Fried Cheese Curds

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

23 Comments

5 from 7 votes
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Fried Cheese Curds just like at your local state fair without the lines, dirt or crazy expensive prices. Forget plain old fried mozzarella sticks!

Appetizers, especially fried ones, are always the hit of the party or state fair and these cheese curds are no exception. We love to serve them along side Buffalo Chicken Tenders and Fried Pickles.

Fried Cheese Curds Fried Cheese Curds

Fried Cheese Curds aren’t just for the state fair anymore. I know most people don’t buy cheese curds at the grocery store as a general rule but if you’ve ever enjoyed fried cheese curds then you know how much better than mozzarella sticks they are.

How do you make fried cheese curds?

  • Let the curds sit at room temperature until they start to “sweat” a little before coating them in flour.
  • Make a tempura like batter using flour, baking powder, salt and club soda.
  • Cook them until golden brown and don’t pile them on top of each other or they’ll deflate and ooze cheese out.

What is the difference between cheese and cheese curds?

When cheese is made it starts as pasteurized milk before rennet is added to firm the cheese before cooking. Once cooked pressure is added to create a firm cheese and expel any remaining whey. Cheese curds (if fresh they squeak!) are similar to cheese but they don’t go through the final pressing process.

What kind of cheese do you use for cheese curds?

Most fried cheese curds are made using mozzarella cheese curds, but cheddar cheese curds are equally delicious!

Should I refrigerate cheese curds? NO! Absolutely not. Buy cheese curds as fresh as you can and leave them out for up to 24 hours. Do not refrigerate them as they will lose their “squeak” and that is generally a sign of freshness in cheese curds. Just be sure you’re buying them with plans to use them soon.

Cheese Curds

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Dinner, then Dessert

Fried Cheese Curds

Fried Cheese Curds just like at your local state fair without the lines, dirt or crazy expensive prices. These will make you forget you ever liked plain old fried mozzarella sticks!
Yield 12 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Fried Cheese Curds
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound cheese curds at room temperature
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup club soda
  • canola oil for frying

Instructions

  • Let the curds sit at room temperature until they start to "sweat" a little before coating them in flour then freeze them for 60 minutes.
  • Use the remaining flour and add it to a bowl with the baking powder, salt and club soda, whisking until smooth.
  • Heat a pot of oil 3 inches deep to 360 degrees.
  • Add the cheese curds to the batter using a skimmer to let the excess batter drain before adding them to the hot oil and cooking them for one minute until golden brown, stirring them after about 30 seconds.

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 348mg | Potassium: 61mg | Calcium: 295mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Keyword: cheese curds, Fried Cheese Curds

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About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  4. I cooked these for mothers day for my wife ( we did mothers day early, due to scheduling). They definitely earned the 5 stars, and brought back memories of my several trips to Wisconsin. I tried to make some on my own other ways and it was always a disaster. If you are looking for the real deal, this is it! Thanks for sharing. I printed it , and put it in my recipe book! Woohoo!!

    Reply

  6. I live in south Louisiana, I first tried cheese curds at my sisters home in Wisconsin. They were so good. You cannot find cheese curds in south Louisiana. I asked someone once where i could find them and they thought I was nuts.

    Reply

  8. Sorry but this failed for me completely. I have a bunch of melted cheese in canola oil now. Maybe it is better to freeze the curds and then dip in batter. I won’t be trying this again!

    Reply

    1. Oh no! Thanks for catching that. It should’ve read that it should have been frozen. Hope you’ll give it another shot!

      Reply