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- Makes 20 sticks
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Loaded with a shockingly mozzarella-like potato cheese, these crispy-on-the-outside, melty-on-the-inside vegan cheese sticks require a little planning ahead, but they are well worth the effort.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1¼ cups unsweetened plant milk, such as almond, soy, cashew, or rice; divided
- ¼ teaspoon agar powder
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, divided
- 1½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ of a small garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- ¾ cup whole grain bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup oil-free marinara sauce
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Add water to saucepan to just below basket. Bring to boiling. Steam, covered, about 15 minutes or until tender.
- In a small saucepan combine ¾ cup of the milk and the agar powder; mix well. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool 5 to 10 minutes.
- Transfer potatoes to a food processor. Add the milk mixture, 1 Tbsp. of the nutritional yeast, the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, ¼ tsp. of the salt, and ⅛ tsp. of the pepper. Cover and process until very creamy.
- Line a small freezer-safe tray or dish with parchment paper. Spread the potato cheese in prepared tray to no more than ½ inch thick; let cool. Cover tray in plastic wrap; freeze overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a shallow bowl whisk together the arrowroot powder and the remaining ½ cup milk until there are no lumps.
- In another bowl whisk together the bread crumbs, the remaining 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast, the flaxseeds, Italian seasoning, paprika, the remaining ¼ tsp. salt, and the remaining ⅛ tsp. pepper. Place one-fourth of the mixture in a shallow bowl.
- Remove cheese from freezer; let stand on the counter a few minutes or until the parchment releases easily from the tray. Invert the cheese onto a cutting board and remove the parchment. Cut cheese into 2× ½-inch sticks.
- Dip frozen cheese sticks in milk mixture, then roll in bread crumb mixture to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat dipping and rolling each stick a second time, starting with the sticks that were coated first and adding reserved bread crumb mixture as crumbs get soggy. Arrange sticks at least 1 inch apart on baking sheet.
- Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until the cheese starts to peek out from the sticks. Don’t bake too long or the sticks will melt. Serve hot with marinara sauce for dipping.
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Comments (22)
(4 from 9 votes)really loved the recipe. Super tasty. requires a bit of planning but well worth it. Froze half to eat another day.
It's 'ok' - but not great, IMO. I will say: the breading is YUM - I popped the soggy mess that was left behind in the microwave at half power for a minute (hoping maybe it would dry up and I could use it), while that did absolutely nothing for it's usefulness, it was YUM to scoop up and eat! hahah. The 'cheese', however, lacks flavor, and definitely lacks cheesy flavor - and even when later combined with the coating, which actually has more nutritional yeast - it just didn't quite make it to cheesy. I recommend anticipating needing more of the breading coating... I actually only made half the cheese (thinking I'd test before serving my kid, who might like this, but never thinkg it's a mozz stick... hah), and I used up ALL the breading, and no - not because I ate it! haha That was me trying to make it last longer because I needed more! I do have another faux mozz recipe that I might try to freeze and use to make in the future - because the coating *is* yum. This potato cheese gets an F, though, making the agar a waste of money, given the other recipes didn't get great reviews, either.
The ingredients are readily available in grocery stores and they're all used often in the WFPB lifestyle. Steamer inserts for your pots are not necessarily expensive if you buy a simple one. I do not have fancy, just a steamer basket that I bought decades ago. I use it often because steaming greens and veggies allows for maximum vitamin retention. My inexpensive and basic steamer owes me nothing.
These will be really expensive to make-----I have no nutritional yeast, flaxseeds, arrowroot powder or agar in my cupboard---I have no idea where to even get these things!! AND no steamer basket. SO----already not 'simple'. But they do sound yummy.
Those ingredients are pretty much a staple for WFPBNO cooking so they will get plenty of use! lol My small local grocery store didn't carry them so I had to go to more of a "healthfood" store for them. If you have a Sprouts, Fresh Thyme, Food Co-op, or Whole Foods you can usually get them there :)
Hi! If you want to try them, consider that cornstarch and arrowroot are great subs for each other, flaxseed is something your body will thank you for (I have 1-2 tablespoons in my smoothie every day and it's the best way to avoid having to take probiotics, also cheaper than probiotics (flaxseed is a prebiotic that helps maintain your flora in tip top shape), if you're eating this way and you like cheese, nutritional yeast is going to be super necessary, and you can just pop the potatoes in the microwave (poke them with a fork, wrap in paper towel and nuke for 2 minutes, adding one minute at a time until they give when you squeeze). All that said - while not bad (I'll be adding comments)... I'm not sure they were worth the cost of the Agar, which is indeed expensive and probably not super useful... (that's the only ingredient I think is rather a waste on this list! ;-)
I love a lot of recipes but not this one. Not flavorful and too much work for how I felt about them: eating them until I’m full and then throwing the rest away. I don’t think the recipe is worth tweaking for me. There are are plenty of others I do really like.
Tara, care to share any of the recipes you do like-I am on the HUNT for good cheese sticks! lol
Best recipe
Is there a substitute for agar powder?
Any possible substitute for the whole wheat bread crumbs for someone who is gluten free? Hmm :) I’d love to try it. Looks delicious
Just blend some dried gluten free bread or smashed rice cereal.
I use gluten free breadcrumbs
What could arrowroot powder be substituted with? I have never heard of that until I discovered FOK.
You can replace arrowroot powder with corn starch.
These are stupid good. A bit of a planning exercise but so so good.
Takes a bit of time, but worth it.
How are we supposed to use the arrowroot powder that is listed in the ingredients
It's in step 5 of the recipe.
I wanted to love this, unfortunately this didn't work for me. Too potato-y with a tart flavor. I love FOK, but wouldn't recommend or make this one again.
Hmm. But it does sound intriguing. will give it a try and see if I agree with you. Can't imagine anything with potatoes in the recipe wouldn't be good.
Try a milder vinegar--like plain rice vinegar for the wine vinegar, and maybe sub water for the lemon? I always add dijon mustard and miso with nutritional yeast, so I added a teaspoon of each, & no salt