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Mozzarella sticks (also referred to as fried mozzarella, mozzarella milanese or mozzarella fritta ) are an appetizer or snack often paired with marinara dipping sauce. They're frequently mistaken as traditional Italian in origin, when they're actually a part of Italian-American cuisine and possibly derived from an old French recipe from the 14th century. Mozzarella sticks grew in popularity in America in the 1970s following the spread of deep fryers and the popularity of pizza. They are a finger food that can be found on the menus of sports bars, dive bars, casual restaurants, pizza restaurants and bowling alleys.

History
The exact origins are unknown, but most sources point to a recipe for "pipefarce" published in the 1393 medieval French guidebook Le Ménagier de Paris as the earliest known recording of a dish resembling modern mozzarella sticks. The guidebook was written from the perspective of a fictional elderly man giving advice to his younger wife on proper marriage behavior. Unlike modern recipes, this recipe uses wine in the batter and muenster cheese instead of mozzarella.

While they're often associated with the country of Italy, they are not a part of Italian cuisine. According to Dr. John Gennari, University of Vermont professor of cultural studies, the confusion likely stems from the fact that buffalo mozzarella is an Italian creation and the word "mozzarella" itself has an Italian connotation. Classic Italian cuisine does, however, include a similar dish called mozzarella in carrozza ("buffalo cheese in a carriage" ) in which slices of cheese are placed between thin slices of bread, battered and fried. The Italian island of Sicily also has a dish called arancini, which is a ball of rice that's breaded and deep-fried, and may contain mozzarella in the center among other possible fillings.

Mozzarella sticks, along with other Italian-American cuisine dishes such as pizza, spaghetti with meatballs and chicken parmesan, began to appear in America during the Italian diaspora in the early 1900s. Guarino's, the oldest Italian restaurant in Little Italy, Cleveland (though, not the oldest Italian restaurant in the US), began serving fried mozzarella when it opened in 1918. The advent of new frying technology in the 1960s made fried foods inexpensive and easy for vendors to sell, allowing dive bars and bowling alleys to start offering onion rings, french fries, buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks. Widespread popularity of mozzarella sticks in America didn't begin until the late 1970s, following the rise of pizza's popularity in the 1960s. They elevated in popularity again with the rapid expansion of American casual dining restaurants such as Applebee's, Chili's and T.G.I Friday's in the 1980s and 1990s. Mozzarella sticks were one of the first appetizer items on Applebee's menu when it opened. By the 2000s and 2010s, some American fast-food restaurant chains including Burger King and Sonic Drive-In added mozzarella sticks to their menu. In 2016, McDonald's was subject to heavy criticism and eventually a class-action lawsuit for the mozzarella sticks they served, with customers alleging that the chain was serving hollow cheeseless sticks and that the cheese they used was not 100% mozzarella. In 2020, T.G.I Friday's faced a class-action lawsuit for allegedly serving mozzarella sticks made with cheddar and defrauding its customers.

Food reporter Emily Heil noted that Pizza Hut's mozzarella stick crust pizza of 2020 was part of a trend of what she referred to as a recent "parade of food mash-ups" in America, alongside ramen hamburger buns, sushi burritos and the Cronut. Other American eateries used mozzarella sticks in unconventional ways around this time, including Denny's, which offered a grilled cheese sandwich that used mozzarella sticks, and Walt Disney World, which offered a cheeseburger topped with mozzarella sticks.

Preparation and serving
Mozzarella sticks are made from slices or sticks from a larger block of cheese, or sticks of string cheese. These pieces are either dipped in batter or rolled in breadcrumbs before dipping in oil for frying. To prevent the cheese from melting and leaching out into the oil while cooking, the battered sticks are often frozen before frying. Pre-prepared mozzarella sticks are also sold in frozen food sections of most grocery stores that can be either fried in oil or baked in an oven.

Mozzarella is the most popular cheese for frying because it's one of a few "melt-restricted" cheeses. These are cheeses that can soften when heated, but won't lose their identity or separate because of their lower fat content and a larger network of the protein casein. Alternative melt-restricted cheeses that could be used to make this dish include cheddar cheese, Bel Paese or cheese curds. The UK supermarket Morrisons offers vegan mozzarella sticks that substitute cheese with a mixture of coconut oil and potato starch.

They're served with dipping sauces, most commonly with tomato-based marinara sauce. Casual family restaurants often order a variety of dipping options, including ranch dressing and honey mustard. Mozzarella sticks with raspberry sauce are part of the regional cuisine of New York's Capital District.

Variations, modifications and related dishes

 * Mozzarella in carrozza – An Italian dish with mozzarella cheese between two slices of bread that's battered and fried.
 * Arancini – A Sicilian dish with a ball of rice that's breaded and fried, and may contain a variety of fillings often including mozzarella.
 * Waffle iron mozzarella sticks – Instead of deep frying the sticks, they're cooked in a lightly greased waffle iron. This method avoids the use of oil and adds nooks for better dipping practices.
 * Chicken mozzarella sticks – A hybrid of mozzarella sticks with chicken nuggets or chicken fingers.
 * Bacon mozzarella sticks – In addition to or instead of breading, a layer of bacon is wrapped around the mozzarella cheese before frying.
 * Pickle mozzarella sticks – A pickled cucumber is cored, stuffed with cheese, breaded and then deep-fried.
 * Fried cheese donuts – German McDonald's locations offer rings of crispy battered and fried Camembert cheese. They are served with cranberry dipping sauce.
 * Doritos Loaded – Shaped like a triangular chip, Doritos Loaded are a breaded and fried food filled with nacho cheese that are often compared to mozzarella sticks.
 * Cheetos mozzarella sticks – An otherwise traditional mozzarella stick that uses either crushed regular or Flamin' Hot Cheetos instead of breadcrumbs.
 * As a topping – Several American restaurants have used mozzarella sticks as a topping on other food items. In 2010, Denny's offered the "Fried Cheese Melt" that was four mozzarella sticks inside of a grilled cheese sandwich. As a launch item for its 2013 late-night Jack's Munchie Meal menu, Jack in the Box offered the "Exploding Cheesy Chicken Sandwich" that included a layer of mozzarella sticks. To promote the film Incredibles 2 in 2018, Walt Disney World offered a cheeseburger that included mozzarella sticks and was served on a bun grilled with the Incredibles logo. The New Jersey restaurant Brother Bruno's serves a pizza that's topped with mozzarella sticks, among other things. In 2020, Pizza Hut offered a specialty crust with bite-sized mozzarella stick "poppers" baked on top of the crust.
 * As a flavor – Several bands of potato chips and other snack foods have released mozzarella-stick-flavored variations, including Ruffles, Lay's, Pringles and Goldfish.