Fresh mozzarella is different from the mozzarella cheese that you find in the cheese section. That mozzarella cheese is in a block or pre-shredded. Fresh mozzarella is soft and it’s used to make recipes that require a super melty cheese. The good news is that there are tons of ways to use it.
Maybe you’ve stared in your refrigerator wondering, “What to make with mozzarella cheese?” Well, the good news is there are countless incredible mozzarella recipe ideas out there, and many are super easy to make.
Fresh mozzarella, a soft and creamy cheese, is a versatile ingredient that can elevate any meal. It has long been a staple in Italian cuisine and is now gaining popularity in kitchens around the world. With its mild flavor, this cheese complements an array of ingredients, resulting in stunning and delicious dishes that can be enjoyed as appetizers, main courses, or even desserts.
One of the reasons fresh mozzarella stands out from other cheeses is its high moisture content, which gives it a distinct, delicate texture. Moreover, its subtle taste allows the flavors of other ingredients in a recipe to shine through, maintaining the perfect balance in every bite. From classic Caprese salads to mouth-watering Margherita pizzas, fresh mozzarella proves to be an indispensable component in various culinary creations.
To harness the full potential of this delightful cheese, it’s essential to explore a variety of recipes, techniques, and flavor combinations. This article will highlight some innovative and flavorful fresh mozzarella recipes that can inspire home cooks and professional chefs alike. So, get your appetite ready for a cheesy adventure that is sure to satisfy even the most discerning taste buds.
Most folks think that mozzarella is mainly for pizza and popular pasta dishes like lasagna. But the truth is you can do so much more with fresh mozzarella!
So you can stop wondering about what to do with fresh mozzarella because below, we have 31 knock-your-socks-off recipes using fresh mozzarella cheese that are sure to please!
Zucchini Lasagna is a healthy twist on a classic mozzarella recipe. This recipe cuts down the carbs by replacing pasta with zucchini. But don’t be fooled. This dish tastes like anything but a “sacrifice.”
Ingredients for this recipe include ricotta, freshly grated parmesan, large eggs, freshly ground black pepper, kosher salt, marinara, large zucchini, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
One tip is to dab your dish with a paper towel after it’s done baking since the zucchini releases a good bit of water.
One of our favorite cold recipes using mozzarella cheese is this recipe for basil, tomato, and mozzarella pasta salad. This 20-minute recipe is easy to make and makes for the perfect summer salad. This is a fantastic dinner, picnic, party, or BBQ side dish.
The ingredients you’ll need include farfalle pasta (or elbow noodles, penne, or fusilli), cherry tomatoes (or sun-dried tomatoes), red onion, marinated mozzarella balls, fresh basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, fresh lemon juice, pepper, salt, and granulated sugar.
Classic stuffed shells are another savory, crazy-good mozzarella cheese recipe. These pasta shells are stuffed with gooey, creamy mozzarella cheese, flavorful tomato sauce, and yummy ricotta filling.
Ingredients for the sauce include olive oil, onion, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, red wine (optional), canned crushed tomatoes, salt, ground black pepper, granulated sugar, and fresh basil.
For your cheese filling, you’ll need ricotta cheese, grated parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, eggs, parsley, basil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
And for your shells, you need Jumbo shells pasta, shredded mozzarella cheese, fontina cheese, fresh parsley, and parmesan cheese.
One fun grab-and-go mozzarella recipe is cheesy garlic pesto chicken sliders. These hot, savory sliders are super-easy to make and need only seven simple ingredients, and you can make them ahead and freeze them!
The ingredients you need are slider rolls, unsalted melted butter, minced garlic cloves, minced fresh parsley, basil pesto (store-bought or homemade), cooked and shredded rotisserie chicken or chicken breast, shredded mozzarella cheese, salt, and pepper.
The prep time for this meal is 10 minutes with a 20 minute cook time.
To freeze, you want to make the recipe up until you bake, then cover up tightly. You can freeze this dish for up to three months. Just thaw in the refrigerator, then you can bake as directed.
Try these fantastic crunchy, gooey, fried cheese bites for the perfect appetizer. If you’re like me, you love hot and fresh mozzarella cheese sticks. Well, these are basically the same concept, just in smaller bite-sized balls that are perfect for tooth-picking and snacking at parties.
