Hot Nashville Cheese Sticks (Print Version)
# Ingredients:
→ Main Components
01 -
Chunk mozzarella (1 pound, sliced into 3x2 inch chunks)
02 -
Whole egg (1)
03 -
Cold water (1 tablespoon)
04 -
Cooking oil (enough to fry with)
→ Crunchy Coating Blend
05 -
Fine breadcrumbs (2 cups)
06 -
Powdered garlic (1 teaspoon)
07 -
Powdered onion (1 teaspoon)
08 -
Oregano flakes (1 teaspoon)
09 -
Ground pepper (1 teaspoon)
10 -
Table salt (½ teaspoon)
→ Spicy Nashville Topping
11 -
Melted unsalted butter (½ cup)
12 -
Ground cayenne (1 tablespoon)
13 -
Dark brown sugar (1 tablespoon)
14 -
Smoky paprika (1 teaspoon)
15 -
Crushed or powdered garlic (1 teaspoon)
16 -
Fine salt (1 teaspoon)
17 -
Cracked pepper (1 teaspoon)
18 -
Runny honey (1 teaspoon, add for extra sweetness if wanted)
→ Scratch-made Ranch
19 -
Creamy mayo (½ cup)
20 -
Thick sour cream (½ cup)
21 -
Fresh buttermilk (½ cup)
22 -
Snipped or dried chives (2 teaspoons)
23 -
Squeezed lemon juice (1 teaspoon)
24 -
Chopped or dried parsley (1 teaspoon)
25 -
Ground onion (1 teaspoon)
26 -
Ground garlic (½ teaspoon)
27 -
Kitchen salt (1 teaspoon)
28 -
Freshly ground pepper (½ teaspoon)
29 -
White sugar (½ teaspoon)
# Instructions:
01 -
Put all the Nashville Hot Sauce stuff in a little pot on low heat. Keep stirring as the butter turns liquid, let it bubble gently for a minute or two until everything mixes well, then pull it off the stove and set it aside.
02 -
Stir all the Buttermilk Ranch Dressing items together in a bowl till they're nice and smooth. Stick it in the fridge so the flavors can mingle while you deal with the cheese sticks.
03 -
Dump the breadcrumbs into a bowl with all the spices from the Breading list and mix them up good. Put this aside for your dipping lineup.
04 -
Beat the egg and water together to make egg wash. Arrange your stuff in order: cheese pieces, the egg mixture, and your seasoned crumbs.
05 -
Give each mozzarella chunk a two-layer treatment: dunk in egg wash, roll in crumbs, back in egg wash, then one more roll in crumbs. This makes that super crunchy outer layer.
06 -
Put your coated cheese pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment and stick them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This step's super important to keep your cheese from leaking out when it hits the hot oil!
07 -
Warm up 2 inches of oil to 350°F. Gently drop your frozen sticks in and fry until they turn a nice golden color, around 2-3 minutes. Move them to a rack to drain.
08 -
While they're still warm, paint each stick with a good coat of your Nashville hot sauce. Serve them right away with your cold homemade ranch for dipping.
# Notes:
01 -
We've taken regular cheese sticks and jazzed them up with Nashville hot flavors and our own ranch sauce
02 -
The two layers of breading make a super crunchy shell that won't fall apart when the hot sauce goes on
03 -
You really need to freeze them first - that's what gives you those amazing stretchy cheese pulls!
04 -
You can make the ranch earlier in the day for even better flavor