We finally got our hands on Wholly Veggie! Mozzarella Sticks. Here's what we thought of these vegan mozzarella sticks.
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This isn't our first time trying Wholly Veggie! products. We had Amy Katz on the pod a couple of months ago to try their ranch cauliflower wings, and we reviewed their cheddar jalapeño sticks not too long ago. So, when we saw their Mozzarella Sticks at Sprouts, we knew we had to try them.
Review
I had two very different experiences with these: once with overcooked mozzarella sticks and once when dialed back the cooking time. Read the section on how to cook them for more details on how to avoid overcooking!
When I overcooked them, I thought they were just ok but didn’t like the cheese texture. It needed more of a snap.
The texture was a LOT better when we didn’t cook these as long. It was much firmer and really did remind me of old school mozzarella sticks.
Cooking these for too long really does ruin them -- just a couple of minutes too long, and the cheese gets way too melty. See the section above on cooking times, so you can have the best experience.
The taste of these was good, and the breading, as always with Wholly Veggie! products, was on point. Just perfectly crunchy without overwhelming you.
The tomato sauce was nice to have but on the sweet side for my taste. I would probably still use it, since it's so nice to have a dip, but if you have some leftover tomato sauce from something else on hand, go with that instead for sure.
Overall, I'd get these again. My kid only had them the second time we made them, and he absolutely loved them. They are nice to have on hand for a special weekend snack.
Ingredients & calories
Like the Jalapeño Sticks, Wholly Veggie! Mozzarella sticks have a long ingredients list, because there are three parts: filling, coating, and dipping sauce. When you break it down, though, the ingredients are pretty simple.
These are the ingredients, as listed on the Wholly Veggie! site, as of this writing:
Plant based style mozzarella: Filtered water, Coconut oil, Potato starch, Modified starch (potato and tapioca), Chickpea protein, Sea salt, Potato protein, Natural flavour (vegan sources), Lactic acid, Beta carotene (colour).
Coating: Water, Panko bread crumb (rice flour, pea protein, dextrose, baking soda), Rice flour, Modified corn starch, Potato starch, Sunflower oil, Corn flour, Rice starch, Dehydrated cauliflower powder, Sea salt, Yeast extract, Sodium acid pyrophosphate, Baking soda, Spice, Xanthan gum, Garlic powder, Onion powder.
Sauce: Water, Tomato paste, Cane sugar, Vinegar, Salt, Dried garlic, Modified potato starch, Sunflower oil, Herbs, Spices, Xanthan gum.
The package lists three servings per container, though in my experience it's more like two servings per container. If you do eat a third of the sticks with sauce, you're looking at about 275 calories.
If you're like me, though, and eat more like half the package, that's 410 calories.
How to cook them
Cooking these correctly is mission critical! I've made these twice so far. Once, it turns out, I overcooked them, and they were not as good.
When you overcook these, the cheese filling becomes very liquid, which just doesn't give you that proper mozzarella stick experience.
- Oven Directions: Bake these at 425° F for nine to 11 minutes, per the package directions.
- Air Fryer Directions: The package says to air fry for five to six minutes, but I've found eight minutes at 400° F to be the sweet spot for these.
The package includes air fryer instructions, but I am bad at following directions. The first time I made these, I cooked them in the air fryer for 10 minutes at 400° F. Don't do that! Stick with six to eight minutes at 400° F in the air fryer for the best results.
To warm the sauce up, just place the packet into a cup of hot water while the mozzarella sticks cook. It will thaw out by the time they're ready.
Where to listen
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