The ingredients you’ll need include mozzarella string cheese, Italian bread crumbs, flour, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and cayenne pepper (optional).
You can also use other delicious seasonings instead of cayenne pepper-like red pepper flakes, garlic powder, rosemary, and basil.
While quinoa is power-packed with protein, let’s be honest, folks, it’s not necessarily the tastiest grains. However, this delicious recipe for tomato mozzarella salad with basil takes the humble quinoa to a whole new level.
The ingredients needed for this recipe include cooked quinoa, cherry or grape tomatoes, mini fresh mozzarella cheese balls, basil leaves, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, black pepper, and sugar (optional).
I highly recommend marinated mozzarella balls for this recipe. It doubles the flavor and really makes this dish pop!
Folks for the New Jersey area rave about their famous “Jersey Disco Fries,” and for a good reason! These sinfully good greasy fries are loaded with gooey mozzarella cheese and swim in savory gravy.
The ingredients you need include frozen steak fries, canola oil, shredded mozzarella cheese, butter, all-purpose flour, beef broth, and gravy master.
These fries make you feel like visiting your favorite hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon at 2 AM after a wild night on the town!
Pizza is perhaps one of the most apparent recipes with shredded mozzarella cheese, but when you use French bread for the crust, it’s an entirely different experience.
And the great thing about this recipe is that it shows you how to make a wide variety of delicious mini-pizzas perfect for parties.
The ingredients you’ll need include crusty Italian or deli rolls, pizza or marinara sauce, pesto, treated mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, butter, onion, Italian sausage, sliced pepperoni, sliced Canadian bacon, pineapple chunks, Roma tomatoes, and sliced black olives.
Other optional ingredients include sliced bell peppers, different cheeses, mushrooms, pepperoncini, diced red onion, jalapeno slices, bacon, and any of your favorite pizza toppings.
We also have this mouth-watering Caprese pasta salad recipe as one of our healthier options. This 20-minute vegetarian pasta dish is coated in a creamy light olive oil and balsamic dressing that will make your taste buds weep with joy!
Ingredients for this dish include rotini pasta, mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh mozzarella cubes, grape or cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, kosher salt, and black pepper.
If you necessarily want to go vegetarian for this meal, you can add some grilled chicken to make this dish more hearty.
Are you bored of the same old grilled cheese sandwiches? Now, don’t get me wrong, I love classic grilled cheese sandwiches as much as anyone else, but it’s nice to mix things up a bit every once in a while. And this recipe for Italian grilled cheese sandwiches does just that!
Ingredients for these sandwiches include your favorite sandwich bread (we used sourdough), fresh mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, mayo, basil pesto, lemon juice, pepper, salt, and butter.
It’s a shame walking down the frozen foods aisle and watching someone pick up a package of frozen mozzarella sticks. You just want to rush over there and save them from such a poor culinary decision. Still, maybe you remember the last time store security gave you a long lecture about similar acts of well-intentioned public services?
If only they knew about this recipe for homemade mozzarella sticks, they would never even want to touch another frozen fried cheese stick!
Ingredients for this dish include whole milk mozzarella cheese, eggs, Italian-style bread crumbs, beef tallow, and salt.
Caprese wraps featured tender, juicy grilled chicken, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese drizzled in balsamic glaze and wrapped in a warm, flour tortilla.
The ingredients you’ll need include cream cheese, Italian dressing, scallion, flour tortillas, grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, basil leaves, tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, and Balsamic Glaze.
Quesadilla pizza is stuffed with melty mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Or you can add your own ingredients, like sliced pineapple and ham, beef, or chicken. The possibilities are endless!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for the pepperoni version: pepperoni, tortillas, mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce.
The recipe calls for low-calorie healthy options, but of course, those are just suggestions.
Looking at the picture above, it’s hard to believe this meal only takes 30 minutes to cook and prepare! But, it’s true! This recipe for baked Caprese chicken couldn’t be easier nor more delicious!
This dish is perfect for serving with pasta, mashed potatoes, or just by itself.
