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Healthy Fried Cheese Sticks

February 10, 2012 by Katie Wells
Gluten Free Cheese Sticks Recipe

I used to love fried cheese sticks in high school and college and would even just order these as my meal in restaurants. Now that we don’t eat grains or vegetable oils, I decided that we needed to find a healthy version that we could make at home (and much cheaper too!).

In my many attempts to create an amazing cheese stick, I discovered that it’s important that the cheese is frozen to start (cut it into sticks and freeze it the day before) and that you layer enough egg and seasoned almond flour on these to make sure that the cheese is well-sealed inside and doesn’t leak out.

I typically use tallow to fry these in. I like it’s mild flavor and healthy fat profile. Not familiar with tallow? I write more about it in my post for parsnip fries (which are delicious!) and buy it from Thrive Market. You can re-use your tallow or lard several times — just store it in the fridge.

If you don’t want to fry (and potentially eat!) a whole batch at once, you could also bread the cheese sticks and then freeze them to fry a couple at a time as needed.

After some trial and error (and lots of burnt cheese), I’m happy with this recipe …

Gluten Free Cheese Sticks Recipe

Fried Cheese Sticks Recipe

Katie Wells
A healthy take on mozzarella cheese sticks - grain free!
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 4 -6
Calories 336 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese cut into sticks
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp water
  • ½ cup  almond flour
  • 1 tsp  Italian seasoning
  • ½ tsp Himalayan salt
  • 1-2 cups of tallow lard, or coconut oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • The day before you are planning to make, or at least 3-4 hours before, put cheese sticks in the freezer on a plate.
  • Once cheese is completely frozen, put the tallow, lard, or oil in a small pan so that it is about an inch deep and bring to medium high heat ... it needs to be hot before the cheese goes in.
  • While the fat is preheating, crack the eggs into a medium bowl and beat with water until creamy.
  • Combine the almond flour, Italian seasoning, and salt on a medium plate.
  • Remove the cheese from the freezer and dip each stick first in the egg mixture, then in the almond flour mixture, then back in the egg mixture and repeat if necessary until well coated. They need to be coated completely so they seal and the cheese can't escape.
  • Drop 3 or 4 at a time into the heated oil for a couple of minutes until they are starting to brown.
  • Carefully remove. I removed them with a flat pasta scoop (finally, a good use for it), but a slotted spoon will work too ... you just don't want to squeeze them with tongs or poke with a fork, as the cheese will escape and make a big mess.
  • Repeat these steps with the remaining cheese until they are all cooked.

Notes

Tip about frying: make sure you allow the fat to come back up to temperature between batches, or the breading will just soak all the oil in.
Serve these with homemade marinara sauce!

Nutrition

Serving: 3cheese sticksCalories: 336kcalCarbohydrates: 2.9gProtein: 19.5gFat: 27.9gSaturated Fat: 20.3gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 605mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 0.3g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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What was your favorite “bad” food before switching to a real food diet? Do you like cheese sticks? Share below!

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Category: Recipes, Side Dish Recipes

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder and CEO of Wellness Mama and Co-Founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

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Reader Interactions

Discussion (38 Comments)

  1. Angel

    June 14, 2012 at 10:36 PM

    These are great! thanks for the recipe.  

    Reply
  2. Jennifer

    May 16, 2012 at 7:45 PM

    Yum! I made these tonight to have with supper! They were delicious! I fried them in lard…can I save the leftover lard and use it again? Should I just put it in a glass container? Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      May 16, 2012 at 8:33 PM

      Yep, just save in the fridge for re-use.

      Reply
  3. Buttoni

    March 23, 2012 at 6:10 PM

    These look absolutely delicious!   I’ve never fried cheese before and am eager to try these! 

    Reply
  4. Moco

    February 21, 2012 at 1:51 PM

    Where can I find tallow? Does the tallow have to come from organic cows?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      February 21, 2012 at 2:15 PM

      Preferably from grass fed cows… We get it from us wellness meats… The link is in the resources page 🙂

      Reply
  5. Andrea

    February 10, 2012 at 11:17 PM

    Did you use like a regular block of mozzarella or fresh mozzarella?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      February 10, 2012 at 11:18 PM

      A regular block, though fresh could work, as long as it was well frozen, i think.

      Reply
  6. Amy

    February 10, 2012 at 6:06 PM

    Making tomorrow…

    Reply
  7. Gib

    February 10, 2012 at 5:22 PM

    Thanks! My wife WILL be trying these.

    Reply
  8. Wanda

    February 10, 2012 at 3:22 PM

    I would use my deep fryer… I melt the tallow in the removable pan in the oven then put the element in and it works! Not supposed to use it with solid fats, but I do anyways 🙂 I have been looking for a mozzarella stick recipe, thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Antonia

      March 22, 2016 at 7:37 PM

      I’ve been thinking about putting tallow in my deep fryer. Good to know it can be done!

      Reply
  9. Greta

    February 10, 2012 at 1:56 PM

    Do you think the almond flour can be substituted for something else?  Maybe coconut flour? 

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      February 10, 2012 at 2:37 PM

      I tried with coconut flour and it worked, but the texture wasn’t nearly as good, and it tasted different. You could do it, but the almond flour tastes a lot like the regular ones.

      Reply
  10. Aimee

    February 10, 2012 at 1:47 PM

    I may have to surprise my husband with these. He will flip 🙂 Thanks!

    Reply
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