These Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks are a delicious appetizer for any event, party, or preparation for the Super Bowl. You get gooey melted cheese wrapped in crispy salty bacon that you can pull apart or dip into your favorite sauce.
Pan-frying has come under fire in recent years, but this cooking method often produces the tastiest and crispiest results! You just have to try this Southern Fried Chicken Recipe, Fried Raviolis, and this Cannoli Recipe to understand what I’m saying. Even better, these bacon-wrapped Mozzarella sticks are keto-friendly – perfect for entertaining while sticking to a low-carb diet!
These bacon-wrapped string cheese snacks are easy to make with minimal ingredients or recipe steps. Add them to a platter of party finger foods such as Air Fryer Pizza Bites, Mozzarella Cheese Stuffed Meatballs, and Air fryer Chipotle Chicken Wings to keep the guests satisfied!
Why You’ll Love Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks
- Bacon-wrapped mozzarella sticks are easy appetizers with just three ingredients!
- They make the perfect keto-friendly snack and finger food, high in fat and low in carbs!
- The gooey mozzarella cheese wrapped in crispy fried bacon provides a mouth-watering contrast that will have you coming back for more!
What Ingredients do I Need for Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks?
- Bacon – You’ll need one slice of bacon per mozzarella stick. Raw or pre-cooked bacon can be used, but I recommend regular-cut bacon and not thick-cut so the bacon crisps well.
- Mozzarella sticks – Use whole milk or low-moisture mozzarella sticks.
- Cooking oil – Vegetable oil or canola oil works well in this recipe.
PRO TIP: The oil will take some time to heat to the correct temperature. I suggest you use an instant-read thermometer or a candy thermometer to ensure the oil is heated to the correct temperature. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the cheese will ooze out of the bacon completely before the bacon is cooked completely.
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Appetizers
PREP: Unwrap the Mozzarella sticks from their packaged wrappings and assemble the snacks by wrapping one slice of bacon around each Mozzarella cheese stick and securing the bacon on either end with a toothpick. The bacon must cover the entire Mozzarella cheese stick so that the gooey cheese doesn’t ooze out while this appetizer fries in the oil. Repeat this process for all twelve Mozzarella cheese sticks and then transfer these bacon-wrapped Mozzarella sticks to the freezer for at least 30 minutes to harden.
COOK: Heat a pan with cooking oil (about 2 inches deep) over medium-high heat. Add a few bacon wrapped Mozzarella sticks at a time and cook for a couple of minutes, flipping them and continuing to cook until they are crispy on the outside. Remove the fried bacon wrapped Mozzarella sticks with a strainer and place them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Continue to cook the rest of the bacon wrapped Mozzarella sticks and serve as is or alongside marinara sauce.
- While chilling the wrapped cheese sticks is more of an optional step, I do highly recommend taking the extra time to do so, as it seems to make quite a difference in preserving the cheese while the bacon cooks. Warmer cheese sticks tend to ooze more and will have a floppier structure when transferred out of the oil.
- Place your freshly cooked Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil before transferring them to a serving plate.
- Serve these Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks as is or beside some of your favorite dipping sauces such as BBQ sauce!
Fun Fact
Many don’t realize that Mozzarella is lower in fat and sodium than many other types of cheese, which makes it ideal for a healthy snack option or as a topping to pizzas and pasta dishes.
Variations
- One of the ways that you vary this recipe is by frying these bacon wrapped mozzarella sticks in an air fryer instead of the traditional pan-frying method. To do so, ensure that the mozzarella sticks are completely wrapped so that no area of the cheese sticks out, and cook at 380F for 10 minutes. Covering the cheese sticks will prevent melted cheese from oozing out.
- Use Pepper Jack Cheese Sticks instead of the Mozzarella cheese pieces.
While I haven’t specified whether to use raw bacon or precooked bacon, you could use either of these for making your mozzarella sticks.
Raw bacon will be easier to wrap around the cheese tightly and tends to stay in place better, while you’ll get a slightly looser wrap by using precooked bacon. With that said, the directions instruct you to secure the bacon with toothpicks, so I don’t see why you can’t use precooked bacon if you wish.
I recommend that you use regular-cut bacon and not thick-cut bacon. The thick-cut bacon will take longer to cook through and crisp up, and you usually get fewer pieces of thick-cut bacon in a package compared to the regular-cut.
Yes! This delicious appetizer is appropriate for those following a low-carb or keto diet since it contains zero carbohydrates and is given the green light for foods permitted on the keto diet. Of course, moderation is key with anything, so while these Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks are low in carbs, it’s not an invitation to eat an entire batch in one sitting by yourself (even though super tempting!).
These Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days, although I think they taste the best when served immediately after frying! They can also be reheated on a baking sheet in the oven.
More Appetizers To Get The Party Started!
Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon typically about 12 slices
- 12 Mozzarella sticks whole milk or low-moisture
- cooking oil
Instructions
- Unwrap mozzarella sticks from their individual wrappers.
- Use one piece of bacon for each mozzarella stick. Wrap one end of the bacon over one end of the cheese stick. Use a toothpick to secure the bacon in place, pushing the toothpick straight through the bacon and into the center of the cheese.
- Wrap the bacon around the cheese stick, overlapping each layer slightly until the bacon can be folded over the opposite end. Secure with another toothpick. The cheese stick should be completely covered by the piece of bacon. Set aside.
- Continue wrapping all of the cheese sticks with bacon.
- Place the bacon-wrapped cheese sticks in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- Fill a skillet with 2” of cooking oil (vegetable oil) and heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 350°F.
- Remove several cheese sticks from the freezer at a time, adding them directly to the heated oil.
- Fry, flipping after a few minutes, until the bacon is cooked to desired crispness.
- Use a strainer to remove the fried mozzarella strip from the oil and place on paper towels or paper bags to absorb the extra oil.
- Continue cooking the cheese sticks in batches until done.
- Remove toothpicks before serving.
Nutrition
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