The ingredients include chicken breasts, olive oil, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper, fresh tomatoes, red onion, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, grated and fresh mozzarella cheese.
A simple and delicious dish that makes for a fantastic appetizer is mozzarella parmesan baked tomatoes. These juicy, plump tomatoes topped a combo of melty mozzarella and parmesan cheese along with olive oil and spices for a delightful experience.
It’s remarkable how much you can transform a humble tomato into something so crave-worthy! But then again, that’s the power of cheese, right?
What you’ll need is olive oil, tomatoes (firm and large), pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and basil.
There’s no question that lasagna is one of the ultimate comfort foods. It’s hard not to love this dish with its cheesy, hearty, and delicious flavors! And this Brilla lasagna recipe creates some of the best lasagnas you’ve ever tasted!
Ingredients include ground beef, yellow onion, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, tomato paste, garlic, water, brown sugar, bay leaves, Barilla lasagne noodles, egg, cottage, pepper, provolone, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese.
If you’re looking for the perfect dip for your cheesy garlic bread, look no further than this recipe for pizza dip. It’s easy to make and brings all your favorite pizza flavors together in one bowl.
This is a fun recipe you can make if you have a bunch of kids over. Just make sure they use plenty of napkins as this dish can get a bit messy.
The ingredients you’ll need include cream cheese, Italian seasoning, grated parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, pizza or marinara sauce, pepperoni slices, and chopped fresh basil.
When it comes to finger food perfection, these mini mozzarella and tomato tarts are about as good as it gets! These tiny delicious appetizers are bursting with a big flavor that’s sure to impress your guests.
Best of all, they are super easy to make and look so elegant. They are certainly worthy of being on even the fanciest wedding menu, and your guests won’t be able to gobble them up fast enough.
The ingredients you’ll need include puff pastry dough, olive oil, yellow onion, garlic, black pepper, kosher salt, chicken broth, minced fresh thyme leaves, parmesan cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese, Roma tomatoes, and basil leaves.
Spegattini pie is a fun way to enjoy a classic Italian dish that’s loaded with incredible flavor. It’s kid-friendly, freezer-friendly, and comes together in minutes.
I really like the idea of turning a casserole dish into a pizza. While you can technically make this into a traditional rectangular casserole, the fun presentation really makes this dish shine.
The ingredients include spaghetti noodles, sweet Italian sausage, eggs, milk, parmesan, salt, shredded mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce.
Caprese toast is a light, deliciously cheesy appetizer that takes little to no time to make. This simple recipe brings together the flavors of melty mozzarella cheese and delicious sweet tomatoes on top of perfectly toasted, crunchy toast.
You can throw this dish together in minutes, and it’s great with any kind of soup or salad.
The ingredients you’ll need include bread, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, chili sauce (optional), and chives.
A party dip that’s sure to be a big hit at any gettogether is this spicy spinach dip. This creamy, rich dip can be prepared to a certain point in the recipe up to two days ahead.
This is the perfect dip for a big game or event. It’s so rich and filling that you almost don’t need a main dish.
The ingredients include olive oil, onion, garlic, spinach, milk, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, ground pepper, and coarse salt.
This dip is absolutely to die for when you throw in some cheesy garlic bread for dipping!
As much as I love pizza with nearly everything under the sun piled on top, sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and enjoy the simple pleasure of cheese pizza. And by far, my favorite cheese pizza of all time is this recipe for white pizza.
Freshly shredded mozzarella helps give the pizza structure. The cheese melts together to provide the dish with cohesion but still remains gooey and stretchy.
Then you have the creamy ricotta cheese that really enhances the flavor beneath the mozzarella.
And of course, there’s the pecorino romano cheese that adds a bit more spice.
The ingredients you’ll need for this masterpiece include extra virgin olive oil, fresh pizza dough, shredded mozzarella, whole milk ricotta cheese, minced garlic clove, red pepper flakes, salt, fresh basil leaves, and pecorino romano cheese.
For a fresh, healthy dinner that’s ready to eat in under an hour, you must try this recipe for sheet-pan Caprese chicken. This simple dish includes fluffy potatoes, sweet bites of tomato, and juicy, tender pieces of chicken, all cooked in a savory seasoning. Best of all, you cook everything together in one big pan.
