Mozzarella sticks are pretty much the perfect dunkin’ snack. Whenever you’ve got some extra marinara sauce taking up space in your fridge, cook up some of these guys and dunk away!
When it came time for the Freezer Meal Frenzy crew to check out Trader Joe’s Breaded Mozzarella Cheese Sticks, we actually didn’t have any sauce in the kitchen, so we specifically ran out to the local convenience store to grab some. After all, dry mozzarella sticks would be criminal!
These are simple enough to cook. Simply preheat your oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit, throw some sticks on a cookie sheet, and then pop them in for nine to ten minutes. They come out sizzling!
Now, we don’t have a problem with a little sizzle — in fact, mozzarella sticks should sizzle — but we’re less excited about how these tend to explode while they’re in the oven. Cheese ends up oozing all over the place, making quite a mess on the pan. These are definitely not among the prettier items we’ve reviewed.
But looks don’t matter much when it comes to finger food, and these mozzarella sticks taste pretty good. Of course, we do have one complaint about the flavor — these have a weird aftertaste. It’s not hugely potent, but it does linger a bit after you’re done eating one of these. We think it comes from the garlic and the onion powder, which are added to the breading.
We dipped our sticks in a traditional marinara sauce, but we think that a spicier sauce might actually complement that onion-y aftertaste better than marinara.
As far as texture, the cheese is nice and stretchy, and the outer shell of breading has a little bit of a crisp to it. So these have the exact texture you should expect from a bag of mozzarella sticks.
One serving size, according to the bag, is two sticks, and there should be about nine servings per bag. (Our bag had 19 sticks in it.) Now, we just don’t find that to be the slightest bit reasonable. Two sticks? Really? We think you’ll probably end up eating at least four or five in a sitting. Of course, that means the 190 calories (100 from fat) per serving is a ridiculous number. When you eat four or five sticks, those calories really start to pile on. This is no diet-friendly snack food.
Trader Joe’s Breaded Mozzarella Cheese Sticks are pretty good, though the aftertaste is a bit weird. Of course, if you choose a great, rich sauce to dunk these in, that aftertaste might not even matter.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in these Trader Joe’s mozzarella sticks, check out our package scans below.
First time and last time, yuck. Cheese thick and tastes like glue