Air Fryer Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Cheese sticks covered in egg, seasoned flour and any type of breading such as Italian bread crumbs, Panko bread crumbs and even crushed Hot Cheetos! These are great dipped in a marinara sauce, pizza sauce or delicious right out of the air fryer!
Cut the cheese sticks in half.
If you are using Hot Cheetos, crush them in a
plastic bag with a mallet and set aside in a bowl.
Cover a freezer safe dish or pan with waxed paper.
Whisk the egg and water together.
Combine the flour, salt and Italian seasoning.
Roll a cheese stick into the egg mixture.
Roll cheese into the flour.
Roll in the egg again.
Roll into the breading like the Hot Cheetos,
Italian bread crumbs or Panko crumbs.
Place the coated cheese sticks on the
prepared plate. Freeze for 1-2 hours.
Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 360 degrees.
Spray the bottom of the pan with cooking oil and place
the frozen cheese sticks in the pan without touching.
Air fry for 4-6 minutes, until they start to turn golden
brown and the cheese starts to melt. Watch them
carefully. Mine didn’t turn completely brown before
the cheese melted but the entire breading was crispy.
Serve immediately with marinara
sauce, pizza sauce or eat plain.
Air Fryer Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
http://www.InDianesKitchen.com
Ingredients
- 6 mozzarella sticks
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. water
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs (crushed hot Cheeto’s or Panko crumbs can be used instead)
Directions
- Cut the cheese sticks in half making 12 pieces.
- Crush the Hot Cheetos fine with a mallet (if you are using them) and set aside in a bowl. Put the bread crumbs or Panko crumbs in a bowl (if you are using them).
- Cover a freezer safe dish or pan with waxed paper.
- Whisk the egg and water together in a bowl.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and Italian seasoning in a bowl.
- Roll a cheese stick into the egg mixture.
- Roll into the flour mixture.
- Roll back into the egg mixture.
- Roll into the Italian bread crumbs, Hot Cheeto or Panko crumbs.
- Place the cheese sticks on the waxed paper covered dish or pan and freeze for 1-2 hours. This will help keep the cheese from oozing out when you air fry them.
- Preheat air fryer to 360 degrees for 5 minutes.
- Spray the hot pan with cooking oil and place the cheese sticks in the pan without touching.
- Air fry for 4-6 minutes until they start to turn a golden brown and the cheese starts to melt. You can turn them over halfway through cooking if you want. Watch them carefully. Mine didn’t get completely golden brown but they were crispy and completely cooked.
- Serve immediately with marinara or pizza sauce.
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Categories: Air Fryer, Cheese, Ninja Foodi
I love your air frier creations.
Awe thank you! I don’t want to post too many or I will lose my followers that don’t have one! But I have been having so much fun with it lately I have to share…lol
I love this and what a great idea to use the air fryer!! I can see that, one day, I will have to bite the bullet and get one 😉
I was fortunate enough to get mine as a gift but I’m telling you, it is the best gift I ever received!
Haha, what a great gift! I have been surprised at the quality of the food and variety of dishes that you have shown us made with it!!! I guess, I had previously dismissed them as a gimmick but I was obviously very wrong!
Oooh! These look really good! Definitely need to try them 🙂 I know it would be a yummy surprise for my kids.
I love them and the best part is that you can make them up a few hours before you cook them. Thank you and enjoy!
Looks like a great snack with a movie! C
Great idea!!! Thanks ❤️
Oh, they look nice! I’ve never used an air fryer, but I have seen them in the shops.
You can make them just like this and deep fry them too. I have fallen in love with my Ninja Foodi. It has multiple settings but I keep using the air fryer every time…lol
These look just as good as deep fried!
They really do taste as good but without all that grease. They didn’t get a golden brown in color but they were just as crispy. Thank you Dorothy!
It’s such a good idea. I don’t have an air fryer yet, although I’ve been tempted. But I do bake a lot of things that I used to fry. I may have to think this through again. I was late in getting the Instantpot, and love it!
I have an instant pot and I only used it 3 times. I didn’t like the way the food tasted. I know what a shocker. I’m with you though, I don’t care for fried food anymore.
I use the Instant pot for specific purposes: cooking dried beans and grains if I forgot to soak them (often), making a large batch of hard boiled eggs if the eggs are really fresh and probably hard to peel otherwise. I’m not a fan of making soups in them for the same reason as you, and I never liked making soups in my regular pressure cooker as well. But I do use a lot of grains and dried beans, so it saves me time, even though the house doesn’t smell as good until you release the pressure.
