Mention "cheese sticks" to a group of people and you'll discover this culinary term conjures different images. Cheese sticks, also called cheese straws, are made by baking simple cheese dough. But "cheese sticks" can also mean a stick of solid cheese that has been coated with bread crumbs and fried. The fried cheese sticks are higher in most nutrients, but both versions provide protein, vitamins and minerals.
Definition
Nutrition values for cheese twists are based on a recipe consisting of 8 tbsp. of butter, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder, 1/8 tsp. of cayenne pepper and 1 cup of flour. The fried mozzarella sticks are made from two eggs, 1/4 cup of water, 1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp. garlic salt, 2/3 cup flour, 16 o.z mozzarella and 1 quart oil for deep frying. Nutrition information is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) database, as provided by Nutrition Data's Recipe Analyzer.
Cheese Twists
One cheese twist weighing 12 grams (g) has 61 calories, 4 g of total carbohydrates and 1.5 g of protein. Based on a 2000-calorie a day diet, this represents 3 percent of the recommended daily value (DV) of protein.
Cheese twists contain 1 to 4 percent of the recommended daily value of the following vitamins and minerals: Vitamins A, E and K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6, folate and Vitamin B12, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, manganese and selenium.
Mozzarella Sticks
One fried mozzarella stick weighing 39 g has 156 calories and 10 g of carbohydrates. It is a great source of protein, providing 7.7 g or 15 percent DV.
Mozzarella sticks are a good source of Vitamin B12 (0.6 mcg or 10 percent DV), thiamin and riboflavin (both having 0.1 mg or 8 percent DV). They also supply 2 to 5 percent DV of Vitamins A, E and K, niacin, Vitamin B6 and folate.
Fried sticks are an excellent source of calcium (178 mg or 18 percent DV). They also provide 141 mg of phosphorus (14 percent DV) and 8 mcg of selenium (11 percent DV). They are fairly high in sodium, with 274 mg or 11 percent DV. They supply 1 to 6 percent DV of iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and manganese.
Fats
Before frying, mozzarella sticks have about the same amount of fat as cheese twists. After they are fried, they have 9.3 g of total fat compared to 4.6 g in the baked twists. Fried sticks have 3.6 g of saturated fat and baked ones have 2.9 g. The fried sticks also have higher amounts of the healthy fats, with 2.6 g of both mono- and poly- unsaturated fats, compared to 1.2 g of monounsaturated and 0.2 g of polyunsaturated fats in the twists.
Essential Fatty Acids
While baked twists only have 28.4 mg of Omega-3 and 151 mg of Omega-6 fatty acids, fried sticks have 105 mg of Omega-3 and 2459 mg of Omega-6. Based on the recommended adequate intake amounts, fried mozzarella sticks provide 14.47 percent of men's and 20 percent of women's daily Omega-6, as well as 6.8 percent (men) and 10 percent (women) of Omega-3. Baked twists only provide about 1 percent of Omega-6 and 2 to 3 percent of Omega-3.
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