Fried cheese curds are not mozzarella sticks.

They are their own beautiful thing. Sure, these breaded and fried cheese bites are destined for the same tub of obligatory marinara sauce—much like their elongated mozzarella brethren—but a curd is decidedly not a stick. They are rounder, saltier, and less melty than the iconic mozzarella stick, and thus deserve a distinct place in the annals of fried food.

RECIPE: Fried Cheese Curds

Also, because they can be eaten in one bite (unlike most mozzarella sticks) they are dangerously and deliciously easy to eat, so why relegate the cheese curd to snack food?

Make a meal out of these.

This first appeared on MUNCHIES in March 2017.