Easy Baked Mozzarella Cheese Sticks Recipe that is perfect for an after school snack, party appetizer and game day. Super simple to make with string cheese!
Each and every member of my family loves cheese! No, we are not from Wisconsin, but we might as well be called cheese heads!
One of our favorite ways to enjoy cheese is mozzarella sticks. We ALWAYS order them as an appetizer, no matter the restaurant.
My daughter came across some recipes online for making your own mozzarella sticks and really wanted to try it. So we came up with these baked mozzarella cheese sticks.
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I buy string cheese in bulk because like I said…we love cheese! I also used eggs, butter, flour, panko, Italian bread crumbs and pizza sauce.
How To Make Easy Baked Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Step One
We unwrapped the string cheese and cut it in half.
Step Two
I added equal amounts of panko and Italian bread crumbs to a bowl.
Step Three
I beat together 2 eggs and a little milk with a fork.
Step Four
I put flour in a bowl and rolled each piece of cheese in the flour.
Step Five
Next, the flour coated piece of cheese was dipped in the egg mixture.
Step Six
Finally, we put the cheese in the breadcrumb mixture and covered it with crumbs.
Then, we pressed the crumbs onto the egg covered cheese.
This technique really helped the crumbs stick and kept our fingers cleaner.
Step Seven
We lined the mozzarella sticks up in a pan and placed the pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
This hardens the cheese so that it doesn’t melt all over the oven while baking!
Step Eight
We removed the mozzarella sticks from the freezer and placed them on a baking sheet.
I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and drizzled it over the mozzarella sticks.
Then, we baked them at 400°F for about 8 minutes.
Step Nine
We dipped the baked cheese mozzarella sticks in pizza sauce.
They were everything we hoped they would be and for some reason, we thought they tasted a bit like grilled cheese!
Baked Mozzarella Cheese Sticks Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 mozzarella string cheese sticks
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1 cup flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- ¾ cup pizza sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Cut the mozzarella string cheese sticks in half.
- Put the panko and Italian bread crumbs into a wide, shallow bowl and mix until combined.
- Beat the eggs and milk with a fork in the second bowl and put flour in the third bowl.
- Coat each piece of cheese with flour, then with the beaten eggs, and finally coat with the bread crumb mixture.
- Put the coated mozzarella sticks on a parchment-covered baking sheet and place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the mozzarella sticks from the freezer and drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake at 400°F for about 8-10 minutes.
- Dip the warm mozzarella sticks in pizza sauce.
Kathryn says
Hi! We have “Japanese style” Panko. Is that the same thing or should I get some normal Panko?
Tonia says
Hi Kathryn,
Yes, use Japanese style Panko! The description of the brand I used is: “Progresso Panko Crispy Bread Crumbs are Japanese-style bread crumbs.” Thanks for stopping by!
~Tonia
Rita says
There is no such thing as “regular Panko” Panko is from Japan. It is their style of bread crumbs. Pan means bread in Japanese (which the Portuguese brought to Japan). Fell in love with it 40 yrs ago when I took my first trip to Japan.
Annie says
I think maybe Kathryn had a different brand name and was confused.. make sense?
Fairy Holdge says
I’m going to try these as I too love cheese sticks. One question, my grandaughter is now on a gluten free diet, what would you recommend to do to make these where she can eat them?
arlene says
I am also celiac so I adjusted this by using just a gluten free flour substitute and gluten free Italian breadcrumbs. I think it worked even better than the Panko would have bc the crumbs are heavier. You can use any brand of those two substitutes but I personally used: 4c gluten free italian seasoned breadcrumbs and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour. These are staples I use to make any recipe that calls for them into a gluten free one and my family often likes them even more than the original recipes.
Missy says
I have never tried homemade cheese sticks before and these look and sound great even my son is interested in trying them and he’s a picky eater! Thanks for the recipe and have a blessed day.
Cathy says
What about taking them the next day to work? Would microwave maybe 40 seconds work? thank you
Tonia says
Hi Cathy,
I have put them in the freezer and made them later. They turned out great. The only concern with microwaving is to make sure that they get hot enough to cook the egg. Thanks for stopping by!
~Tonia
Carol says
Have you tried any other cheese? Like Colby jack or cheddar?
Tonia says
Hi Carol,
I have not tried any other cheeses but I’m sure they would be delicious! I have used Velveeta to make Cheese Bombs http://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/06/cheese-bombs-cheese-filled-biscuits.html and they were really good! Thanks for stopping by!
~Tonia
Tara Mills says
What brand of mozzarella cheese sticks is your family’s favorite? We have tried a couple that we didn’t like.
Tonia says
Hi Tara,
Our favorite brand of string cheese is Crystal Farms: http://www.crystalfarmscheese.com/products/
~Tonia
Sardonyx says
The flour is to make the eggs stick to the cheese.
Karri says
Going to try this. My family loves cheese too! Do you ever make these in large batches and store them in the freezer for snacks?
Tonia says
Hi Karri,
Yes, I did make them in a large batch and stored them in the freezer. It worked perfectly! Thanks for stopping by!
~Tonia
Kimari says
I doubled it and stored some in the freezer, they were perfect! Kids definitely enjoyed them 😀
Kimari says
What is the purpose of the flour? I feel like after you dip it in the egg mixture a lot of the flour may be left behind anyway? Just curious what purpose it serves! Thanks, these look great!
Lolly says
Gonna try making these today and we’re so excited! (We’re 29 and 37 btw)! 😀
Tonia says
Yum! Me and my husband love them too! Thanks for stopping by, Lolly!
Betsy says
In text copy of directions, I think you mean remove from freezer not oven. Cooks will know the process, just want you to have copy correct. Will try these for our next book group. Thanks for the recipe.
whitney says
I’m guessing the grilled cheese taste is from the melted butter. I’m going to try these without butter. Thanks for the recipe.
Kimberly Cochran says
This looks yummy gonna try this one soon THANKS!!!
Tonia L says
Thanks Kimberly! I hope you love them as much as we do!
Bromeliad says
Baked?! That’s practically healthy.
Amy F says
Oh yum! I love string cheese and I love cheese sticks. I think I have everything on hand to do this!
Betsy says
I would never have thought to use string cheese for mozzerella sticks. Great idea!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
I shall try these. They truly look delicious, and I’m a sucker for anything I can dip in red sauce!
Ginger says
Cheese sticks are my favorite! Yum! I’ve never tried homemade…I bet they are even better. 🙂
Jennifer @ Delightfully Noted says
I usually try to pass up on mozzerella sticks since they are usually a heart attack on a plate but now baked ones?? I think I can handle that!!
The Remodeled Life says
Love this idea! My husband is a huuuge cheese fan, haha!
Andrea @ Decorating Cents says
Yummy. I may have to make these.