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fried cheese curds with ranch photo 03

Beer Battered Fried Cheese Curds

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Get a taste of Wisconsin with my irresistible and easy homemade fried cheese curd recipe. Enjoy the crispy exterior and gooey interior of these delectable cheesy bites.

  • Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 people 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 4 oz Light Colored -Ale beer (Or more. See notes for beer suggestions.)
  • 18 oz Wisconsin Cheese Curds (See notes for cheese curd suggestions.)
  • Peanut Oil for frying (I highly recommend this. It can hold high temp and is much less expensive than others. But if you have a peanut allergy use canola or avocado oil instead.)

Instructions

  1. Start by Freezing your cheese curds in one flat layer on a pan (no need to line or anything, you just want to freeze them for a few hours, 1 hour is the shortest I could go)
  2. Then in a medium-size bowl put all of your dry ingredients (flour, black pepper, salt, garlic and onion powder, baking powder, and cayenne pepper) in and whisk them all together.
  3. Next, pour in the beer of your choice (remember to pick a light-color ale), or mineral water.
  4. You don’t have to pull out a measuring cup either, you just start pouring in beer (slowly) and stirring it in.
  5. You’re looking for a thick pancake batter-like consistency. What my husband and I do is start with 1/4 of the bottle/can, whisk, if it looks too thick slowly add more, whisk and keep going until it’s where we want it… When you get the consistency right… drink the rest (you’re welcome).
  6. We want to heat the oil to about 300℉ (the oil needs to be clean and hot).
  7. Now, grab your cheese curds out of the freezer and set up a station line. Frozen curds, batter, hot oil pan, plate lined with some paper towel.
  8. *I also like to use a fork to help batter the cheese curds.
  9. Next, cover a curd in batter and drop it in the fryer. You’ll want to do a few at a time to keep the oil temp and so you have to get them out without them oozing out all the cheese from the batter (Which is also why we freeze the curds first).
  10. Continue this process until all the curds are done. Serve with Ranch Dressing and enjoy!

Equipment

Notes

A Few Ingredient Recommendations.

And substitutions/suggestions

I’m not an affiliate of the brands themselves or get paid to recommend them, they’re just my honest favorites.

  • Light Colored -Ale beer (I like New Glarus®Spotted Cow or Blue Moon® are good choices, just make sure it’s an Ale) Don’t use IPAs or Dark beers. This is supposed to be light and go with the curds. You will not taste the cheese and the spices won’t work the same.
  • If you don’t want to use beer, you can use mineral water. In a REAL pinch, use tap water.
  • Wisconsin Cheese Curds (in today’s post I’m using Shullsburg Creamery Cheese Curds, but I also LOVE Westby Creamery’s Cheese Curds as well (although, I’m not sure if Westby ships their curds, other than in gift boxes).
  • Oil: Peanut Oil It can hold high temp and is less expensive than others.
  • If you have a peanut allergy and can’t use it, then I highly suggest using canola or avocado oil instead.
  • Author: Jenn Giam Smith
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: American, Wisconsin

Nutrition

  • Calories: 748.42
  • Sugar: 0.78
  • Sodium: 1540.47
  • Fat: 46.35
  • Saturated Fat: 24.72
  • Carbohydrates: 43.15
  • Fiber: 1.44
  • Protein: 34.46
  • Cholesterol: 126.3

Find it online: https://www.jenn-smith.com/recipe-beer-batter-fried-cheese-curds/