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Fried Cheese Curds

Created by: on May 27th, 2010 - Categories: Appetizers, Cheese, Game Day, Kids, Sides, Snack

There is something to be said about living in Wisconsin. It is a beautiful state, especially this time of year, where the grass is green, a beautiful blue sky, and the beginning of festival season. Sure, I was born in Indiana, but I really consider myself a Wisconsinite. While growing up, cheese was in abundance, and still is to this day. It was often a snack when coming home from school, and while hanging out at my friend Paul Karczewski’s house, it was always there, I mean that was the snack. Cheese and crackers… it’s hard to beat.

If you ever travel to Wisconsin, you will notice cheese houses along the interstate. They are everywhere, and are a real treat when you enter one. All kinds of local cheeses are available, but when traveling, the best bag of cheese, is a bag of cheese curds.

Fried Cheese Curds

Roughly the size of a large peanut, cheese curds are delicious nuggets of cheese in its natural state, typically in various shapes, and sizes before being shaped into a block of cheese. They are really fresh, and in my opinion have a slightly different taste and texture than your normal cut of cheese from the block. As they are great served as is, they are even better when you batter them and fry them. Yes, I said it, battered and fried.

You often find fried cheese curds at the state fair or festivals, or in our case, a local food chain, known as Culver’s. These are so simple to make, and so delicious that you might have to walk away from them, that is, if they last that long on your dining table!

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

Add the oil to a medium pot, and bring to a medium-high heat. In the meantime you can prepare the batter. In one bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add in the beer. Mix. Combine the wet mixture with the dry mixture to form your batter. Make sure you mix well to get any lumps out of the flour.

Once your oil is heated through, dip a handful of the curds into your batter. I use a slotted spoon to scoop a few at a time, letting some excess batter strain, then carefully place them in the hot oil.

Wisconsin Cheese Curds

Fry them for only a minute or so, just until they turn a light golden brown. If they go too long, the cheese will begin to come out, and that is ok, but it’s better to keep the cheese in. You will figure this out immediately. If the oil is too hot, reduce the heat a bit.

Remove again with your slotted spoon, or cooking spider if you have one, and let them rest on some paper towel. Repeat with your remaining curds, as many as you want to serve.

Serve them warm with your favorite sauce. In my case, I went with a chipotle mayo sauce which was 1/2 cup of mayonnaise with one tablespoon of chipotle adobo sauce.

Cheese curds are a perfect example of the true beauty of Wisconsin, its cows, and its farmers. Enjoy.

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11 Responses to “Fried Cheese Curds”

  1. Amy Says:
    May 29th, 2010 at 4:35 am

    As dairy farmers from WI, thanks for this post, especially the last sentence – we truly appreciate it!
    Your deep fried cheese curds look delicious – these are the best part of summer and the county fairs/festivals coming up.

  2. Jaime Says:
    May 29th, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    As a Wisconsinite who doesn’t really like cheese (gasp, I know, I know), I actually love fried cheese curds. They’re melty and gooey with a mild cheesy flavor. They’re also great dipped in ranch dressing (but then again what isn’t?) or ketchup.

  3. Say cheese! « In Search of Bees Says:
    August 17th, 2010 at 7:57 pm

    [...] imabonehead: Fried Cheese Curds | The Comfort is Always Here (simplecomfortfood.com) [...]

  4. Chicago 2011 – Part Five Says:
    July 4th, 2011 at 5:01 am

    [...] reminds me of a Wisconsin favorite: deep-fried cheese curds, except that the cheeses are different in each. Saganaki is made with kesseri cheese, while cheese [...]

  5. Katie Says:
    July 6th, 2011 at 12:43 am

    A fried food I’ve never heard of, and I’m a regular attendee of the State Fair of Texas! I’ll have to give these (and that s’mores ice cream linked below) a try.

  6. Not your ordinary poutine recipe… Says:
    July 10th, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    [...] The underside of the curds in the pictures are extremely underdone. Personally, I’d try this batter recipe next. And maybe add in some [...]

  7. Necole Sass Says:
    December 16th, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    The best fried cheese curds I ever had were buffalo wing flavor. There is a great website dedicated to fried cheese curds http://www.friedcheesecurds.com.

  8. Mary Says:
    March 29th, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    This is the best batter recipe! Paired with Ellsworth cheese curds, even better. I’ve tried others and always come back to this one. Thank you! :)

  9. Tasha Says:
    May 9th, 2012 at 11:00 am

    I was looking for a good recipe! I shared it on my blog! http://www.myhomemadehappiness.com/2012/05/recipe-fried-cheese-curds.html

  10. Oregon Cheese vs. Wisconsin Cheese | Tillamook Loaf Life Blog Says:
    September 7th, 2012 at 11:42 am

    [...] into a bowl. For the ones left over, I had fried cheese curds in mind. I used a recipe provided by Simple Comfort Food substituting Wisconsin cheese curds for my very own Tillamook ones!! The crunchy beer batter along [...]

  11. Dave Says:
    September 19th, 2012 at 11:24 pm

    Trying this weekend with my new deep fryer. Love the chimayo. I do 1 cup mayo plus 2 chipotles, 2 roasted garlic cloves, juice from half a lemon and s&p. All day…

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