Homemade mozzarella sticks air fryer style are so good and easy to make! Lightly breaded mozzarella fried without oil is the way to go.
Ready for an air fryer snack? Try homemade mozzarella sticks air fryer style this week and you’ll never buy frozen again! Just one of our favorite easy air fryer recipes on our site. (originally published 8/21, affiliate links present)
Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks Healthy
We shared at the very beginning how to cook air fryer frozen mozzarella sticks. For a really quick bite those are still fabulous, but homemade is always better…and better for you too.
If you have kids at home I bet you already have a bunch of string cheese in that little drawer in your fridge. They’ve always been a staple in our house with 3 girls, I even eat them now and then.
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Air Fryer Cheese Sticks
These babies are a quick protein packed bite that always satisfies us between meals. With just a bit of seasonings and breading you can transform them into something amazing.
- Refrigerated cheese sticks
- Egg will help the breading to stick
- Flour
- Panko and Italian breadcrumbs
- Garlic and onion powder will add flavor, Old Bay would be great too.
What kind of cheese are cheese sticks
They do sell cheddar versions but the most common are mozzarella. This is what you want. Frigo is probably the most commonly found in most grocery store, I do not buy low fat because that changes the texture I think.
How do you make mozzarella sticks from scratch
You can use what we have here, or if you prefer to slice a block into bite size pieces that would work too. Ensuring the breading is nice and thick, sticking well is key to this working well.
There’s NO need for deep frying these to get the outsides nice and crispy, olive oil spray works great for that. That way you can eliminate the overall fat content since you’re just using hot circulating air to cook them.
How to Make Mozzarella Sticks Without Breadcrumbs
You could just season flour in a bowl, dip into whisked egg and then into that. Spray with olive oil and use that instead. As far as air fryer appetizers are concerned, these are probably on the top of kids’ lists of favorites. You could even make them smaller, and more bite sized for little fingers.
Cutting these standard size sticks in half is what is recommended, but each could be cut into fourths. For that I would decrease the time just a bit and keep an eye on them. You’re just browning the outsides really, once that happens the cheese should be nice and melted.
- Smaller pieces like these air fryer cheese curds can be made too and served on a charcuterie board for guests.
What happens if you don’t freeze mozzarella sticks
That’s right, you’ll need to put these babies on a baking sheet and freeze them solid before air frying them. What if you don’t? Well…you’ll have a mess on your hands and if you’re hungry you won’t be happy.
Make sure you take this step seriously and into account when figuring out how long these take to make from start to finish.
Homemade Mozzarella Sticks No Egg
If you need an eggfree option you can use mayo or yogurt to get the crumbs to stick. Once that is done it’s time for them to take a trip under that heat to transform them into air fryer mozzarella sticks.
- Unwrap all of the mozzarella sticks from their packages. Lay on paper towels to remove any moisture on outsides. Cut each piece in half.
- Put parchment paper on a baking sheet. Use 3 shallow bowls, one with flour, 1 with whisked egg, and the other mix the Panko bread crumb and Italian seasoning breadcrumbs together with garlic powder and any other seasonings.
- One at a time dip each stick in flour, then egg, then coat with breadcrumbs and set on baking sheet.
- When all are coated place baking sheet in the freezer for at least 3 hours and 30 minutes, or better leave them there overnight until completely frozen.
Preheat air fryer to 370 F for 4 minutes. Spray air fryer basket with non stick cooking spray non stick spray and lay in a single layer without overlapping. Air fry for about 6 minutes cook time or until lightly golden brown on the outside and cheese melts. Serve with bowl of ranch or marinara sauce.
What sauce to eat with mozzarella sticks
I mean you can use just about anything but marinara is a given and usually the go to. Want to have more fun with these?? Serve up a big dip bar next to it with all sort of other options both sweet and savory like;
- Homemade fry sauce
- Bang bang sauce is oh so fun
- Ranch dressing is a fave around here too
- Huckleberry barbecue sauce is pretty great
- Mustard sauce works or make Sriracha mayo for some heat
What are your favorite things to dip dip dip these babies in??
What is the best way to reheat mozzarella sticks
In the air fryer or Foodi of course!! If there are leftovers let them come to room temperature. Then wrap in foil and in the fridge for up to 2 days. Take out, and immediately put into a preheated Cosori for about 2 minutes.
Spray tops with olive oil if you want the outside to become even crispier. Just check often so the insides don’t ooze out since they would be going in not frozen this time which doesn’t work quite as well.
Nutritional information is below but is calculated by the card so unsure of accuracy. Uses all ingredients listed below and every brand of cheese is slightly different so refer to package you have.
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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Homemade Mozzarella Sticks Air Fryer
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz mozzarella sticks pre cut and packaged individual sticks
- 1/4 c flour
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/4 c Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Unwrap mozzarella sticks from packages. Lay on paper towels to remove any moisture on outsides. Cut each piece in half.
- Put parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Use 3 shallow dishes, one with flour, one with whisked egg, and the other combine the breadcrumbs and seasonings.
- One at a time dip each stick in flour, then egg, then coat with breadcrumbs and set on baking sheet.
- When all are coated place baking sheet in the freezer for at least 3 hours, or overnight until completely frozen.
- Preheat air fryer to 370 F for 4 minutes. Spray with non stick spray and lay in one layer without overlapping.
- Air fry for about 6 minutes or until lightly golden brown on outside.
- Serve with bowl of ranch or marinara sauce.