Cheese wrapped in bacon is the ultimate party food and will disappear as quickly as you can fry it up, guaranteed.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time5 minutesmins
Chill Time30 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Bacon-Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks Recipe
Servings: 12mozzarella sticks
Calories: 238kcal
Ingredients
12whole milk mozzarella sticks or low-moisture mozzarella sticks
1poundbacontypically about 12 slices
cooking oilnot pictured
Instructions
Unwrap mozzarella sticks from their 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. A piece of bacon should completely cover the cheese stick. 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 inches of cooking oil (vegetable oil) and heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 350°F.
Remove several cheese sticks from the freezer and add 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.
Notes
Use regular-cut bacon as thick-cut bacon will take too long to cook and also has fewer pieces per pound in the package.
Chilling the wrapped cheese sticks isn’t completely necessary, but it seems to make a difference in preserving the cheese stick while the bacon cooks. Warmer cheese sticks seem to ooze more and be floppier when transferring them out of the oil.
The oil takes some time to heat (about 15 minutes). 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 become too soft and will ooze out of the bacon completely before the bacon is cooked all the way.