I have always been a sucker for those fried mozzarella sticks that you can get in many restaurants. I mean what’s not to like? Melted mozzarella cheese, crispy fried seasoned bread crumbs! YUM! I have NEVER attempted to make them at home however.
For one thing, I don’t own a deep fryer and anytime I try to “deep-fry” something on the stove in a pan, it has not turned out well. But it never occurred to me that you could BAKE them and come up with virtually the same thing. That was intriguing, but what really clinched the deal was when I saw you could make them with regular string cheese!
Sometimes I simply can’t understand why these things don’t occur to me! There is hardly a day of the year that my refrigerator isn’t stocked with string cheese! It was staring me in the face all this time and I didn’t know it.
Check out another quick and easy way to make mozzarella sticks in the video at the end of the post.
All it took to make these gluten-free was swapping out the typical Italian bread crumbs or Japanese panko crumbs that most recipes call for with gluten-free bread crumbs. (It doesn’t quite yield the same crispiness, but it tastes delicious nonetheless!)
I know some of you are already doubting this could ever possibly work, because I felt the same way… until I tried it. There is one “secret” though that will make all the difference in your success: freeze the mozzarella string cheese before breading and baking it. Failing to do so may lead to a big cheesy mess in your oven!
Easy Baked Mozzarella Sticks (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients:
- 12 mozzarella string cheeses
- 1-2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F. Lightly spray your baking sheet with oil.
Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place the cut mozzarella sticks in the freezer until frozen (about 30 mins).
In a small bowl, whisk the egg(s). Place the flour in another small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and dried parsley.
Make an assembly line of the three bowls: flour, egg mixture, and bread crumbs mixture.
Working one at a time, dip each cheese stick into the flour, then the egg mixture, and then the bread crumbs. Aim to completely coat each piece of cheese — pressing the breadcrumbs against the cheese can help them stick better.
Repeat this process with the remaining cheese pieces and place them on your baking sheet.
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Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the oven for 4-5 minutes. Turn and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes, watching them closely so they don’t melt. Makes 24 pieces. Serve immediately with warm marinara sauce.
To increase the crispiness factor, you can re-dip the mozzarella sticks in the egg and then again in the breadcrumbs before baking. You can also brown the breadcrumbs in a skillet over medium heat before applying them to your cheese sticks.
If you’re having a party and want to make these ahead of time, place them on a tray with wax paper and freeze them until you are ready to bake.
Easy Baked Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
- 12 string cheeses
- 1-2 eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Lightly spray your baking sheet with oil.
- Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cut cheese sticks in the freezer until cheese is frozen (about 30 mins).
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg(s). Place the flour on another small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and dried parsley.
- Make an assembly line of the three bowls: flour, egg mixture, and bread crumbs mixture.
- Dip the string cheese, one at a time, in the flour, then in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs, making sure to completely coat each piece of string cheese.
- Repeat this process with the remaining cheese and place them on your baking sheet.
- Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the oven 4-5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 4–5 minutes, watching them closely so they don’t melt.
- Serve immediately with marinara sauce for dipping.
Nutrition
Here’s another quick and easy way to make mozzarella sticks in your oven (or air fryer!):
If you use the flour-egg-whatever method aslmot anything will work. Personally I like the whatever to be a 50-50 mixture of ground nuts and flour. Ground nutmeg is a great addition to the nut mixture or to plain flour. These coatings will work in pan frying, deep frying or oven baking (not above 375F or you might burn the nuts).If you have the time place the coated items on an open rack and let them dry for 30 minutes before frying and the coating will be less fragile.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am assuming you are using some type of gluten-free flour blend because if not….these are not gluten free
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh no, more food LOL……I am almost sugared out for the year
Please log in or create a free account to comment...right now ? ..having some of the Christmas cookies my DIL made with my coffee…spectacular! She did not skip on the nuts…perfect!
Your frozen cheese sounds like a wonderful idea….that I WILL try!
I recently purchased some egg roll wraps and the frozen cheese will work with those.
New Years? As I am an official old fart I will be in my recliner watching the celebrations and asleep by 9…….2014, isn’t that amazing?
For those of you going out to party….good for you. have a great time!
