Comfort Food Meets Health
Name a better comfort food than mozzarella sticks. Spoiler alert: There isn’t one! Seriously, who can turn down a plate of warm, melty, cheese-filled sticks? But, they don’t exactly scream “healthy snack”. The secret to successfully making breaded cheese sticks is to freeze the unwrapped cheese before breading. Without freezing, it melts too early (and will result in a devastating explosion all over your air fryer). Once that’s out of the way, these bad boys are ready in just 6-8 minutes. Ready? Let’s cook!
Grab These Ingredients
These air fryer mozzarella sticks require just 4 ingredients and 4 spices. You likely already have most of them on hand!
Mozzarella Sticks: For this recipe, mozzarella cheese sticks are the name of the game! You can use actual pre-cut cheese sticks or cut sticks from a block (I personally love to use mozzarella string cheese!) All-Purpose Flour: We will be using flour for the breading process. Egg: We will use an egg wash to help make the breadcrumbs stick. Panko: To coat the mozzarella sticks. Panko bread crumbs are made without crusts, making them great for breading fried foods. Spices: To make these cheese sticks extra yummy, we’ll add flavor with onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt (you can also add black pepper for a little kick). Dipping Sauce: Choose your favorite sauce for dipping, such as fresh tomato marinara sauce or kefir ranch dressing!
Air Frying Mozzarella Sticks Is So Easy
The directions may look intimidating at first, but trust me—these air fryer mozzarella sticks are so simple to make!
Tips for Air Frying Success
Don’t Skip Freezing: Good luck making these air fryer mozzarella sticks without freezing – it’s going to be a disaster! Without freezing, the cheese melts too early and will spill out before the coating cooks. Freeze the mozzarella to prevent a messy cleanup. Cook In A Single Layer: If all the mozzarella sticks don’t fit in a single layer on your air fryer rack or the basket, cook them in multiple batches to prevent a soggy texture. I do not recommend double-stacking here! Air Frying From Frozen: It’s totally possible to air fry mozzarella sticks from frozen (as in frozen store-bought mozzarella sticks). To do so, simply toss them into the basket and follow the temperature and time instructions listed in the recipe.
