Mozzarella Cheese
Mozzarella is a mild, semi-soft Italian cheese traditionally made by the stretching and kneading pasta filata method, prized above all for its milky flavor and legendary melt.
How to buy
Fresh mozzarella, including mozzarella di bufala made from water buffalo milk, should be sold packed in whey or water, feel soft and yielding, and smell faintly tangy and milky. Low-moisture block mozzarella for shredding should feel firm and pale with no waxy smell or rubbery squeak when bent.
How to store
Keep fresh mozzarella in its liquid in the fridge and eat it within a few days of opening. Low-moisture mozzarella keeps for a couple of weeks tightly wrapped. Neither holds up well frozen for eating fresh, though shredded low-moisture mozzarella freezes acceptably for cooking later.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Mild, milky, and faintly tangy with a slight sweetness. Buffalo mozzarella is richer and tangier than cow's milk versions, while low-moisture mozzarella is blander on its own but concentrates flavor once melted and browned.
- Texture
- Fresh mozzarella is soft, moist, and tender with a slight springiness. Low-moisture mozzarella is firmer and stretches into long, elastic strings once melted.
- Aroma
- Fresh mozzarella carries a faint, sour-milk smell from the whey it's packed in; low-moisture mozzarella is milder.
How to prepare
- Sliced fresh — Cut into rounds for caprese salad or sandwiches, served at room temperature for best flavor.
- Torn by hand — Pulled into irregular pieces to scatter over pizza or salads, exposing more surface for melting.
- Shredded — Grated for even melting across pizzas, casseroles, and baked pastas.
- Breaded and fried — Coated and deep-fried until the outside crisps while the inside turns molten, as in mozzarella sticks.
Classic dishes
American
- Mozzarella sticks — Breaded mozzarella sticks fried until the outside is crisp and the inside pulls into long strings.
- Mozzarella-stuffed chicken breast — Chicken breast rolled or pocketed around mozzarella and baked or seared.
- Grilled cheese with mozzarella — A buttered, griddled sandwich relying on mozzarella's stretch for a gooey pull.
Italian
- Margherita pizza — A simple pizza of tomato, basil, and mozzarella that showcases the cheese's clean melt.
- Caprese salad — Sliced fresh mozzarella layered with tomato and basil, dressed with olive oil.
- Lasagna — Layered pasta baked with mozzarella melted between sauce and filling for a gooey top.
- Chicken parmesan — Breaded chicken topped with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella.
- Eggplant parmesan — Layers of fried eggplant, tomato sauce, and mozzarella baked until bubbling.
- Calzone — A folded pizza dough pocket filled with mozzarella, ricotta, and other fillings.
- Stromboli — Rolled pizza dough filled with mozzarella and cured meats, baked until golden.
- Caprese skewers — Bite-sized skewers of mozzarella, cherry tomato, and basil for an easy antipasto.
- Baked ziti — Tube pasta baked in tomato sauce with mozzarella melted over the top.
- Arancini stuffed with mozzarella — Fried rice balls with a molten mozzarella center.
- Panzerotti — Fried, calzone-like pockets filled with mozzarella and tomato.
- Mozzarella in carrozza — Bread and mozzarella sandwiched, battered, and fried until the cheese turns gooey.
- Pizza bianca — A white pizza relying on mozzarella and olive oil without tomato sauce.
- Chicken or eggplant rollatini — Thin slices rolled around ricotta and mozzarella, baked in tomato sauce.
- Caprese panino — A pressed sandwich of mozzarella, tomato, and basil on crusty bread.