These baked mozzarella bites are better than the fried version and perfect to keep in the freezer for a snack anytime of the day.
The Utah Dairy Council has sponsored this post
You guys, I am a little embarrassed to tell you something. No judgments please. When I was growing up I had a few things that I would eat after school as a snack. Here goes… Mozzarella Sticks-the frozen ones from Costco, Bagel Bites (remember those?!), Pizza Rolls (seriously.), deviled eggs, and, ehem, croutons with ranch. Oh and don’t forget a drink, I’d fill a huge glass with ice, a little water and I’d eat the ice with a spoon. Yeah. That happened. These Baked Mozzarella Bites are at least a little healthier and I just know that kids everywhere would love them as an after school snack. That is, when you aren’t making this fried inside out pepperoni pizza. Plus, you can make a ton, freeze them, place them in a ziploc and pull out as many as you want to eat each day without any fuss.
You may remember our berry quinoa salad recipe or our heirloom tomato tart that we posted a few weeks ago. Both are seriously so easy, and both feature these marinated mozzarella balls that we found at Costco. Stinking Costco. We love that place. We seriously get so sucked in. You’d almost think that Costco would want to invite us for some private party or give us a complimentary account considering how much money we spend there. Anyway, this summer we discovered their tub of marinated mozzarella and we’ve been making all sorts of crazy delicious recipes with them ever since.
These baked mozzarella bites totally take me back in time to when I was a kid and I would walk home from school (which means I would hurry home because I always had to go to the bathroom when school got out. Haha, TMI? Too late.) with my awesome bungee bracelet with my house key dangling from the zipper. I would run to the kitchen and pull out a few mozzarella sticks for my mom to bake up for me. Then I would take my huge mug of ice and water (see the first paragraph) up to my room, lay on my bed and do my homework. Dude, I miss being a kid. And I miss that metabolism. And strangely, I miss homework. Truly. I miss learning and working hard on what I know. Oh, and SSR. Who know’s what that stands for?
Is Mozzarella Cheese Low Fat?
Commonly used types of cheese all contain similar amounts of saturated fat.
Mozzarella and feta are on the low end of the scale for saturated fat.
Is Spaghetti Sauce the Same As Marinara Sauce?
In the US, the terms “marinara sauce” and “spaghetti sauce” are used almost interchangeably.
They are both a tomato-based sauce used in Italian cooking.
Baked Mozzarella Bites
Baked Mozzarella Bites
Description
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Mozzarella Balls, Marinated, found at Costco or the specialty cheese section of your store
- 2 1/2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs
- Marinara Sauce, you can use your own or store bought
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Roll each mozzarella ball in panko and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Freeze for 2 hours or overnight. You can then either place the mozzarella in a ziploc or cook immediately.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the mozzarella on a parchment lined baking sheet, spray the breadcrumbs liberally to help with browning and bake for 6-10 minutes or until lightly golden and gooey.
- Serve with warm marinara sauce
Alyssa
I’m not sure what I did wrong. Froze them over night and tried baking them the next morning. Pulled them out and they looked like melted snowmen. Just a flat pile of mozzarella cheese with panko on top.
Sweet Basil
Hi Alyssa! This can be so hard depending on the water content and quality of the mozzarella, they may need more freezer time. If they are melting too fast, crank up the oven heat to bake them quickly. Sorry for the frustration!
K
I followed the instructions, but the balls all melted into a pile. I had them in the freezer for four hours before cooking at 400 degrees for 6 minutes. Do they need to be frozen longer to retain their shape?
Sweet Basil
That’s what’s hard, depending on the water content and quality of mozz they may need more freezer time and if they are melting too fast, crank up the oven heat to bake them quickly. Sorry for the frustration!
Arthur Monrovia
I tried to cook these since they looked yummo scrumptious! Unfortunately I burnt the left side of my kitchen down in the process. Am starting a go fund me to rebuild. I vow to come back stronger than ever in order to complete my attempt at cooking the mozzarella balls seen above. 10/10 would recommend.
Sweet Basil
Please tell me this is isn’t serious! I would feel horrible! Bread and cheese can fix almost anything though!
Priyansi
nice article…
Sweet Basil
Thank you!
You are welcome
You’re quite welcome, deary:)
Janelle
Cooked exactly as directed for 6 minutes. They were a melted mess with burned panko! Very disappointing!
Janelle
Hi all, it’s me, Janelle again. I was having a bad day when i posted that about a year ago… I’ve grown since then and I’m here to say…. these balls are SCRUMPTY LUMPTIOUS! Took me straight to flavor town and I’ll be back again!!!!! Consider flavor town me vacation home!!! Hehe…… love these flavor balls EVERYONE NEED TRY!!!!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much!
Jen
Janelle,
That was so nice of you. To come back and admit you made a mistake in posting your comment was so inspiring to me. I can think of a couple I’d like to take back. We just have to keep trying to be the very best we can be and forgive ourselves when we miss the mark. Thank you!
kavya arora
very beautiful and good looking
Shilpa Malhotra
Mmmmmm…..yum. This looks totally amazing. I’m just starring at the screen looking at how delicious they look.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Shilpa!
Barbara
You have listed cooking spray…not mentioned in the instructions. Is the parchment paper to be sprayed before baking?
Sweet Basil
Oh!! Barbara thank you for catching that. You actually use it to spray the mozzarella bites so it’s a healthier way to make them turn golden versus frying or drizzling with oil. I’ve corrected the mistake.
Roshani Khanna
Oh my gosh this looks so good! I am over here drooling over this dish right now. I am all over this. I can’t even stop starring.: )
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much!
Marcie Witmer
A friend, leaving for vacation gave me marinated mozzarella. I never had it and didn’t know what to do with it. Now I’ve got some great things to try!