The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe include Yukon Gold potatoes, olive oil, ground pepper, balsamic vinegar, packed brown sugar, skinless chicken breasts, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil pesto, cherry or grape tomatoes, and thinly sliced fresh basil leaves.
This is the perfect meal to throw together when you have guests drop by, and it’s fabulous with cheesy garlic bread.
Simple, easy, crunchy, and spicy, those are just a few words to describe pepperoni mozzarella chips. Best of all, they are super easy to make and are great party appetizers.
While we love melty mozzarella, there’s just something about the taste of hard-baked, crispy cheese. It’s like you’re getting the full flavor of the cheese. Plus, when you add spicy, zesty pepperoni, you get an intense flavor all in one bite.
The ingredients are pretty simple. You can use shredded mozzarella cheese or a pizza cheese blend. For the pepperoni, you can use traditional or turkey. And finally, you just need your favorite tomato sauce for dipping.
This marinated mozzarella balls recipe is one of our favorites. Many folks don’t realize that you can deeply season cheeses like mozzarella for an even more fantastic taste. Since this cheese has such a light flavor, you can use marinades to influence their flavor profile with your blend of spices.
The cheese absorbs fresh herbs, olive oil, and garlic in this marinade to give it an unbelievable flavor!
These balls are perfect for snack trays as you can make kabobs with olives and tomatoes or any number of delicious foods.
The ingredients you’ll need for this dish include extra virgin olive oil, garlic, fresh parsley, fresh basil, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and mozzarella balls.
Okay, I have to admit. The first time I heard about a zucchini pizza casserole, I probably had the same expression of doubt you have right now.
However, after trying this recipe, I wasn’t just pleasantly surprised. I was blown away!
If you’re struggling to get more veggies in your family’s diet, this is the trick.
The ingredients you need are zucchini, salt, eggs, shredded parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, Italian bread crumbs, marinara sauce, and pepperoni.
Mozzarella isn’t just for lunch or dinner. You can get breakfast in the game too! This recipe for spinach egg cheese bake is very budget-friendly and customizable.
The cheese, bacon, eggs, and spinach bake into a savory combination with enough protein and nutrition to fuel your successful day.
The ingredients you’ll need are bacon, onion, egg whites, eggs, cottage cheese, red pepper, mushrooms, flour, spinach, and cheddar cheese.
This simple and easy-to-make Tomato Mozzarella Saute makes for a fantastic side dish or a meal in itself.
The ingredients are pretty basic: onion, oil (I used olive oil), minced garlic, cherry or grape tomatoes, salt, ground black pepper, and fresh mozzarella cheese.
The sweet and tangy taste of the tomatoes, along with the mild and creamy taste of mozzarella, is a match made in heaven, as your taste buds will undoubtedly attest!
Another simple and delicious dish with mozzarella and tomatoes is Caprese salad with balsamic glaze.
Once again, there’s nothing too fancy about this recipe, which includes fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, beefsteak tomatoes, honey, lime juice, and salt and pepper.
You can enjoy this dish as a lovely afternoon salad or a simple and delicious dinner salad. The honey balsamic glaze is so good! It adds a new flavor dimension to the basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella.
Packed inside of your tender, juicy chicken breasts are herbs, spinach, cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes. And the chicken skin is seared to a delicious golden brown that finishes in the oven to really seal in the juices and incredible flavor!
Many people are so intimidated at the prospect of stuffing meats like chicken breasts, believing it requires some kind of “high-level” culinary skill they don’t possess. But, in truth, it couldn’t be easier!
The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe include skinless chicken breasts, sundried tomatoes in oil, fresh mozzarella cheese, spinach, and olive oil.
You can use your favorite Italian dressing or make the homemade version included in the recipe.
Below we included a bonus fresh mozzarella recipe video for Mozzarella Stuffed Onion rings.
Cassie brings decades of experience to the Kitchen Community. She is a noted chef and avid gardener. Her new book "Healthy Eating Through the Garden" will be released shortly. When not writing or speaking about food and gardens Cassie can be found puttering around farmer's markets and greenhouses looking for the next great idea.
