I have a confession to make: I got mad at cheese today. Mad to the point where I just smooshed it into a pan while it was frying – but something absolutely amazing came out of it! I don’t know why it took me so long to think of this. Whenever I fry up cheese, I watch it closely – and it always starts to melt, little by little at the bottom. Distressing myself and knowing that it’s going to flatten out, I haven’t done anything about it…until now!
Those crispy layers on the outside, the gooey melted cheese on the inside, and extra crunchy and crisp layers in the middle – it’s the perfect bite of cheese made just for you.
Cheese has a natural saltiness to it so I didn’t feel that it needed any actual seasoning on it, although you can feel free to add seasonings you wish while cooking. Once the cheese is melted, you can sprinkle the seasonings of your choice over the top and “fold” them into the cheese as you flip and mold the cheese into itself.
Even my non-keto family loved this one – the bits of cheese were disappearing from the cutting board right after I removed the cheese from the pan – it’s ridiculously tasty and super pleasing for everyone. I mean…who doesn’t like fried cheese? Exactly 😉 Feel free to make as much or as little as you want. You can either eat this as a meal or you can eat as little snacks. It’s best served warm – as they cool, they get a little hard and crunchy, so you could alternatively use them as a crouton or something similar on a salad.
So, what’s your favorite thing to do with fried cheese? Let us know in the comments below!
Yields Varied Servings. You can eat as much or as little as you’d like.
The Preparation
- 5 ounces queso blanco
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ounces olives
- Pinch red pepper flakes
The Execution
1. Cut cheese into cubes, then place in freezer while you heat up the oil.
2. Heat up the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
3. Add cheese cubes to pan once they’re hot and allow to partially melt at the bottom. Okay, this is the part where I got a little angry when I was putting this together.
4. Try to flip the cubes of cheese with a spatula and get as much browning as possible. Once you have, move the cheese together and GET MAD! Press it down with a spatula and make sure it all combines together.
5. Continue cooking the cheese, then flip half of the cheese into itself.
6. Continue pressing the cheese down, getting rid of any excess oil from it.
7. Continue flipping and cooking the cheese until a nice crust is formed.
8. Using another spatula, fork, or knife, form a block with the melting cheese and seal all of the edges off.
9. Remove from the pan and let slightly cool.
10. Use a knife to cut the cheese into cubes. You want it to be warm and still gooey in the middle here.
11. Serve up with some olive and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
I only count 1 tsp. of olive oil in the macros because that’s all I found was absorbed. This came out to be 562 Calories, 47.64g Fats, 1.47g Net Carbs, and 29.55g Protein.
| Layered Fried Queso Blanco | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 5 ounces queso blanco | 440 | 34.52 | 3.59 | 2.5 | 1.09 | 28.94 |
| 1 teaspoon olive oil | 40 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 ounces olives | 81 | 8.58 | 2.15 | 1.8 | 0.35 | 0.58 |
| Pinch red pepper flakes | 1 | 0.04 | 0.13 | 0.1 | 0.03 | 0.03 |
| Totals | 562 | 47.64 | 5.87 | 4.4 | 1.47 | 29.55 |
Layered Fried Queso Blanco
Ingredients
- 5 ounces queso blanco
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ounces olives
- Pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Chop cheese into cubes and place in the freezer. Heat oil in a skillet until hot over medium-high heat.
- Add cheese cubes and brown as much as possible on all sides.
- Bring the cheese together and press down with a spatula. Cook cheese on each side, flipping half of the cheese into itself and flipping the cheese as you see fit.
- Continue cooking the cheese, flipping and folding the cheese into itself, building layers of crisped cheese one after the other.
- Using a knife or another spatula, form a block with the cheese you have and seal off each side.
- Remove from pan, let cool slightly, and cut into small cubes. Serve!