Oh and SSR stands for Standardized Student Reading!
Sweet Basil
ahhhhh! That’s right!! Oh ssr, I loved it. Try the marinated mozzarella in salads, pastas, or quinoa with some berries too. It’s so good!
Kim
So excited to try these! I have a couple tubs of these balls to use up and this will be perfect to make ahead and freeze and then we can enjoy as needed! Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Yay! That’s perfect! Enjoy!
Denise
Mine melted in to a flat cheese mess. Followed directions exact. So disappointed 😔
Christina
Hello! I am making this for Thanksgiving appetizer. I am traveling 2 hours on Thursday morning and I need to bake when I arrive at my destination. Can I prepare and freeze Wednesday night? I don’t want them to all get stuck together in freezer..any suggestions? Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Christina, that’s what I do. I make them, set out on a baking sheet and freeze them until solid and then place in ziplocs which I lay flat in a cooler with ice packs above and below. Works every time!
Lyuba@willcookforsmiles
Ooooh…droooool!
I love cheese bites and these looks incredibly delicious!
Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling
Oh yummmm! These look awesome….if I made these for an after school snack my kids would adore me 🙂
Lisa @ Wine & Glue
I would like to call this Exhibit A in the case of Carrian is an amazing photographer! These are such beautiful pictures, I can practically smell the melty cheese! And {ahem} my husband still eats Bagel Bites. Regularly. #foodbloggershame
Sweet Basil
and I cringe every time I look at it!! you’re the best
Tonia@thegunnysack
We love cheese in all it forms! My kids have even taken to putting a string cheese on a plate and melting it in the microwave. Your baked mozzarella bites look fantastic!
Nutmeg Nanny
Mouth watering!! I love this, what could be more perfect than baked mozzarella
Kim Beaulieu
I am so completely in love with this recipe. That one pic with the cheese being stretched is magnificent.
Jamie
These look amazing!! Hope you find time for some Sustained Silent Reading! 🙂
Leave it to a teacher to know what you meant! 🙂
Monica
Wowza! This looks so yummy!!! I have to make it this week
And it stands for Silent …something… reading. Almost remembered it! 🙂
Maggie
Your after-school snacks weren’t too bad. My daughter (who’s now a grandmother) would pour breadcrumbs in a coffee mug & soak them in vinegar and eat that!! She also liked drinking pickle juice and eating lemons. Needless to say, she destroyed her tooth enamel.
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Oh my gosh, croutons with ranch!!! Me too! And these bites – gooey cheese will always get me 🙂
Sweet Basil
Stop! Did you really?! hahahahaha! That’s awesome!
Melanie @ Just Some Salt and Pepper
These look absolutely delicious! I totally forgot about Bagel Bites until I read this. I would always burn my mouth on them!
Sweet Basil
haha, me too!
aimee @ like mother like daughter
Oops, accidentally posted twice. You can delete one 🙂
aimee @ like mother like daughter
Ha! You are too funny! Your after school snacks sound like what I wanted to eat, but I don’t know if we were too poor or what. It was always a treat to get pizza bites! I also love mozzarella sticks. I love that these are at least a little bit healthier since they are baked. I’ve wanted to try baked but have been too afraid. So thanks for sharing your bites so I can try them out. YUM!!
aimee @ like mother like daughter
Oh my gosh, you are too funny! I love your after school snacks. Those are always the snacks I wanted, but my mom would usually make me eat something healthier, graham crackers, fruit or veggies with ranch. I love mozzarella sticks so much but have been afraid to try them baked, even though I want a healthier version. These bites look so good, and a little healthy too? I’m in! Can’t wait to try these!
Maria Tadic
These look super yummy! I was NEVER allowed to have bagel bites or those little pizza bite things. I totally did it up in college tho and they are delicious! I really love the idea of using the marinated mozzarella balls. They have such great flavor already!!
Robyn Stone | Add a Pinch
Wow – these look amazing!!! Love that delicious and warm cheese!
Cathy Pollak ~ Noble Pig
My friend and I used to microwave baked potatoes and then smother them in Ranch dressing after school…some how we were able to burn off all the calories!
These look delicious, I mean I would eat a bowl and so would my kiddos.
Rocky Mountain Woman
i LOVE those mozzarella balls at Costco – I put them on skewers with cherry tomatoes and basil, but I am definitely trying this recipe next time I pick some up…
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
I live for that picture of the gooey cheese
sally @ sallys baking addiction
I loved bagel bites SO much – but you know what? These mozzarella bites blows them out of the water!
Sweet Basil
You’re so sweet. It’s hard to compete with bagel bites… or well not really but they sure were awesome as a kid!
Jennie @themessybakerblog
I love Costco. There’s always something new that I have to buy. It’s a vicious cycle. These bites look wonderful.
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough
True story, I ate all of those above things as after-school snacks, too, along with Bosco sticks, Doritos and/or Taco Bell. Meep! Now that I’m a little more careful about what I eat, 😉 these mozzarella bites would be a perfect snack!
Sweet Basil
Stephanie, I am embarrassed to ask, what the heck is a bosco stick?
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life
Well, I have to say I don’t miss school one bit. I get enough of school helping my kids and letting them tell me I don’t know what I’m doing any more because they teach things so differently now! But these cheesy bombs of goodness…I definitely could be all over this!! Yum!!
Sweet Basil
psssst, I secretly hate helping with homework. I’d rather take over and do it all myself of throw it in the trash. haha
Tieghan
LOL! Your after school snacks sound similar to my brothers. Minus the eggs of course, they would never touch those!
These look awesome! I love melty, hot and gooey mozzarella!