Adventures in Cooking :: Fried Mozzarella Sticks

I first saw this recipe over at Pioneer Woman a few weeks ago.  It stuck with me.  I love, love, love me some fried cheese sticks, but they're ridiculously expensive at restaurants and even to buy the frozen ones at the grocery store.  So...I decided that I had to try to make these when I got the chance.

Last night, I had the chance.  After I finished up the Cowgirl / Horse Cake, I sort of relaxed the rest of the day (aside from folding 27 million pieces of laundry).

Then by afternoon, I got a little tired of laundry and decided to head back to the kitchen.  I already knew I was making chili for supper (with some of that frozen ground beef and some frozen black beans...it took me all of 5 minutes to have a pot of chili thrown together..yay! for freezer cooking.  But I digress.) but I was itching to make something else...and my daughter Sarah wanted to be in the kitchen too.

So...after mulling it over for a few minutes...I remembered the fried mozzarella!  A couple of weeks ago I had bought the Panko Bread crumbs and cheese sticks we needed, and I already had everything else.  So, off we went.  Sarah and I got out all the ingredients and started rolling, dipping, and coating the cheese sticks.

I unwrapped them and she cut them in half...  then she helped me measure out the breadcrumbs and parsley...

Then we rolled them in flour, dipped them in the egg/milk mixture, then coated them in the bread crumbs/parsley mixture...

Next we flash froze them (which requires some patience)...and fried them.  I was busy playing Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary with my husband and son during the freezing time and frying time, so I didn't get any more pics until I finished.

And then I had to slap a few hands to keep my kids from eating them all before I could get a couple of pictures!

And let me tell you.  They were delicious!!!  I figure this platter of 32 fried cheese sticks (or what was 32 cheese stick before little hands started grabbing) plus some marinara sauce (I buy Paul Newmans) cost me just under $8.  So, we won't be having these often because they're not the most frugal snack for our family, but they were certainly cheaper than a restaurant or pre-made at the grocery store... and they hit the spot!

But even better, I made a memory and had tons of fun cooking with my sweet Sarah!

Here's my abbreviated version of the recipe:

Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Ingredients:

16 cheese sticks, cut in half
2 whole eggs, with 3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups Panko Bread crumbs, with 1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes
canola or vegetable oil, for frying (I used vegetable)
Marinara sauce (or my kids like ranch) for dipping

Next you'll need 3 little bowls for the 3 different steps of the breading process. Here they are in order...

1. Roll the cheese in flour.
2. Dip in the egg/milk mixture.
3. Coat with the breadcrumbs/parsley mixture.

Line them up on a cookie sheet or platter and freeze for 20-30 minutes.

Then fry in hot oil (but not too hot) until brown and crispy (it doesn't take long!).

Allow to drain (on a paper towel) and cool (so you don't burn your taste buds off)! Dip away and enjoy!!  I'd say these would be great party food, but I think I could probably fry all night and never make enough to feed a crowd (because they're just. that. YUMMY!), so I think I'll stick to serving them to my family!

You can browse all of my recipes here.

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