Did you know that making those delicious cheese sticks you find in restaurants is super easy? Today we're sharing this recipe for homemade mozzarella sticks! Quick and delicious, you have here something to prepare an appetizer that will blow everyone away!

Table of Contents

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
1.5 tablespoons of milk
¼ cup gluten free all purpose flour
2 cups of gluten free panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon black pepper (and salt if you want)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or granulated garlic)
½ teaspoon paprika
1 block of dry / low moisture mozzarella
Oil for frying

Directions :

Step 1: In a bowl, add the milk and two whole eggs. Using a whisk or a fork, whisk well to obtain a very homogeneous egg mixture. Set aside.

Step 2: To prepare the breading for our mozzarella sticks, in a second bowl, add the dry ingredients: gluten free flour, gluten free bread crumbs, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Stir the ingredients together for a nice distribution of the ingredients.

Step 3: To shape our sticks, cut rectangles out of the dry mozzarella block that are about 4 inches long and ½ inch wide. The size doesn't really matter, it's up to your tastes and the mozzarella you have. Just don't make the sticks too thin or they will fall apart during cooking.

Step 4: To make our gluten free mozzarella sticks, dip each stick in the egg mixture and then dip it in the breading, repeat the process a second time to make sure you have a nice layer of breading on each stick.

Step 5: Heat 1.5 cups of frying oil in a pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, plunge the sticks into the pan and fry them for one minute on each side. Once a nice golden brown color is obtained on our cheese sticks, take them out of the pan. When you remove the crispy sticks from the oil, place them on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Step 6: Enjoy your delicious sticks once they have barely cooled down, for a nice crispy homemade mozzarella sticks. Serve them with your favorite dipping sauce, we recommend our homemade BBQ dipping sauce.

And that's it! You have here a very easy to make and delicious appetizer 🙂

How to Make Homemade BBQ Sauce?

Our BBQ dipping sauce is really easy to make:

Ingredients for Homemade BBQ Sauce:

1 cup (8 fluid ounces) gluten free tomato ketchup
¼ cup (55 g) packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons white wine (or white balsamic) vinegar
1 tablespoon gluten free Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions :

In a sauce pan, mix all ingredients well to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Reduce over medium/low heat until mixture is a little thicker (reduce by about ⅛). Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature before eating or place the BBQ sauce in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Any ingredients variations?

Of course, there are many possible variations!
First of all, feel free in the spices, add the ones you like. Here we like paprika a lot, but that's just us 🙂

Several gluten-free flour options are also possible, white rice flour will do just fine for example!

Then for the cheese, the base is to use mozzarella (they are crispy mozzarella sticks after all ahah), but it is quite possible to use something else. You can find string cheese in the store, it can be mozzarella or another cheese, it works perfectly, plus they will already be pre-cut in the shape of cheese tubes, ideal for the recipe.

The main thing is to have a nice piece of cheese with a crispy and delicious coat of breading!

What are gluten-free panko bread crumbs?

Panko is a type of breadcrumbs made with bread that is made to be lighter and crispier than the more traditional breadcrumbs, it is a very good breading to use to get the best crispy cheese sticks. However, other gluten free breadings work very well. Alternatively, you can make your own breading with dry gluten free bread that you grind into a fine breading with a mixer. If you don't have any dry gluten free bread, don't panic, just dry it in the oven for a few minutes and then grind it in a blender.

Can I use fresh mozzarella?

In order to make beautiful cheese sticks, it is possible to use fresh mozzarella, but you must be careful to remove the maximum amount of moisture with an absorbent paper or a cloth. Place the ball of mozzarella in the paper or cloth and press it very gently to remove the excess water. Then cut it into sticks as you wish.

However, the result is in our case much less successful than with low moisture mozzarella.

Can I freeze mozzarella sticks?

That's a big yes, and with the chef's little tip, freeze your sticks BEFORE baking. The day you want to eat them, take them out and cook them directly frozen as you would have done the day you made them.

Can I cook the mozzarella string cheese sticks in a different way?

In our recipe, we use a pan and frying oil for the cooking, however, it is possible to consider other cooking methods.

Air-fryer mozzarella sticks will be delicious and less greasy if you're a little afraid of oil! To do this, spray your metal basket with baking spray and place your sticks inside. Fry at 375°F for about 3 minutes. If the color looks right, it's ready!

In the oven, you can place your delicious cheese sticks on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes at 400°F. Remember to regularly (every ⅔ minutes) turn the sticks over in order to have a nice crust and even cooking. Remember, we want a beautiful golden brown color! Gluten-free baked mozzarella sticks are awesome ! :p

How to conserve what's left?

You can either freeze or store in an airtight box in the fridge for a few days. If you want to eat them again, the trick is to reheat them in the oven at 450°F for ⅘ minutes.