It's no surprise that I'm a HUGE nacho gal! Piles and piles of tortilla chips with more toppings than I can count? I'll see you at the dinner table. But one of my biggest peeves as a food blogger is when I order nachos that come out bland AF. I'm talkin' some measly vegan cheese and toppings on the first layer... followed by a gazillion DRY ass tortilla chips with nothing on them. Ain't nobody got time for that.
For National Nacho Day, I wanted to bring y'all a craaaazy dish where every bite is sinfully good. I realized I've never made mozza sticks here on the blog or YouTube channel, so hey presto... vegan mozza stick nachos was born.
Making your own mozza sticks is actually pretty fun (and easy)! I used the Daiya mozzarella style deluxe cheese sticks, and they worked perfectly. Once battered, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, they turned out crispy and sooo cheesy. (WARNING: do not microwave the sticks, they will catch fire! Yes, a little alarming, I know.)
I still fantasize about real mozzarella sticks somedays, not gonna lie. But these vegan mozza stick nachos (when made as instructed) are a perfect plant-based sub that'll satisfy all those comfort food cravings ya get.
Before you write to me asking how you can make 'from scratch' mozza sticks... look no further than the genius school night vegan recipe! It will take you longer, obvs, but totally worth it!
customize your mozza stick nachos!
Since we're talkin' nachos here, you bet I loaded 'em up with all the typical suspects. But you can make these vegan mozza stick nachos totally your own (just like you can with ALL my recipes!) If you're a die-hard sour cream person, whip up some of my vegan cashew sour cream, or double the amount of toppings if you've got a big appetite! Regardless of how you jazz these babies up, you'll be wishing it was National Nacho Day every damn day (so let's just pretend it is).
vegan mozza stick nachos
Ingredients
mozza sticks
- 2 x pkgs Daiya mozzarella style deluxe cheese sticks (6 per pkg)
- 3 C vegetable oil, for deep frying
- ¼ C gluten-free all purpose flour
- ½ C unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ C gluten-free panko-style breadcrumbs
- ½ C finely ground white corn chips
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
toppings
- ½ C vegan cheddar shreds
- ¼ C finely diced red pepper
- ¼ C diced black olives
- ¼ C thawed frozen corn kernels
- ¼ C canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 to 3 tablespoon pickled jalapeño or sliced fresh jalapeño
- 2 tablespoon finely diced white onion
- 3 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
- red salsa, as garnish
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven to 350°F to 360°F.
- Cut the vegan mozzarella sticks in half.
- Prepare your dredging stations. In one bowl, add gluten-free all purpose flour. In a second bowl, add nondairy milk, white vinegar and cornstarch. In the third bowl, add the gluten-free breadcrumbs, the ground white corn chips, chili powder, cumin and sea salt.
- Designate one dry hand and the other your wet hand so it doesn’t get too messy while you dredge. Add the first batch of small sticks to the gluten-free flour and coat evenly. Then add the mozza sticks to the nondairy milk mixture to coat evenly. Let the excess liquid drip off before adding to the breadcrumb chip mixture to coat evenly.
- Preheat your oven to broil.
- Work in batches to fry 4 vegan mozza sticks at a time for 1 to 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or a spider to drain the fried sticks onto a paper towel.
- When you’re done frying the mozza sticks, place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Top with cheddar shreds, red pepper, black olives, corn, black beans, jalapeño and white onion. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes until the cheese is melted and toppings are roasted and then garnish with salsa and green onion for serving.
Lauren Toyota
Lauren is a plant-based powerhouse, a former TV host turned wildly successful food creator, best-selling cookbook author, and the woman responsible for making vegan comfort food a thing worth craving. Through her blog and YouTube channel, hot for food, she’s amassed a dedicated following by recreating all the nostalgic, indulgent dishes we love—mac & cheese, burgers, cinnamon rolls—but making them entirely plant-based. No compromise on taste, no weird ingredients, just damn good food.