Recipe for Crispy Marinated Mozzarella at Life's Ambrosia

When my sister came over for pizza the other night I also attempted to make some fried mozzarella. I say attempted because the first go around pretty much failed. Not one to give up on the quest to find the perfect fried cheese, I decided to give these little devils a shot again last night and I am happy to say things worked out beautifully. First, I marinated sliced mozzarella in a mixture of olive oil, dried basil and fresh garlic. Next, I dipped each slice in flour, then egg and finally a panko/dry bread crumb mixture and fried until golden brown. The result was crunchy, melty, garlicky goodness.

When I first attempted these, I dipped the marinated mozzarella in egg and then in panko. The breading didn’t really stick so the mozzarella kind of oozed everywhere. It tasted wonderful, but did not look that appetizing. I think the panko just wasn’t heavy enough to coat the mozzarella by itself. The addition of the flour and the plain dry breadcrumbs in this recipe really helped create the crunchy crust I was looking for.

Serves 4

You will need:

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
pinch kosher salt
8 (1/4 inch) thick mozzarella slices
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
oil for frying

In a bowl combine, olive oil, garlic, basil and kosher salt.
Lay mozzarella slices on a plate and pour garlic mixture over the top. Turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
The breading process is three step. In one bowl place flour, in a second bowl place egg, in the the third bowl combine the panko and plain dry bread crumbs.
Heat about 1 inch of oil in a pan over medium heat.
Dip each piece of mozzarella in the flour, then egg and finally press into the bread crumbs to coat completely.
Drop a few bread crumbs into the oil, if they sizzle, it is hot enough. Fry breaded mozzarella for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve immediately.

So Ryan doesn’t like fried mozzarella (gasp!) I know its hard to believe. Whenever we go out and I see mozzarella sticks or fried mozzarella on the menu, I put on my cutest face and suggest it for an appetizer and it never works. But these were so good that last night, I had to slap his hand away as he reached for mine. Don’t mess with a girl and her fried cheese! :)

Like this recipe? Recommend it to your friends!

Responses to "Crispy Marinated Mozzarella"

“
Wow! This really looks incredible. I am glad you did not give up after the first attempt.
”

- Risa

“
This Looks awesome! I love your recipes!
”

- Jamie

“
WOW!! Amazing & awesome!
”

- Lucy

“
OMG WANT! If there’s anything I love more than cheese, it’s fried cheese :)
”

- Theresa

“
I love the idea of marinading first……great idea!! Mozzarella does not have too much flavor of its own!! Bookmarked!!!
”

- nina

“
Fried cheese? Works for me! I agree, awesome.
”

- Mrs. L

“
We’re talking deep-fried cheese here… how could it not be perfect?! I love that you’ve marinated it, to take this away from pub-food and into classy backyard-party appy :)
”

- Marta

“
Talk about sophisticated mozzarella sticks! This sounds so delicious.
”

- Hillary

“
can’t wait to try this! Can you tell me if you used fresh mozzarella or just the good old standard Kraft…
”

- sara

“
I hope you enjoy it sara! While I think the kraft ball of mozzarella would work fine for this, I used fresh vacuum packed mozzarella. I would avoid the fresh mozzarella in water, it would be too wet for this. Hope this helps!
”

- Deseree

“
Garlicy fried mozzarella sounds great!
”

- Kevin

“
this does not work. i am so sorry i tried this recipe. what was i thinking??? you can’t fry mozzarella without it oozing and melting in hot oil. bad idea, a total waste of time and money.
”

- Gianna Chachere

“
Gianna- I am sorry to hear that you did not have luck with this recipe. Despite your problem, you can in fact fry mozzarella without it oozing and melting in hot oil. As with all of my recipes the picture above is the mozzarella just before we ate it and as you can see it worked. A few things could have caused the problem: 1. the oil wasn’t hot enough. 2. It is important not to overcrowd the pan or it will reduce the heat of the oil. 3. the mozzarella weren’t completely breaded allowing some of the oil to get into the cheese. I hope this helps!
”

- Deseree

“
Yummy! I can’t wait to try, but what’s Panko?
”

- Mary

“
Mary- Panko are Japanese bread crumbs. You can find them in the Asian section of your local super market. Hope this helps!
”

- Deseree

“
Holy Cow (or chicken in this case!)!!! That was amazing! I used veg oil cuz I didn’t have olive and I didn’t soak it for near that long, and I added onion and garlic powders, as well as salt, pepper, and parsley to the flour, but we REALLY liked this recipe! We deep fried chicken breast strips with it, as well as provolone sticks. I would really like to try onion next time too! I haven’t had much luck with crispy breading in the past, but this came out fantastic!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
”

- Jason