Fried cheese sticks are a delicious appetizer, offered at many restaurants. We’ll show you how to make cheese sticks with string cheese, so you can enjoy them at home. Homemade cheese sticks make the perfect party snack, both kids and adults love them!
Quick and easy appetizers are perfect for parties or when you have to feed a larger crowd. We have a variety of cheesy and creamy dips that we enjoy serving and now took our cheese obsession to a new level by making these fried cheese sticks.
Fried Cheese Sticks
Mozzarella or cheddar cheese sticks are usually always on hand in our house. We love snacking on them, adding them to quick cheese boards or lunch boxes. This time we transformed our favorite snack into one of the easiest and most delicious appetizer a cheese lover can ask for!
Is string cheese and mozzarella the same?
While string cheese is available in several flavors, almost all of them include some mozzarella. String cheese is different from mozzarella in that it’s pressed into long, cylindrical pieces, making it easy to pull off “strings” of cheese from the stick.
How do you make cheese sticks with string cheese?
This homemade cheese sticks recipe is made very similar to the way we make most deep-fried recipes, including our Cheesecake Factory Honey Truffle Chicken.
The mozzarella cheese sticks are dredged in buttermilk, then in a seasoned flour mixture. Then they are given a second dredge of buttermilk, followed by a breadcrumb coating. Once coated, the cheese sticks are deep-fried for just about 30 seconds in hot oil.
- Fill a deep frying pan or skillet with about 2 inches of oil and heat over high heat until sizzling.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- In a separate shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs with Italian Herbs seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Unwrap the string cheese sticks. Dip each one into the buttermilk mixture, let excess liquid drip, then toss in the breadcrumbs mixture, then quickly again in the buttermilk mixture and lastly again in breadcrumbs.
- Add to the pan with hot oil. Deep fry for ONLY about 1 minute total, cooking 20-30 seconds on one side and 20-30 seconds on the other side, just until the crust is golden brown.
- Place fried cheese sticks on paper towels briefly to drain excess oil, then serve immediately with marinara sauce for dipping.
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Can you make fried cheese sticks with regular cheese?
If you want to use a cheese other than mozzarella to make this recipe, you certainly can. However, you will need to use soft or semi-soft cheeses that melt well. Hard cheeses such as Parmesan don’t melt well.
How do you make baked cheese sticks?
If you don’t want to deep fry the mozzarella cheese sticks, you can bake them in an oven instead. My blogging friend Becca, from It’s Yummi, has an easy 15-minute recipe for baked cheese sticks.
How long do you cook cheese sticks?
Fried cheese sticks cook very quickly, needing only 30 seconds to 1 minute in the hot oil. To prevent them from burning or fully melting, watch them very carefully, turning the cheese sticks over after 20-30 seconds of cooking or as soon as the coating turns a nice golden-brown color.
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More cheese appetizers and snacks
Cheesy appetizers are usually the first to disappear at a party. Some of our favorite cheese appetizers and snacks include:
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Total time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- 16 oz String Cheese (I used mozzarella and cheddar)
- 2 cups Panko bread crumbs plain (or regular Italian bread crumbs)
- 1 teaspoon Italian Herbs seasoning
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Fill a deep frying pan or skillet with about 2 inches of oil and heat over high heat until sizzling.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- In a separate shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs with Italian Herbs seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Unwrap the string cheese sticks. Dip each one into the buttermilk mixture, let excess liquid drip, then toss in the breadcrumbs mixture, then quickly again in the buttermilk mixture and lastly again in breadcrumbs.
- Add to the pan with hot oil. Deep fry for ONLY about 1 minute total, cooking 20-30 seconds on one side and 20-30 seconds on the other side, just until the crust is golden brown.
- Place fried cheese sticks on paper towels briefly to drain excess oil, then serve immediately with marinara sauce for dipping.
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