Deep-fried mozzarella sticks are always great... but not low carb. These tasty keto mozzarella sticks are easy to make and super satisfying!
Traditional mozzarella sticks are a super popular appetizer in North America - Deep fried, breaded cheese sticks, with a melty cheese interior.
They’re almost a perfect appetizer, especially as a game day thing... except for those bread crumbs, which is the only thing to make it pretty high carb.
Always on a quest for keto appetizers, I created this keto mozzarella sticks recipe. It might just be the perfect keto appetizer!
These keto mozzarella cheese sticks work up quickly and easily, and can be made ahead.
As they have to be frozen before frying anyway (It prevents melted cheese from leaking out when cooking), you can make these days - or weeks - before you need them.
They, just fire up the deep fryer and pop them in, as needed. In minutes, you’ll have glorious melted cheese encased in a tasty crust. Like I said... possibly the perfect low carb appetizer!
These easy keto mozzarella sticks work out to less than 4 grams of net carbs per serving (about 5 cheese sticks), perfect for any low-carb diet!
This has quickly become one of our favorite recipes, and my husband isn’t even on a keto diet!
Keto, Gluten Free Mozzarella Sticks Ingredients
This low carb recipe is made up of fairly simple ingredients, but they’re important ones - each serves a purpose. For best results, I recommend not substituting any of the base ingredients.
The Cheese
You can use a block of pizza mozzarella cheese for this recipe if you like, but I prefer to use fresh mozzarella string cheese for the gooey cheese filling.
It makes it super easy to portion out - 1 stick, cut in half, makes 2 perfectly sized cheese sticks.
The Crispy Coating
The crunchy coating is structurally really important to this recipe.
I use Unflavoured Whey Protein Isolate, Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese (Think the shelf stable stuff in a shaker bottle, NOT fresh Parmesan cheese), and Super Fine Almond Flour.
I season this mixture with Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, salt, and Ground Black Pepper.
Two layers of this coating are held together by a dunk in whipped eggs - 2 large ones.
Note: I don’t use pork rinds or coconut flour, as I don’t like what they do for stability and/or texture.
The Oil
If you’re deep frying this - I HIGHLY recommend it - you’ll want to use vegetable, canola, or sunflower oil.
These are all great oils for frying - neutral flavours, high smoke point, low cost.
Olive oil is NOT appropriate for deep frying, but can be used as a spray if you’re baking or air frying these (more on that in a bit).
Coconut oil and avocado oil also aren’t great for deep frying, but work well as sprays for baking and use in the air fryer.
Equipment for this Mozzarella Stick Recipe
You will need:
- Cutting board and knife
- Baking sheet and parchment paper
- Deep fryer or a deep, heavy bottomed pot or frying pan
How to Make The Best Keto Mozzarella Sticks
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here’s the pictorial walkthrough, and additional tips.
Cut the cheese sticks in half, creating 2 shorter, stubby sticks. Line one large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, except for the frying oil.
Note: A shallow bowl works best for this second bowl!
Roll the cheese sticks in the dry mix to coat, shaking off excess. At this stage, you can either do them one at a time, or dump a few in, roll around, and shake off individually.
As you shake off excess breading, place the coated cheese sticks on the prepared cookie sheet.
Once all cheese sticks have been coated in the powder:
Dip a piece of cheese in the egg mixture, swirling to fully coat it. Remove it, allowing excess egg wash to fully drip off. I like to use a toothpick for this step.
Once the beaten egg has dripped off, place the cheese stick in the almond flour mixture / Parmesan mixture. Remove the toothpick, cover with coating, roll around and squeeze to coat. Shake off excess, transfer back to the baking sheet.
Repeat with all remaining cheese sticks.
If you’d like to use up the remaining coating, you can double dip some of your cheese sticks - first egg, drain well, then breading again - though this double coating is definitely optional.
Once all cheese sticks are coated, transfer the pan of coated cheese sticks to the freezer for at least 2 hours.
Note: If you’re not cooking them soon, transfer frozen keto cheese sticks to an airtight container - or freezer bag - and return to the freezer for future use.
Once you’re ready to cook them
Pour oil into your deep fryer or a heavy bottomed pan - you’ll want at least enough oil to be about 2 deep.
Heat oil to 365 F.
If you’re doing this on a stovetop, I like to heat it over medium-high heat until it starts approaching the right temperature. Then I turn it down to medium heat - I’m impatient like that!
