Homemade mozzarella sticks are crispy on the outside, but cheesy on the inside breaded mozzarella cheese sticks; baked/ fried; a fun appetizer or finger food. Serve these with tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce, chilli mayonnaise or my homemade marinara sauce at your next party or snack time. My freezer and refrigerator is always stocked with a variety of cheeses; be it a huge mozzarella block (as toppings for pizzas, in lasagnas or eggplant parmesan etc.), cheddar cheese (for all my Mexican dishes) or even slices of cheese for sandwiches. My favorite is of course, mozzarella because of its oozy stringy texture once it is melted! The first time I came across crispy mozzarella sticks was as an appetizer in an Italian restaurant. The crispy seasoned exterior with the oozing melting cheese on the inside was to die for, especially for a cheese lover like me! The foodie in me could not wait to make these at home so that I could enjoy them anytime, without burning a hole in my pocket! Most mozzarella sticks served in restaurants are deep fried. I was wary of the mess it might create while frying, so I decided to bake them first. Making them is not difficult as it sounds. I cut the mozzarella block into sticks of approximately ½ inch by 4 inch sticks.
I then mixed bread crumbs with some crushed cornflakes (for extra texture and crunch; totally optional) and seasoned it with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, chilli flakes and Parmesan powder (optional again). Play around with your favorite spices. Instead of egg, I preferred to use milk as I did in my Spicy Eggplant Bites. Make an assembly line of flour, milk and bread crumbs mixture.
Mozzarella sticks were then dredged in the flour to coat each piece of mozzarella with it completely. Next, a quick dip in the milk and then in the crumb mixture to coat it fully; make sure you coat the ends of the cheese stick. Press the crumbs onto the cheese stick to form a good coating. Repeat the process of coating again to give it a good thick breaded coating. The thickly breaded mozzarella sticks were arranged on a plastic lined plate and placed the in the freezer overnight. This helps in hardening the cheese so that it does not melt and ooze out even before the breading starts to brown. When ready to bake, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and placed a few of the frozen sticks on a greased foil-lined baking pan. I drizzled some oil over the sticks and baked it for 15 minutes, turning over half way. You have to keep an eye on the sticks while baking; each oven is different, so it could take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.
Now, even though I loved the baked version, the adventurous cook in me wanted to fry and see how they turn out. So, I proceeded to deep fry them. I removed some more frozen breaded mozzarella sticks about 30 minutes before I was ready to fry them. Once the oil for deep frying was fairly hot (do not overheat, it could burn the crust before the cheese could start to melt), I gently slid the mozzarella sticks into the oil and continued to fry them on medium hot oil, constantly drizzling hot oil over the sticks. In a matter of 2 to 3 minutes, the outer crust became beautifully brown and I could see that the cheese was sufficiently soft enough. Out they came and what do you know? They were so crispy, delicious and oozing with hot, melting cheese. I could not wait for them to cool a bit before I could take a bite. They were as delicious as the baked ones, albeit a bit crunchier and darker in color.
We enjoyed these baked and fried versions of crispy oozing with cheese mozzarella sticks with chili mayonnaise (mayo plus red chilli sauce) and tomato ketchup. You can dip them in my homemade marinara sauce or homemade pizza sauce, the way they serve in Italian restaurants. They will go great with homemade curried beet ketchup too! So, skip the deep frying and go for these baked mozzarella sticks, spiced your way at your next snack time or next party or throw caution to wind and enjoy the fried version too. Either way, both kids and adults will love them!
Join the party at #RecipeoftheWeek | #FoodFriday | Cook Time: 30 minutes
250 gm mozzarella Milk 1 cup all purpose flour/whole wheat flour 1 cup bread crumbs ½ cup crushed cornflakes 1 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese powder (optional) ½ teaspoon garlic powder (optional) Salt Oil for deep frying
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