Fried Mozzarella

About This Fried Mozzarella Cheese Appetizer

This easy recipe works great for all types of mozzarella shapes. Use it to make little fried mozzarella balls (aka pearls), mozzarella sticks, or our favorite - round slices. Because they appear to have the highest gooey-ness factor and 'stretch the farthest' as our son remarks).

We do recommend that you use fresh cheese, not the processed stuff that is often passed as it.  Considering mozzarella's very mild taste we like to infuse the crunchy outside with as much flavor as possible. Let's talk ingredients.

Ingredients You Will Need

A log of fresh mozzarella cheese (pre-sliced if you find it, we usually get ours at Trader Joe's).

Flour for dredging (plus salt and pepper to season it).

Eggs and a bit of water for an egg wash (we like to add a bit of sweeter lager such as maibock or helles instead).

Bread crumbs (we like to use Panko for the extra crunch, but regular breadcrumbs are just fine).

Parmesan cheese (grated) to flavor the bread crumbs as well as some dry oregano, Italian seasoning, garlic powder or basil, or both for the same purpose. Consider red pepper flakes if you'd like to add heat. 

Fresh basil, finely chopped adds a bright herbal note as garnish if you choose to use it.

You will also need a frying pan and cooking oil - enough to fill the pan about an inch deep. No need for a high smoke point oil, pan frying works at lower temperatures. 

A  fish spatula or a similar flexible utensil is very useful to flip the mozzarella rounds after pan frying them on one side.

Finally, a cooling rack is helpful to rest the fried cheese rounds on.

TIP: This is the kind of appetizer you need to serve as soon as you make it so it is very helpful to have everything set up before you begin. Prepare your serving dish or platter in advance, have your marinara and garnishes ready to go and then get to work.

How to Make Fried Mozzarella Step-by-Step

• To eliminate any unnecessary stress from the process, first prep the cheese for pan frying.  Set up a standard breading station with shallow bowl as shown. Mix the all purpose flour, salt and pepper in one bowl (#1), the egg wash in another (#2) and the bread crumbs and Parmesan mixture in a third (#3). 
• Next proceed to bread your mozzarella slices (or balls or sticks) by dredging them in flour first (#4), then dipping them in egg wash (#5) and finally giving them a good coating of seasoned bread crumbs (#6).  You can place them onto a cutting board or baking sheet as you go (#1 image below). 

• To fry the breaded mozzarella heat oil in a skillet over medium heat to 350 F and place only a few pieces at a time (#2). Not overcrowding the pan helps maintain the oil temperature and results in more even frying. Fry each side until golden brown. Carefully flip over using a flexible utensil such as a fish spatula as the melted cheese inside the breading is quite delicate (#3).  
• Place the pan fried disks onto a cooling rack fitted over a baking sheet as shown. This is an easier way than to use paper towels to absorb excess oil because the gooey cheese typically finds a tiny outlet to ooze out and stick to the paper towels.
• As soon as you are done frying the last batch - serve with a side of warm marinara sauce. Garnish with fresh basil and dust with grated Parmesan. 

TIP: Do not place the fried mozzarella rounds directly onto paper towels after frying. Chances are that some awesome melty cheese oozed from the casing and it will stick to the paper. Use a cooling rack instead (#4).

More Mozzarella Dipping Sauces

Parsley sauce - this fresh tasting concoction is perfect with fried mozzarella cheese sticks. It takes just minutes to prepare - here is the recipe. 

Basil pesto - another fresh tasting mixture that offers herbaceous notes for the crispy cheese bites. 

Kalamata olive paste - the strong umami flavors in this pesto like thick sauce create a bold backdrop for the fried breaded mozzarella cheese. Recipe here. 

Chermoula sauce - typically used in Morocco to prepare fish or lamb, this fresh herb based sauce is lovely for dipping crispy mozzarella. Recipe here. 

Beer Pairings

Because we always have craft beer on the mind we have a few suggestions for most compatible styles to pair with fried mozzarella. 

• Biscuity, bready notes accompanied by herbal, grassy, floral zing and good carbonation absolutely elevate the fried mozzarella munching experience. You will not go wrong with crisp lagers such as German pilsners (especially the bitterer varieties of the North), Kellerbier, sweeter Czech pils or Munich Helles, light bocks and Maibocks. Along these lines we also recommend Kolsch ale. 
• Highly effervescent wheat ales, from the fruity German and Belgian ones to the clean American yeast styles are also well suited. 
• Saisons - the most food friendly ales of them all, or golden Belgian ales will never fail you as a partner to these cheesy bits of fried delight. And if you happen upon a refreshing grisette, do try. 
• Among the IPAs our first choice are the milder English ones. From the myriad of American varieties we like the more balanced and dry-hopped versions.  

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

Place cooled down leftover pieces in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator. 

To reheat lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking spray, arrange the leftover fried mozzarella pieces over it and place it in a pre-heated 300 F oven. Keep for about 5-10 minutes or until warmed through.