Mind-Blowing Grain-Free Fried Cheese Curds
My northeastern Minnesota home may not have much to offer in the Mexican food department…
But… since moving up here 2 years ago, we’ve discovered something that makes up for that.
Fried cheese curds!
These little babies show up on appetizer menus in restaurants everywhere. And boy, are they delicious!
Yet, an order of fried cheese curds with marinara dipping sauce costs around $8… and you get maybe 15 curds total.
I have a 13-year-old son and a cheese-loving husband. Do you honestly think 15 curds gets us very far???
Additionally, I try to stick to a gluten-free diet with nourishing fats, and those restaurant cheese curds are battered in wheat flour and fried in GMO cottonseed oil. In fact, most of them are pre-made and frozen, then poured from a bag and fried in that GMO oil. Ick.
So, we decided to attempt the healthiest version of cheese curds we could think of. They’re gluten- and grain-free, and we fried ours in home-rendered tallow! (Tallow is rendered in the same way as lard. Here’s a tutorial on rendering lard in a Crock Pot.)
The Hubs actually said our cheese curds were even better than the restaurant’s! We saved a boat-load of moolah, too. I fried 2 pounds of curds for what we would’ve paid for a measly 15 curds at the restaurant! Winning!
Mind-Blowing Grain-Free Fried Cheese Curds
Yes! It's possible to make amazing, grain-free cheese curds that are even BETTER than the ones you get at a restaurant. These homemade fried cheese curds are going to blow your mind!
Ingredients
- 6cupsexpeller pressed coconut oiltallow, or lard
- 3/4cupsuperfine almond flour
- 1/3cuparrowroot powder
- 2egg whites
- 2/3cupmilk of choice
- 1teaspoongarlic powder
- 1/2teaspoonpepper
- up to 2 pounds cheese curds
Instructions
- Heat oil, lard, or tallow over medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet or saucepan.
- Whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot, egg whites, milk, garlic powder, and white pepper to make a thin batter.
- Add the curds to the batter a handful at a time.
- To determine if the oil is ready for frying, drop a bit of batter into it. If it bubbles and sizzles, it's time!
- Using your hands, lift a handful curds out of the batter and shake a couple times to remove excess drops of batter.
- Carefully drop the curds into the hot fat, keeping them separate so they don't stick together while frying.
- Use a slotted spoon to turn them over, making sure all sides evenly brown.
- Lift the fried curds out of the oil and lay them on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
- Continue working in batches until all the curds are fried.
- This batter makes enough to fry up to 2 pounds of cheese curds.
Recipe Notes
Serve your mind-blowing grain-free fried cheese curds with my Easy-Peasy Marinara (without meat) and/or my Quick Creamy Probiotic Ranch. We added a bit of cayenne to the marinara for a spicy dipping sauce! YUM!
Packaged cheese curds are easily found where I live, and most are made with clean ingredients. If you want to go all out and make your own curds, check out this Cultured Dairy and Basic Cheesemaking eBook package!
Have you ever fried cheese curds at home?
Hi, do you by chance have an air fryer adaptation for this recipe? It sounds delicious!!
I don’t.
Hi. I was excited to try this recipe. Unfortunately, my curds melted and separated from the batter. I checked the temperature of the oil before adding the dipped curds and the batter sizzled like you suggested. I didn’t have a deep cast iron skillet so I used a stainless steel pot. Could this have been the issue?
I don’t think that would’ve been your issue, Karen. I have not had that happen, so I’m not sure what the issue was. Did you keep your thermometer in the oil the entire time? It’s possible the oil got too hot once the curds were in and that’s why they melted.
I always break apart my curds, then freeze them for a couple hours or over night before battering,helps bunches
I tried them tonight. I thought cheese curds where any cheese rolled up in a ball. So I softened the cheddar jack we had and rolled them into balls. The cheese I used ran out of the batter as it was cooking. Guess a different cheese needs to be used. How long should it cook?
Hi Serena, a cheese curd is different than regular cheese. They are an actual product labeled “cheese curds”. The cooking time is in the recipe, but a good rule of thumb is to cook them until golden brown and crisp.
Is the arrowroot necessary?
Yes, it actually is. The almond flour simply falls off the cheese curds otherwise. The arrowroot helps tremendously with this, and it is a very small amount meant for up to 2 pounds of cheese curds.
I have not even heard of cheese curds! Do you make them or can you buy them??
Atour, you can make your own cheese curds. There is a link at the bottom of the post to a cheesemaking eCourse I highly recommend. Cheese curds are available in stores where I live, but that may not be the case everywhere. Hope that helps!
Wow! Apparently, I’ve been missing out. I didn’t even realize such a thing existed. I promise – I do get out of the house, lol. But seriously, this is definitely something we would so love.
I’m a midwestern, born and raised, but I’m embarrassed to admit I finally tried my first cheese curd last summer. If that was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, then I can’t imagine how good a deep fried one is! These look like such a crowdpleaser!
I’m sad I went 33 years of my life without cheese curds because I’m from the south! These ARE so good — and they would be a crowd-pleaser, but our family ate them all! 😉
Swoon! The title alone got me, then the photos, oh my goodness!!! These look amazing! I haven’t had cheese curds since I was a little girl and my mom took me to visit family in Iowa. Cheese curds were everywhere there and I remember thinking they were the best thing ever! I can imagine having them fried, healthy, like this is just like heaven.
Since I know how special your mom is to you, I love this story! I hope you make them and that they take you back. <3
Oh holy cow. I would eat a million of these with no problem!
Omg, must try this immediately!
I’ve never had fried cheese curds before, but I love normal cheese curds. 🙂 I bet these are crazy delicious!
They ARE crazy delicious! How else could we have eaten 2 pounds of them?! LOL