‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Fried Mozzarella Recipe Is ‘So Addictive’

Ree Drummond makes an easy fried mozzarella recipe that uses a quick shortcut ingredient to save time. The Pioneer Woman star also has a more traditional mozzarella stick recipe if you’re looking for a crispier appetizer.

Ree Drummond makes a shortcut fried mozzarella recipe

Drummond made her fried mozzarella recipe on an episode of The Pioneer Woman dedicated to three-ingredient dishes. “The next one I’m sharing is a finger food that is so addictive, there’s no way you’ll be able to stop at just one,” she said.

“Everyone loves fried mozzarella sticks. I mean it. Every single person I know,” Drummond continued.

“I’m going to show you how to make fried mozzarella using egg roll wrappers,” she added. “It saves so much mess, definitely saves time, and it allowed me to turn fried mozzarella into a three-ingredient recipe.”

How to make Ree Drummond’s fried mozzarella sticks

Drummond first laid out an egg roll wrapper and used her finger to paint water along the edges to seal the wrapper.

She placed string cheese diagonally on one corner and rolled the egg roll wrapper around the cheese. At the halfway point, she tucked the edges in and continued to wrap the cheese..

Drummond fried the appetizer for one and a half minutes in oil then turned the sticks to fry the other side and removed them to a paper towel to drain. “I cannot get over how deliciously crispy these are,” she said. “They’re so beautiful and such a cinch.”

The Pioneer Woman star served the appetizer with warm sauce. “Jarred marinara is one of my favorite shortcut ingredients,” she said. I use it all the time.”

Drummond added, “It pretty much doesn’t get any better than this in the appetizer realm.”

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.

Drummond makes restaurant-style fried mozzarella sticks

For a more traditional option, Drummond has that covered too. She wrote about her recipe for fried mozzarella sticks in a blog post on The Pioneer Woman website.

“Okay, okay. Fine. Mozzarella sticks, American chain restaurant, yum, good, everyone loves them, yada yada yada,” she wrote.

Drummond continued, “Please listen. You haven’t tried fried mozzarella sticks until you’ve made them yourself at home, and you haven’t tried fried mozzarella sticks until you’ve made these fried mozzarella sticks. Marlboro Man loves American chain restaurant mozzarella sticks (he’s such an easy date)…”

The Food Network host added, “And last night he proclaimed these the best he’s ever eaten. Then he gave me the key to his heart. Then he said he’d reclaim the key if I didn’t make these daily for the rest of his life. Awww, I kid. He said weekly!”

Drummond made garlic and herb mozzarella sticks on an episode of The Pioneer Woman. She cut mozzarella string cheese in half, coated each one in flour, dipped it into egg, then coated it again with flour and put it back in the egg. “Normally I would use panko crumbs or regular seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, but I am using garlic herb pita chips,” she explained. “And I ground them up fine, so they look like breadcrumbs.”

Once all of the cheesesticks were coated, she shared her secret for the best results. “You want to stick them in the freezer first,” she said. “You just need to stick them in there for about 15 minutes or so, and it’ll just kind of give you a little bit more wiggle room as you’re frying them before the mozzarella starts to bust out of the coating.”

She fried the breaded cheese in hot oil until they were golden brown.