Once oil temperature has reached 365 F, gently and carefully transfer a few frozen cheese sticks to the pot of hot oil. Don’t overwhelm the pot, there should be plenty of space between each.
Also, be sure to gently knock off any excess coating that hasn’t adhered to the cheese stick. This will keep your oil as clean as possible!
Allow to deep fry for 2 minutes, or until nicely golden brown.
Transfer fried mozzarella sticks to a plate lined with paper towel, to absorb the excess oil.
Serve hot, with dipping sauces such as low carb marinara sauce (I recommend my Keto Marinara Sauce), or ranch dressing.
More Tips for Homemade Keto Mozzarella Sticks
Freezing the Mozzarella Sticks
Freezing the mozzarella sticks before frying is absolutely necessary, if you want to prevent the cheese sticks from leaking or bursting.
It chills the cheese and gives the outer crust time to cook and firm up, before the cheese warms and melts.
For this reason, you should keep them frozen right up until the oil is heated and ready to go, for the best results.
Alternate Cooking Methods
Not into deep frying? No worries, you can oven bake or air fry these low carb cheese sticks!
For Oven Baked Low-carb Mozzarella Sticks
:
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Spray the frozen mozzarella sticks all over with cooking spray.
Bake for about 10 minutes, flipping each after 5 minutes.
While you want them to crisp up, don’t overcook or they could leak. (Baking in general is more susceptible to leaking, as it doesn’t quick-cook the outside like deep rfying does!)
For Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks
Spray frozen low carb mozzarella sticks all over with cooking spray.
Place in the air fryer basket, leaving room between each.
Cook at 400F for 10-12 minutes, flipping each after 5 minutes.
A Note on the Stated Nutritional Information
The nutritional information - particularly for the carbs -reads a bit higher than it should, as it is for the entire amount of ingredients used, even though you will have a fair amount of breading mixture left over.
As well, the fat content reads lower than it should, as the software is unable to estimate the amount of oil absorbed in the cooking process. (Which will also vary wildy based on several variables!)
More Keto Finger Foods
Looking for more low carb finger foods to serve at your next party, or bring to a potluck? Here are a few more ideas for you!
Armadillo Eggs
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers
Mojito Fruit Dip with Berry Skewers
Greek Salad Skewers
Muffaletta Skewers
Pumpkin Fat Bombs
Mushroom Turnovers
Pepperoni Chips
Potstickers
Sauerkraut Buns
Smoked Salmon Canapes
Stuffed Grape Leaves
Antipasto Skewers
Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
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Keto Mozzarella Sticks
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Deep Fryer
Ingredients
- 16 Cheese strings 16 pieces, 340 grams
- 2 Large eggs
- ½ cup Unflavoured Whey Protein Isolate
- ⅓ cup Parmesan finely grated The canned kind, not fresh Parmesan!
- ¼ cup Almond flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
- Oil for frying - canola vegetable, or sunflower.
Instructions
- Cut the cheese sticks in half, creating 2 shorter, stubby sticks. Line one large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, except for the frying oil.
- Roll the cheese sticks in the dry mix to coat, shaking off excess. At this stage, you can either do them one at a time, or dump a few in, roll around, and shake off individually.
- As you shake off excess breading, place the coated cheese sticks on the prepared baking sheet.
- Once all cheese sticks have been coated in the powder:
- Dip a cheese stick in the egg, swirling to fully coat it. Remove it, allowing excess egg to fully drip off. I like to use a toothpick for this step.
- Once the egg has dripped off, place the cheese stick in the powdered mix. Remove the toothpick, cover with coating, roll around and squeeze to coat. Shake off excess, transfer back to the baking sheet.
- Repeat with all remaining cheese sticks.
- If you’d like to use up the remaining coating, you can double dip some of your cheese sticks - first egg, drain well, then breading again - though this is definitely optional.
- Once all cheese sticks are coated, transfer the pan to the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Once you’re ready to cook them:
- Pour oil into your deep fryer or a heavy bottomed pan - you’ll want at least 2" of oil.
- Heat oil to 365 F.
- Once oil has come to temperature, gently and carefully transfer a few frozen cheese sticks to the pot. Don’t overwhelm the pot, there should be plenty of space between each.
- Also, be sure to gently knock off any excess coating that hasn’t adhered to the cheese stick. This will keep your oil as clean as possible!
- Allow to deep fry for 2 minutes, or until nicely golden brown.
- Transfer fried mozzarella sticks to a plate lined with paper towels, to absorb the excess oil.
- Serve hot, with keto marinara sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
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