OK. The name of the allergy is celiac disease. It’s not named after anyone, and it’s not capped. Just plain old celiac disease.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi there, yes Panko crumbs will work. I also add in with the breadcrumbs 1/4 tsp salt and 1tbsp of Italian seasoning!! Makes a world of difference in the taste :) . To make it even faster put all the dry ingredients together in 1 bowl. Dip the frozen cheese in the egg then the powder, repeat!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love your website. If someone does not have gluten free issues, will panko breadcrumbs have the same result?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Tried these today for after school snacks. I think next time I would put a bit of salt in with the bread crumb mixture. I always have gf bread crumbs on hand from the many ‘failed’ loaves of gf bread around here! I used the ‘Mock cup 4 cup’ mix from Gluten Free On A Shoestring. It seems to work pretty well for anything calling for GF flour.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If anyone figures out any tricks when making these, please post. I saw this recipe somewhere else and have tried to make them twice. They were not good at all. I hope you all have better luck than I did and can give me some tips because I love mozzarella sticks. Thanks Jillee. I love your website!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Boil some cauliflower florets for 3-4 min & drain, bread the same way and bake w/mozz sticks and you double your fortune.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes, you can put in the spices of your chocie and mix with a small amount of flour. You don’t want to use too much, just enough to lightly coat the chicken. Wet the chicken pieces and put into a baggie with the coating. Toss gently until coated and then VOILA, cook. Also if you have corn flakes or any kind of non sweetened cereal, you can crush it and use that with your spices.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sure, you don’t want to dip it in egg though if you’re not going to use bread crbums. It’ll get nice and golden brown. I’d bake it instead of frying too, and make a nice sauce to go with it. Perhaps a lemon butter sauce and then sprinkle some capers on as a garnish. Bon apetite and good luck.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.FLOUR — I have found that Trader Joe’s carries the best Gluten-Free flour with respect to price and ingredients. I use it for anything that calls for flour — brownies, choc chip cookies, etc. My family is going to flip when I make these for them :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A tip to make the process even quicker: dump your flour in a small bag (I use the brown paper lunch bags we keep for school lunches), toss in half your string cheese, gather the top of the bag to hold it closed, and shake, shake, shake. Proceed with the recipe. Any time I need to flour-dredge something before breading, I use this method.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.These sounds delicious! I love breadsticks when we get pizza, so I can fix these instead!!! Save those calories cause I’m on my own diet and have lost 86 pounds!!! Thanks, Jillee!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That’s amazing Jll! Keep up the good work :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee – You are a woman after my own heart. I’m 80 and I like things easy, quick and uncomplicated. Love your website.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If these have regular flour in them as it appears from your recipe, they are not gluten-free.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m pretty sure that given her son has celiacs (sp) that she would automatically use gluten-free flour. It’s a safe bet that she just forgot to mention that it is gluten-free flour.
Having said that … these sound delicious. Not sure if it is gluen-free or not, but try these with garlic dressing or ranch … to die for! Yum!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.These look great! The only thing I’d add is to make sure you are using gluten free flour as well gluten free bread crumbs. Thanks for the idea, next time we have company I’m going to try this recipe out.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sounds delish! What kind of flour do you use to keep these gluten-free.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Woops! I forgot to mention that. I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Someone mentioned in gluten-free support group recently that she just uses crushed Corn Chex as a substitute for bread crumbs. I don’t know if it would be as good as the fancier version, but the next time I want to try it and I don’t have GF bread crumbs hanging around (which would be most of the time, lol) I’m going to try it. She said that she and her husband use them to make jalapeno poppers.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have used corn or rice Chex as bread crumb substitutes frequently. I just season the crumbs a bit so they have more flavor (same thing if I’m using slightly stale gf bread for crumbs). I add in some onion powder, a touch of garlic powder, and either oregano, basil, and rosemary, or Italian seasonings, maybe a bit of salt and pepper. Mix until it smells good! :) Then continue as normal. This was definitely one of my biggest “I miss you”s from my gluten days. So happy to find this recipe!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.can hardly wait to make these. have to find the gluten free bread crumbs, our Trader Joes is getting more and more GF products so will ck there first thing. THANK YOU
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I make these using mozzarella sticks wrapped in cresont rolls. They are SOOOO good and easy to make ;) just stick them in the oven like you would if you were making just the cresont rolls :) cheese will be melted and cresonts will be cooked! YUMMERS!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks for this cool post, Jillee! You never fail to intrigue me! I LOVE this site! Keep up the good work!
*mozzarella sticks as in mozzarella string cheese sticks :)
What a great idea Carrie! I’ll have to try that next time :-)