Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks are a delicious appetizer for your next Italian night. These cheesy bites are perfect to make ahead of time and can be Air Fried in only a few minutes when you are ready to eat.
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🔑 Key to Success #1 – Slice Your Own Mozzarella
If you absolutely must, you can use prepackaged mozzarella cheese sticks but I think the blocks of mozzarella cheese are much more delicious.
Somehow, it seems fresher
To cut a block of mozzarella cheese, use a sharp knife like this one that has a flat blade.
One benefit of this blade style is that even sticky foods like cheese will not stick to it.
Cut the block into 8 even pieces, about 1/2-inch thick. Then cut each piece in half again on the broad side.
🔑 Key to Success #2 – Double Dip Them
To cook Mozzarella Sticks in the Air Fryer, it’s important to make sure the cheese is completely covered.
First, dip the mozzarella into flour, coating it well. Then dip into the egg mixture.
Finally, press the mozzarella stick into the bread crumbs, making sure the cheese is completely coated with the bread crumbs.
I’ve found that starting with flour is a really good way to get the rest of the coating to stick.
I also tried dipping with eggs – bread crumbs – egg – bread crumbs, but I lost a lot of the bread crumbs during the second egg dip.
🔑 Key to Success #3 – Freeze Before (Air) Frying
It’s very important to freeze the Mozzarella Sticks before you cook them in the Air Fryer.
If you don’t freeze them, a lot of the cheese will leak out into the base of the Air Fryer before the coating gets crispy.
You can use any freezer-safe tray to freeze your Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks.
A lot of times I use my cutting board when I’m flash-freezing something.
I have a side-by-side fridge and freezer and a lot of my baking sheets will not fit in the freezer.
The main thing is to freeze the Mozzarella Sticks so that they are not touching one another.
It would be a good idea to set them on waxed paper or parchment paper before freezing so that they don’t stick to the tray.
These Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks turned out great. Everyone loved them. Here are some wonderful Italian options you could serve with these Mozzarella Sticks.
- Lasagna (this can be made ahead!)
- Baked Ziti
- Sausage Alfredo with Penne Pasta
- Olive Garden Breadsticks
📌 Get the Printable Recipe for Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks
Save this Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks recipe to your favorite Air Fryer board or your Easy Apps board.
Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
- 16 oz mozzarella cheese
- 4 eggs beaten
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- salt
Instructions
- Slice block of mozzarella cheese into 16 even cheese sticks.
- In first bowl, beat 4 eggs and season with salt. In second bowl, put flour. In third bowl, put panko bread crumbs and Italian seasoning.
- Dip each mozzarella stick in flour then egg then bread crumbs. Make sure mozzarella sticks are fully covered with bread crumbs.
- Place coated mozzarella sticks on freezer-safe pan or cutting board then freeze for 2+ hours until completely frozen.
- Preheat Air Fryer at 400 degrees F. In batches, place frozen mozzarella sticks into greased Air Fryer basket. Set timer for 3 minutes. Use spatula to flip mozzarella sticks and cook another 2-3 minutes until crispy.
Notes
Nutrition
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