A double-dipper-dinner: Baked mozzarella sticks and bread sticks make a meal no time – especially if you have leftover pizza dough. (Or make no-yeast dough with this 5-minute recipe.)
Leftovers: It’s what’s for dinner.
Several years ago, that was the slogan at my house. My husband didn’t mind them; and neither did my two little girls. Leftover spaghetti sauce and noodles was A-okay. But nowadays, I have more kids at my dinner table and they’re older: Four kids ages 2, 4, 7, 10 plus my husband. Including myself, that makes a total of six. Thus, there are rarely leftovers.
Unless I plan for leftovers. Now it’s more like: ‘Planned-overs‘ or ‘Cook once. Eat twice.‘ Or “Two for One.” That’s this month’s theme for The Recipe ReDux.
And I’m giddy for it! I can’t wait to have a whole ‘cookbook’ of recipes with BONUS benefits. Like borrowed time – I can shop for and make one recipe and have dinner for two nights. The true definition of #Winning.
I’ll be bookmarking, pinning, sharing and actually cooking from all of this month’s ReDux posts for months to come.
For this fun double-dipper-dinner, I used this recipe for my Homemade Pizza Dough and made a double batch. On night #1, dinner was our favorite Sriracha Chicken & Pineapple Pizza. And on night #2, the second batch of dough became these amazingly quick, no-yeast breadsticks.
To make it a meal – actually it was a fun birthday dinner for my eldest – I also created a Mozzarella Sticks recipe. I used a ‘flax-egg‘ to help the Panko bread crumbs stick. Talk about a kid-pleasing, dietitian-approved-dinner:
- Antioxidant– and lycopene-rich marinara sauce (I used low-sodium)
- Whole-grain flour in the breadsticks
- Calcium-rich cheese – in a portion-controlled package (by halving the cheese sticks)
So go ahead: Double dip!
PrintBaked Mozzarella Sticks and Whole Grain Breadsticks
- Yield: 16 cheese sticks + 10 breadsticks 1x
Description
Double-dip dinner: Baked Mozzarella Sticks + bread sticks = A Meal in Minutes
Ingredients
- 1/3 milk
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed (or just use plain milk to help crumbs stick)
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed between fingers
- 8 mozzarella cheese sticks
- FOR BREADSTICKS:
- 1 recipe for Pizza Dough
- Cornmeal
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a shallow bowl, mix together milk and flax seed; let set for 5 minutes.
- In another shallow bowl or large plate, mix together breadcrumbs, garlic powder and oregano.
- Slice each cheese stick in half length-wise. Place about 4 cheese stick halves in flax seed mixture and submerge, pick up up one stick and let excess mixture drip off; dredge in breadcrumb mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cheese stick halves. Then place baking sheet of cheese sticks in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Remove sheet from freezer, spray cheese sticks lightly with non-stick cooking spray and bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 7 minutes. Remove to check if warmed through. Do not overbake or cheese sticks will turn into a puddle of molten cheese – still delicious, but not a cheese ‘stick.’ Optional: Broil sticks for a few seconds to produce a golden color.
- While cheese sticks are in freezer, (and after Pizza Dough has rest 15 minutes) divide pizza dough into 10 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope 8 inches long. Place on an ungreased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle each breadstick with a bit of cornmeal. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven, about 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown.
Notes
If you have a convection oven, bake cheese sticks and bread sticks at the same time. If not, you can still try baking at the same time, just rotate pans half-way through backing times.
What’s your favorite ‘cook once, eat twice’ dinner?
Check out all the favorites of our Recipe ReDux friends:
Tara | Treble in the Kitchen
Tuesday 21st of April 2015
I love the idea of "cook once eat twice!" I'm so excited to be part of this group and can't WAIT to check out all of these amazing posts!!! :)
Amee Livingston
Tuesday 24th of March 2015
These would be a huge hit with my kids! I'm a cheese lover, too, so I'll have to make these very soon!!
Serena Ball
Tuesday 24th of March 2015
Thanks Amee! Happy to hear your kids are cheesy too!
Sonali- The Foodie Physician
Tuesday 24th of March 2015
This was such a wonderful theme! Making breadsticks from pizza dough is brilliant! And I love how you made your mozzarella sticks- I know my daughter will eat them up!
Dietitian Jess
Monday 23rd of March 2015
Mozzarella sticks were one of my favs when I was a kid so I'll make a baked and breaded recipe like yours everyone once in awhile. I love the idea of using a flax egg instead of a regular egg... I'll have to try that next time! PS there has been more than 1 occasion I've gotten the molten cheese pile- just as delicious!
Farrah
Sunday 22nd of March 2015
I've never tried making cheese sticks before, but aughhhh, these look so good! *-*