Want a convenient snack or appetizer? Keep some of these easy to make low carb gluten free mozzarella sticks in your freezer for a quick bite any time.
Lately, my youngest daughter has been into eating out at Friendly’s restaurant.
Not only do they give her a huge mat for coloring, but they have an awesome kids menu.
I don’t keep a lot of sweets in the house, so I let the kids splurge when we go out to eat.
And, ice cream is my daughter’s favorite treat which is why the ice cream restaurant is her top restaurant right now.
The kids menu has mini mozzarella sticks as an option on the kid’s menu and that’s what my daughter prefers rather than fries.
Other than the breading, I think it’s a good choice. It’s certainly a better pick than the fries.
Since I’m also a big fan of the gooey cheese appetizers, I decided to make my own low carb gluten free mozzarella sticks recipe.
It took me a few tries to get it right. But, I believe I nailed it after the third try.
The problem I had in making these cheesy treats is that they kept melting when cooked.
I did freeze them for at least an hour first, but still ended up with a gooey cheese mess.
It was a conversation with one of my coworkers that finally led to solving the issue with how I was cooking the low carb mozzarella sticks.
Apparently, I needed to make sure the temperature of the oil was just right.
On my first try, I used my deep fryer. The first couple sticks browned up nicely quick, but the centers were cold.
The next few frozen sticks just melted in the oil.
After some thought, I figured the oil must have been too hot. So, I decided to try baking them in the oven for the next experiment.
I chose to bake the frozen low carb gluten free mozzarella sticks at 400°F for a few minutes on each side.
Although the cheese didn’t melt like in the oil, the outside did not get golden and crispy.
Then, thinking back to what my coworker said about oil temperature, I decided I would heat up my oil in a small pan on the stove.
I set my electric induction stove burner to medium high and grabbed my meat thermometer.
When the oil got hot, I dunked a frozen prepared mozzarella stick in. It sizzled nicely, but looked to be getting brown too quick.
So, I turned down the heat to the burner just a touch.
I threw a few more of the frozen low carb gluten free mozzarella sticks into the pan with the hot oil.
They were cooking nicely without any cheese oozing through.
I flipped each stick so that both sides got nice and golden brown.
And, to my surprise, none of the cheese melted through the low carb breading. Success!
Since the sticks were cooking nicely at the current oil temperature, I grabbed my trusty meat thermometer.
The temperature was about 395°F. Perfect!
The rest of the cooking went smooth. I cooked all of the gluten free mozzarella sticks in the 395°F oil with no cheese melting through.
And, the cheese was melty inside with a nice crisp golden outside.
So, if you’ve ever had issues with making your own homemade low carb mozzarella sticks, check the temperature of your oil.
If the oil gets too hot, it could result in the cheese turning into a melted gooey mess.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can make up a whole bunch in advance.
Just bread the cheese sticks and keep them in the freezer until you are ready to serve them.
The mozzarella sticks in the photos were frozen for over a day and came out beautiful going right from the freezer to the hot oil.
They make a nice convenient keto snack that you can make quickly any time you want a quick bite.
I love to serve these with bacon wrapped chicken tenders. Both are quick and easy finger foods that are low in carbs.
For more keto snack ideas, check out my low carb appetizers collection.
Low Carb Gluten Free Mozzarella Sticks Recipe
My 4 year old daughter helped me make this batch of low carb gluten free mozzarella sticks.
You can see her doing the breading part of the recipe in the video below:
Low Carb Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
- 6 pieces string cheese
- 1 large eggs beaten
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese the powdered kind in a can
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt coarse Kosher salt works best
Instructions
- Cut string cheese in half along the length.
- Beat 1 egg in small bowl. Set aside.
- Place almond flour, Parmesan cheese, coconut flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt in zipper sandwich bag. Shake bag to blend.
- Dip each piece of mozzarella into the beaten egg and then coat by shaking in the sandwich bag. Freeze for at least one hour.
- Heat oil in small frying pan to at least half inch high. Temperature of oil should be 400°F or slightly less to prevent melting the cheese. NOTE: I've had success air frying these at 400°F for about 5 minutes.
- Cook each coated piece of mozzarella in the hot oil until browned on all sides. Enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
About Lisa
Lisa has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and find new ways to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites! Her recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Lisa lives in Southeastern Connecticut. Connect with her and Low Carb Yum at:
Janice says
What type of oil did you use?
Lisa MarcAurele says
I use either a little coconut oil or avocado oil. And lately, I just use a little coconut oil in the air fryer.
Ruthann says
Curious if anyone has attempted these in an air fryer?
Lisa MarcAurele says
I have and it works well and it only takes like 6 minutes.
Shae says
Hey I am making these tonight and I’m just curious how you would calculate the macros with all the excess flour and what not so I can calculate mine with the ingredients I used! I can’t wait to try them thank you for the recipe!
