Dairy Free Mozzarella Sticks (Vegan, GF Option)
Dairy free mozzarella sticks have a crispy, golden brown exterior with a soft, gooey center. Although not as stretchy as the real thing, the flavor and texture is spot on.
Looking for more dairy free Italian recipes? Try my caprese penne pasta, creamy bruschetta dip, or spaghetti squash bolognese.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make homemade vegan mozzarella sticks:
- Homemade cashew mozzarella – it has raw cashews, plain dairy free yogurt, tapioca starch, refined coconut oil, nutritional yeast, vegan lactic acid, kosher salt, water, and agar agar powder.
- All purpose flour – use GF if needed.
- Non-dairy milk – I used oat milk.
- Bread crumbs – plain or panko breadcrumbs
- Seasonings – Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Your favorite marinara sauce – for dipping. I used my go-to tomato paste pizza sauce.
How to Make Dairy Free Mozzarella Sticks: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Form sticks. Cut the mozzarella block into strips about 1-inch thick, each piece should be about 2-3 inches long, otherwise they’ll break while getting dredged.
- Set up breading station. Add ¼ cup all purpose flour to the first bowl. In the second bowl, whisk together oat milk, the remaining 2 tablespoons flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper until well combined and smooth. In the third bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning.
- Dredge. Dredge the vegan cheese sticks first in the flour bowl, then in the wet batter, then in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Transfer them to a plate.
- Shallow fry. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a thin layer of avocado oil. Once hot, cook on all sides until golden brown.
- Serve. Transfer the cooked mozzarella sticks to a paper towel to help absorb some of the excess oil. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Helpful Tips
- If you’re having a hard time slicing the homemade cheese, place it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up. You can also spray your knife with a little oil first before cutting.
- Use one hand for the wet batter and the other hand for the dry breading. This prevents the bread crumbs from becoming overly soggy.
Quick Tip: If making my dairy free mozzarella recipe, skip the scooping and ice bath and instead store it in a glass dish or airtight container. And make it ahead so it has proper time to chill and firm up.
Storage
Fridge: Store any leftover dairy free mozzarella sticks in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Reheating: Reheat them in either an air fryer or in a warm skillet over medium heat with a little oil to retain their crispy texture.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this vegan mozzarella stick recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No all purpose flour? – you can also use potato starch or corn starch to bread the cheese sticks like in my crispy tofu recipe.
- Make it gluten free – use gluten free bread crumbs, I love the brand Aleia’s.
- Switch up the spices – switch out the Italian seasoning to lean toward a different flavor profile such as smoked paprika, Chinese five spice, za’atar seasoning, lemon pepper, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve never tried it but I would imagine it would work so long as you use a block of dairy free mozzarella cheese or cheese sticks (I know Daiya makes them). Some brands that sell it by the block are Miyoko’s, Daiya, and Follow Your Heart.
One thing to note: store bought options are smaller in size you would need two blocks or two packages of cheese sticks (and cutting the sticks in half).
More Dairy Free Italian Recipes
I hope you love these Dairy Free Mozzarella Sticks! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Dairy Free Mozzarella Sticks (Vegan, GF Option)
Ingredients
- 1 batch dairy free mozzarella cheese skip the scooping and ice bath, store in a glass dish or airtight container
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour divided, use GF flour if needed
- ½ cup oat milk or milk of choice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt use ¼ teaspoon if using anything else
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup plain or panko bread crumbs use GF if needed, see notes below
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- avocado oil for shallow frying
Serving
- tomato paste pizza sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Form sticks. Cut the mozzarella block into strips about 1-inch thick, each piece should be about 2-3 inches long, otherwise they’ll break while getting dredged.
- Set up breading station. Add ¼ cup all purpose flour to the first bowl. In the second bowl, whisk together oat milk, the remaining 2 tablespoons flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper until well combined and smooth. In the third bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning.
- Dredge. Dredge the vegan cheese sticks first in the flour bowl, then in the wet batter, then in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Transfer them to a plate.
- Shallow fry. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a thin layer of avocado oil. Once hot, cook on all sides until golden brown.
- Serve. Transfer the cooked mozzarella sticks to a paper towel to help absorb some of the excess oil. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.