What can I make with mozzarella?
Mozzarella carries a dish on its own. Recipes using mozzarella are below, plus notes on melting it without turning it stringy or greasy.
12 recipes with mozzarella
Stuffed Bell Peppers
Bell peppers baked with a beef, rice, and tomato filling.
American45m6Margherita Pizza
Naples-style pizza with tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil.
Italian90m2
Almojábanas (Colombian Cheese Bread)
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
4
Chivito uruguayo
Crush the meat so that it is finite and we put it on a griddle to brown.
Uruguayan4
Matambre a la Pizza
Prepare the Steak: Season the steak with salt and pepper.
Argentina4
Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni
First make the tomato sauce.
Italian4
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil Add the pasta, stir once and cook for about 10 minutes or as directed on the packet.
Italian4
Zapiekanki
step 1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Polish4
Lasagne
Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
Italian4
Keto Banitsa
Preheat oven to 360 F (180 C) Beat eggs in a bowl, using a whisk ( no mixer needed).
4
Cassava pizza
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Venezuela4
Pizza Express Margherita
1 Preheat the oven to 230°C.
Italian4
Cooking with mozzarella without splitting or clumping
- 1Bring mozzarella closer to room temperature before it meets heat; cold dairy in a hot pan is what curdles.
- 2Add it off the heat or on the lowest setting, stirring constantly.
- 3A teaspoon of flour or cornstarch stabilises a sauce and keeps it glossy.
- 4Salt and acid go in at the end - both encourage splitting when added early.
What goes well with mozzarella
Mozzarella is at its best with bread, tomato, basil, black pepper, honey and pasta. Any two or three of those, plus mozzarella, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing mozzarella
Keep mozzarella in the main body of the fridge, not the door, where the temperature swings most. Wrap cheese in paper rather than plastic so it can breathe. Hard cheeses freeze acceptably for cooking; fresh dairy does not freeze well.
Substituting mozzarella
If you are out of mozzarella, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Mozzarella recipes: common questions
- What can I make with mozzarella and not much else?
- Plenty. With mozzarella plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest mozzarella recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute mozzarella?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover mozzarella?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover mozzarella without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.