This Is The Key To Making Chili's Viral Mozzarella Sticks At Home

If you're frequently on social media, then you may have noticed that Chili's mozzarella sticks have been having a viral moment. First, Chili's fans were posting videos of themselves trying the mozzarella sticks and seeing just how far they could pull the gooey cheese out after taking a bite — the trend even played a part in Chili's resurgence (after its rise and fall). Then, fans started making the viral mozzarella sticks at home, including the specialty flavors, such as the Nashville Hot Mozzarella. If you want to try making the popular appetizer at home, but don't know where to start, look no further — Daily Meal spoke with Chili's director of culinary, Brian Paquette.

Crucially, you need to make sure that the exterior of the mozzarella sticks get super crispy without the cheese completely melting. To make this happen, Chili's uses a double coating technique. Paquette says, "Double coating the cheese is a critical step to ensure that it does not melt out while cooking and you get a crispy outside. It's important to keep it all intact so you can get the optimum cheese pull."

Double coating also helps to ensure that the cheese doesn't leak out during the cooking process. After coating it twice, Paquette says to check that "the final coating has completely covered the cheese before you begin to fry it."

For the best copycat Chili's mozzarella sticks, you'll need to pay attention to the cooking process. For example, Brian Paquette advises that you watch out for signs that the sticks are overcooking. He says, "Watch carefully — you just need to brown the crumb coating and get the cheese melty. If you go for too long, the cheese will come oozing out." While we want the cheese to be gooey, we don't want it to ooze out so fast and messily that it ruins the experience.

Additionally, don't be stingy with the oil. Paquette says, "Deep frying is the best way to get crispy outsides and melty insides — perfect cheese pull conditions. Use enough oil to fully submerge the sticks and a deep pan so it doesn't splash over." Of course, you can also make mozzarella sticks in the air fryer or bake them in the oven, but if it's your first time making the copycat Chili's mozzarella sticks, then you may want to stick to the traditional cooking method. To whip up your own spicy glaze for Nashville Hot Mozzarella, follow the glaze recipe that's used on Nashville Hot Chicken.