Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks

You got it. We’re showing you how to make ooey gooey melty mozzarella sticks in the air fryer. You’re gonna love it and your family will too.

If there is a more perfect comfort food than cheese surrounded by a crunchy coating and dipped into marinara sauce, we haven’t found it yet! Mozzarella sticks may seem like a really complicated food to make at home, but they are surprisingly easy, especially when you make them in the air fryer. Don’t have one yet? Check this one out.

Tips For Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks

The main issue when making mozzarella sticks at home is that the cheese oozes out of the stick when you bake them. We tested many different methods, and found a few ways to solve this problem. Because obviously you want your cheese to stay INSIDE the mozzarella stick.

• Double Dip. After you coat the sticks in egg wash and bread crumbs you are going to repeat the process again! This adds a thicker layer of breading, which helps keep the cheese inside. (And it’s also more breading…yum.) As long as you’re gentle, most of the breadcrumbs should stay when you run it through the egg wash again.
• Freeze. If you’re short on time, you may be tempted to skip this step but DON’T. You’ve got to freeze your mozzarella sticks before you cook them in the air fryer. Freezing the mozzarella sticks helps keep the cheese solid when you start cooking it so that it doesn’t heat up too fast and ooze out of the breading.
• Coat with cooking spray. This is the last step that really helps make sure the cheese stays inside. The cooking spray also helps the breading get golden brown and crunchy. Don’t spray the sticks while they are in the air fryer, spray them outside of the fryer and then place them in the basket. (This is important because cooking spray adds a grime layer that is impossible to wash off.)

Now go whip up a batch or two of these Mozzarella Sticks for an afternoon snack. Or, if you want to serve them with dinner, make some Chicken Tenders in your air fryer first and have a kid (and adult) favorite meal tonight. No one will complain. We promise.

Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks

Contributor: Emily Dingmann

You got it. We’re showing you how to make ooey gooey melty mozzarella sticks in the air fryer. You’re gonna love it and your family will too.

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Emily Dingmann
• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 7 minutes
• Total Time: 47 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Air Fryer
• Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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• 1 egg
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• ¼ tsp. seasoning salt
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• 6 mozzarella sticks
• Cooking spray

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Instructions

1. Whisk egg in shallow bowl or plate. Stir together bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, seasoning salt and garlic powder in an additional shallow bowl or plate.
2. Cut mozzarella sticks in half, so that each stick makes two shorter sticks. Dip cheese into egg wash and then roll in bread crumb mixture, gently coating the entire cheese stick, including the ends. Repeat by carefully placing the cheese stick back into the egg wash, and then gently coat with breadcrumb mixture. Place on a smaller plate or platter that you can put in the freezer and repeat with remaining ingredients. Freeze mozzarella sticks for at least 30 minutes.
3. Set air fryer to 390°F and preheat air fryer for a few minutes and spray mozzarella sticks with cooking spray on all sides, coating well. Note: do NOT spray the cooking spray in the air fryer!
4. Place mozzarella sticks into air fryer, spreading them out, being careful not to crowd the basket. Split into separate batches if you need to. Cook at 390°F for 4 minutes, gently flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Serve with marinara sauce.

This post originally appeared in December 2018 and was revised and republished in June 2020.