I made pasta in my instant pot and we had to throw it out. I can see where beans and grains would work well. My Ninja Foodi has a pressure cooker as one setting and I haven’t tried it yet.
Have you tried it for rice? Haven’t dared yet…
I seriously stopped using it. I figured 3 strikes it’s out…lol
😃
Those Hot Cheetos coated mozzarella sticks look fantastic. Those must be for your granddaughter. Enjoy!
You definitely got that right…lol There was no way I was eating them. Thanks Ab. ❤️
Hot Cheeto’s mozzarella sticks – my grandkids will flip!
What is it with the Hot Cheetos and kids? They go crazy over them and I think they are awful. You will be grandma of the year if you make these. Lol
I didn’t make cheese sticks, so thank you for the recipe. They must taste delicious when crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
greetings
Thank you Ultra! ❤️
I love deep fried mozzarella, this sounds like a winner for me. I will definitely be saving this one.
They turned out excellent Carla. I froze them for 1 hour but next time I will freeze them at 2 hours. They turned out crispy on the outside and melted in the inside, just the way we love them, but I had hoped they would get a better golden brown color. It is so hard getting food to look perfect in the air fryer even though the food tastes perfect…lol
That is good to hear. I will have to try them the next time the kids come for dinner. I know they would love them.
i love cheese sticks. These looks so good and easy.
They turned out very good. Crispy on the outside and melted on the inside. Thank you Christy!
Gooey cheese. Crisp shell. I’ll be right over, Diane!😆
I’ll be waiting Linda! Lol
We love the taste of mozzarella cheese and have made these sticks a couple of times (they very nice as an appetizer or with soup) … ohh, I think we will have them tonight 😊.
I presume the Hot Cheetos ones are for your granddaughter – you must be one of the best grannies in the world!
You guess right! Thank you❤️
Better than what you can get at the grocery store!
Yes homemade always is better…lol Thank you!
Terrific! I do love cheese sticks!
Thanks we do too!
I love cheese sticks! I’m going to have to borrow my mom’s air fryer and make these.
You will love them Michelle!
I think I need to put an air fryer on my Christmas list!
I seriously hate frying food. Using the air fryer tastes like fried food without the grease and it still tastes great. I was gifted the Ninja Foodi and I love that it is 8 qt and has so many different functions but I use the air fryer function 95% of the time. I think you would love any air fryer Janet.
Oh man! I can see that you are lovin’ that air fryer. These look good, as your stuff always does.
I really do love it. I hope I’m not posting too many air fryer recipes for the people that don’t have one. Thanks JC!
Oh, I wish I was nibbling and dipping a few of these right now Diane. They look delicious!
Thank you Linda we loved them. Even the Hot Cheeto granddaughter…lol
Ha ha – she might try to drag the Hot Cheetos into the sauce and be like Emeril and kick it up a notch!
Clever!!!!
After vacillating back and forth for quite a while, I purchased an air fryer a couple of months ago. I love it! Like you, I was disappointed with the Instapot, used it a couple of times, and that was it.
The mozzarella sticks look delicious, but I think I would forgo the Hot Cheetos.
Hahaha you did notice there were only three? Guess who ate them….not me! I will be posting more air fryer recipes for sure! I’m glad I’m not the only one obsessed with the air fryer.
I like some things hot and spicy, but not mozzarella sticks…it just ain’t right. lol
What’s funny is she said they lost the heat but had the flavor. I can’t figure that one out…lol Still doesn’t change my mine, I don’t want any.
Me either!
Glad to see you’re finding a place for hot Cheetos 😀
Haha other than her stomach. Of course I make sure she has a fresh bag every weekend, she’s spoiled!
Grandmothers are the best (I miss mine) ♥
Neither one of my grandma’s were like me. I probably spent the night 2 times at one grandmas and 3-4 at the others my entire childhood. My grandkids have always stayed with us from Thursday night through Sunday night as my daughter is single and works 12 hour shifts in the hospital ICU. They lived with us full time a total of 5 months due to the virus. I love being a grandma.
My one grandmother lived with us when I was young, but her health wasn’t the best 🙁 I got to know my other grandmother as a teenager after she moved here from Greece, which was awesome. Your grandkids are very lucky 🙂
I’m the lucky one! Thanks❤️
🙂 ♥
Thanks! ❤️