These ooey gooey squares of goodness are one of the best ways to get a side in when you need a lot of fat. By itself, this cheese isn’t the best – but it has the solubility to stand up to the high temperature required for frying.
Get a nice layer of crisp on these bad boys and they’re seriously good eats. They make for great snacks, or a great side item to a lean meal or keto Mexican meal. Just be aware that they don’t save great – they’re best served hot.
Yields 5 total servings
The Preparation
- 16 ounces queso fresco
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
The Execution
1. Grab your queso fresco. I am using 1 pound but the serving sizes areto your own needs.
2. Chop your queso fresco. You can either use cubes or rectangles. It all depends on your own preference. I personally think rectangles turn out better.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil and 1/2 Tbsp. Olive Oil in a pan on high. Bring this to the smoke point.
4. Right as the oil hits the smoke point, add your cheese.
5. Let the cheese cook on one side, flip it over to the other side and continue cooking.
6. If you’re cooking cubed cheese, you will need to cook in on each side.
7. Remove the cheese from the pan and rest on paper towels to cool and drain off excess oil.
This makes a total of 5 servings of Fried Queso Fresco. Each serving comes out to be 307 calories, 25.7g fats, 2.7g net carbs, and 16.4g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 16 ounce queso fresco | 1356 | 108.1 | 13.5 | 0 | 13.5 | 82.1 |
| 1 tablespoon coconut oil | 122 | 13.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 tablespoon olive oil | 60 | 6.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1537 | 128.3 | 13.5 | 0 | 13.5 | 82.1 |
| Per Serving (/5) | 307 | 25.7 | 2.7 | 0 | 2.7 | 16.4 |
Fried Queso Fresco
Ingredients
- 16 ounce queso fresco
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Chop the queso fresco into squares or rectangles.
- Heat up the coconut and olive oils in a pan over high heat. Add in the cheese as soon as the oils begin smoking. Let the cheese cook on one side, then flip it over to the other side and continue cooking.
- Remove the cheese from the pan and rest on paper towels to cool and let any excess oil drain off. Enjoy!
I am loving this site new favorite!!
In the main pic what is on the plate with the fresco looks like yummy crispy pork with skin.
got a recipe?
Chris, it’s BBQ ribs – just search the site for “BBQ Ribs” and you’ll see it 🙂
How thick did you cut the rectangles? I did mine about 1/4 inch and they just melted together. Also, on initially placing them in the pan the oil started to bubble and splash heavily – any suggestions to have that not happen again?
Hey Eric, I cut mine about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. I would suggest to use a grease catcher or just placing a paper towel over the top of the pan to stop splashing from happening. If it bubbled together, though, it may not be the correct type of cheese. Mine actually said frying cheese on it if I remember correctly.
Thank you. It tasted really good (like a grilled cheese) so we’ll for sure be making it again. I don’t think it said frying cheese on the package, but it was a queso fresco. I imagine the thicker pieces will help greatly to hold together. Trying the bacon meatloaf tomorrow, so ill comment there how that goes!
Eric, possibly – I never have cut the pieces thin enough to test that out, so I’m not 100% sure. Hope you enjoy the meatloaf!
this was soooo good! Not nearly as pretty as yours, lol! But still very edible & yummy!
Hehe, long as it was yummy that’s all that matters!
Oh Craig, how I love you!!!!! I’m a huge fan of queso fresco, but never thought to fry it!! It’s phenomenal!! The coconut oil makes it sweet, so it’s sweet and salty, sorta crisp, sorta gooey, greasy and OH SO GOOD! Took me a few tries to get it right, but I got it! My daughter loves it too! She’s a cheese-a-holic like me 😉 Reminds me of the corn/mozzarella arepas I used to get at the street fairs in NY. I’ve gone through an embarrassing amount of cheese in the last few weeks 😛
Hahaha, I feel your pain there Theresa! I’m also a cheese lover and I force myself not to buy it because I’d just eat it all in one sitting if I did. Now I have cheese as a treat…but nobody can say no to fried cheese 😛
Just made this today. Used ghee instead of the oils. Holy cheese! This was amazing. Gotta watch how much of this I eat in one sitting. Tasty!
Hehe, glad you liked it! I know what you mean about being able to eat a lot in one sitting 😛
OH MY GOODNESS!! These are amazing!! My Hispanic husband loved it!
it said on week 3 to add 4 cups spinach. do i cook that in with it?
Yes! You could also make a salad with it. 🙂
I finally made these today after having purchased the queso fresco weeks ago. I had to google “smoke point” and was still unsure how to really tell when it hits the “smoke point” but I made them and they turned out very well and yummy (quite salty tasting). I will definitely make this recipe again. It’s pretty quick and definitely easy with so few ingredients.
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Awesome! Looks perfect 🙂
A simple way to tell when the oil is hot enough is to drip a drop or two of water onto the oil. If it sizzles and evaporates within a second or two, the oil is likely at the right temp to brown the cheese.
I keep trying to make this but it melts all the way down! Please help!!
Hello Rebecca,
The key to this recipe is getting the oil hot enough before you put the cheese in, so it begins browning as soon as it touches the pan. If it isn’t hot enough, the cheese will typically melt before it browns or as its browning.
If you have any further questions, let me know 🙂