Lisa MarcAurele says
You can try putting in different amounts into a recipe calculator like the one at MyFitnessPal.com
Sarah N says
I am guessing these are Keto friendly? I’m new to the Keto plan. Still learning.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Yes! These are very low carb and perfect for keto.
Tim Wasson says
Ok, these were AMAZING. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease 4 years ago (in my early 30’s), and I have not found a store bought mozzarell stick I like. Then someone posted the link to this article on Facebook. Oh my GOODNESS. They are really amazing. I did have some blowout with the cheese, but that may have had to do with the fact that I used reduced fat string cheese. I also had some of the breading left over and I had some thawed chicken breasts, so I breaded them up and made some KILLER GF chicken nuggets! Way better than the store-bought ones. Now I think I need to get an air fryer to do all of these because I’m having on to this recipe FOREVER. Thank you so much for this, you have no idea.
Lisa MarcAurele says
Good to know this breading works well for chicken nuggets too. A little blowout of the cheese is normal. I just remove them from the heat before too much cheese oozes out.
Tim Wasson says
Yeah, I just wasn’t prepared for how fast they’d cook. I’ll be ready next time. And yeah, I dusted the nuggets with some of the coconut flour before going into the egg, but everything else was the same.
Jennifer says
I think I’ll try these, but add some crushed pork rind crumbs to this. Then go with the air fryer
Lisa MarcAurele says
I’ve made them in the air fryer and they do work out well.
Rick says
Curious why the pork rinds?
Chelsea says
I have no idea how this tastes good or comes out good for anyone. This came out horrible. I did it in the air fryer. The breading looks nothing even close to mozzarella sticks. I follow the instructions exactly. Don’t even get me started on the taste 🤢
Lisa says
I’ve made these in the air fryer without issue. Are you coating well with egg then covering well with the flour/cheese mix?
Tim Wasson says
You’re not doing it right then.
Maria says
Do you leave the mozzarella sticks in the bag and put them right in the freezer or do you take out and freeze on parchment paper?
Lisa says
I freeze them on a tray or baking pan so the coating doesn’t come off and then place in a bag.
Carl says
I make a huge bag of them and keep them in the freezer. Great quick snack. I cook mine in a Air Fryer and you cut out the oil this way and they even taste better.
Ebonie says
Hello. I just made these. 400 degrees in my air fryer for 5 minutes. They ended up oozing. Is the breading supposed to crisp up? Mine didn’t. The coating taste great but what can I do to make them look like yours? (I also put them in the freezer a little over an hour)
Lisa says
The key is to have them well frozen. You may not have had them in the freezer long enough. When I did them in the air fryer, they did ooze a bit, but not a lot.
Samantha says
Hi! Do these freeze for later use?
Lisa says
Yes. You can make them and keep them in the freezer to cook later.
Dalia says
Can I make this without using coconut flour?
Lisa says
You can try subbing in something else like a little almond flour.
Jenny says
Did you post the recipe for the marinara dipping sauce? I didn’t catch it…
Lisa says
It’s on the post at https://lowcarbyum.com/perfect-marinara-sauce/
Gigi says
Could you bake these instead of frying them like regular cheese sticks?
Lisa says
You can, but you need to watch them as the cheese can ooze out quickly. I’ve had success making them in the air fryer, though.
Cake says
Could I bake these in the oven instead of frying?
Also I wouldn’t be using the coconut flour. I couldn’t find it in the market.
Lisa says
You can, but you have to keep a good eye on them as the cheese can easily melt in the oven. I find the quick fry method works and tastes much better. I have used an air fryer which is similar to a convection oven with good results.
Patricia merica says
Can u use olive oil for frying?
Lisa says
It’s not the best as it has a lower smoke point. It’s better to use one that smokes at a higher temperature.
Julia says
Is there a specific reason for the coconut flour? Would the recipe work without it? I have all the ingredients on hand except for that one.
Lisa says
You can probably replace it with almond flour. I just find that the breading holds better with a little bit of coconut flour.
Erin says
I wondered the same thing. I have everything else. Gonna give it a shot. Did you?
Patty says
Has anyone tried this recipe in an air fryer? If so, how did they come out?
Lisa says
I need to get an air fryer to test it out. I don’t have one.
Wendy says
You say string cheese? Is that mozzarella? Not sure I’ve seen that type of mozzarella iny local store (Qld Australia here)
Lisa says
It’s a mozzarella cheese stick. They call it string cheese here because it’s typically eaten by pulling apart strands like string.
Naomi Fron says
Would Coconut oil work, it is supposed to be used for higher temperatures? Can’t wait to try these
Lisa says
The smoke point for coconut oil is like 350°F so I wouldn’t use it.
Yvonne says
What kind of oil did you use?
Lisa says
I used avocado oil. It’s smoke point is 520°F. I maintained the temperature at 400°F and filter the oil to reuse for frying.
Jess says
How about an avocado/sunflower mixture?
Lisa says
For the oil? Any oil is okay but I avoid seed oils.