The Grocery Store That Sells The Absolute Worst Frozen Mozzarella Sticks

When it comes to fried cheese, there's not a lot of room for error. After all, it's pretty hard to make melted cheese and crunchy, seasoned breading taste anything other than delicious. But, alas, Tasting Table recently discovered to "never say never" when we ranked seven frozen mozzarella stick brands. Unfortunately, there was one brand of mozzarella sticks that our reviewer disliked and would not recommend buying. Target's house brand, Market Pantry, is sadly the culprit behind this frozen fried cheese travesty, coming in at an easy last place on our rankings.

Market Pantry's mozzarella cheese sticks missed the mark in every aspect. The overall eating experience was just a total let down. The breading on the sticks wasn't crispy, the cheese had a congealed texture, and the flavor was wholly lacking. We never thought a stick of fried cheese could make us sad, but this one did. Next time you're shopping for frozen appetizers, opt for one of the higher-ranking mozz sticks on our list, like the first-place TGI Fridays brand cheese sticks.

Reviews across the internet for the Market Pantry mozzarella cheese sticks are certainly mixed. The grocery item has almost 900 reviews on Target's website and they read like an indecisive spattering of one and five stars with no in-between. One reviewer said, "These were not worth the calories. They were flavorless and there was no stretch to the cheese," while another wrote, "Some of the best mozz sticks we have ever had...and it's my favorite guilty pleasure." It seems these controversial cheese sticks are a real "you either love them or you hate them" scenario. Regardless, it should be noted that these frozen mozzarella sticks are very reasonably priced. Target lists them on its site as $7.99 for 2 pounds of breaded cheese logs which equates to about 10 servings, per the item's nutritional information. Perhaps that's why the overall rating for what we considered a last-choice mozzarella stick is 4.5 stars. For a great value, many may be able to overlook some imperfections.

Upon looking further into the Target website, there were a few reviews speculating that the recipe for the Market Pantry mozzarella sticks has been changed in the past year or so. One reviewer commented, "They updated these and now they aren't cheesy. They're tough papery sticks. I used to buy them for my house weekly. I think this is the last time I'll buy them." A changed recipe could be to blame for the high overall rating of these sticks. We wish we could taste the original recipe, but, for now, we must advise you to avoid Target's Market Pantry brand mozzarella cheese sticks. And, as any fried food aficionado knows, there's just nothing like a fresh-from-the-fryer mozzarella stick. Try our recipe for the crispiest, gooiest, and most stringy homemade cheese sticks.