. Lower them into the oil and allow them to fry until golden brown. Turn them over and fry them for another minute or two. Remove from the oil and place onto a wire cooling rack with a sheet pan underneath to catch any oil that drops.
- Garnish and serve hot with your favourite dipping sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
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