Oven-fried mozzarella sticks
7
Points®
Total time: 22 min • Prep: 12 min • Cook: 10 min • Serves: 4 • Difficulty: Easy
Don't bust your waistline with high-fat, fried cheese sticks. You can make mozzarella sticks at home, and you can make them better for you. Our slimmed-down version hits the spot and is much healthier for you. Using reduced-calorie bread, part-skim mozzarella, coating the cheese sticks with honey mustard first, and oven-roasting instead of deep-frying makes all the difference. They only take 4–5 minutes to bake in the oven, so you'll find yourself making this recipe over and over and never ordering them out at a restaurant again.
Ingredients
Olive oil cooking spray
2 spray(s)
Canned tomato sauce
8 oz
Ground oregano
2 tsp
Reduced-calorie wheat bread
3 slice(s)
Dried thyme
1 tsp
Part skim mozzarella cheese
8 oz
Honey mustard
2 Tbsp
Instructions
1
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2
In a small saucepan, combine tomato sauce and 1 teaspoon of oregano; set pan over low heat and simmer 10 minutes.
3
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine bread, remaining teaspoon of oregano and thyme; process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Place crumbs in a shallow bowl. (Tip: Use the ends of the loaf of bread for the bread crumbs since those slices are often uneaten.)
4
Coat cheese sticks with honey mustard. Transfer cheese to bread crumb mixture and turn to coat. Arrange cheese on prepared baking sheet and lightly coat with cooking spray.
5
Bake until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Serve with warmed tomato sauce on the side. Yields 2 cheese sticks and about 1/4 cup of sauce per serving.
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