A cook has shared a mozzarella stick recipe that doesn’t require any deep frying.

Mozzarella sticks are a tasty and comforting snack, but they’re not the healthiest. They are filled with cheese and are typically deep fried in oil, making them high in fat.

This cheesy food is seen on menus at major fast food restaurants, like McDonald’s and Burger King, as a side dish. Bags of mozzarella sticks are also sold in supermarkets in the frozen aisles.

They are cheese sticks coated in breadcrumbs, loved for their crispy outside and warm, gooey inside. And it turns out there’s a way you can make them a little healthier. Max McCann, known online as Meals with Max, has shared how he makes mozzarella sticks without frying them in oil at all.

Max has been passionate about cooking since he was three years old and has now written two cook books: Awesome Air Fryer Meals with Max and 500 Or Less. He shared his mozzarella sticks recipe in a video on TikTok.

The cook said: “Mozzarella sticks are delicious but did you know you can make them without deep frying? They’re just as crispy and gooey but much healthier.”

He begins by cutting 120g of firm mozzarella into sticks then placing them into the freezer for about 30 minutes. Max explained that this will stop the cheese from oozing out of their coating during cooking.

While the mozzarella is in the freezer, Max makes a marinara sauce to serve on the side. He first dices half an onion, then finely slices two garlic cloves before heating a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan.

Max then goes in with the onion, cooking for a few minutes, and adds a teaspoon of dried basil. After this, he adds the chopped garlic, a pinch of salt and some black pepper.

The recipe developer told viewers to cook this for about 30 seconds to “release the flavour from the dried basil and the garlic”. Next, he poured a tin of 400g of plum tomatoes into the pan, grabbing the tomatoes and squeezing them in his hand to break them up.

Then he added a splash of water, a tablespoon of tomato paste and left the mixture to simmer for 15 minutes. To make the breading for the mozzarella sticks, Max puts some plain flour in one bowl and cracks an egg in another bowl and mixes it with a fork.

He poured 30g of breadcrumbs in a bowl with some salt, black pepper and one teaspoon of garlic powder before combining all these ingredients together using his hands. By this point, the marinara sauce should be ready and can be set aside.

Max continued: “Get the mozzarella into the flour, into the egg and into the breadcrumbs. Make sure they’re fully coated.”

He then placed the mozzarella sticks on a baking sheet lined with foil, sprayed them with oil and put them in the oven at 200 degrees celsius for about 10 minutes. Max ended his video by saying: “They’re now ready.

“They look absolutely banging. Lovely.”

People were quick to comment on the clip, with one person writing: “Wow these look yummy Max.” Another added: “Deffo (definitely) giving this a go on the weekend.”