Mini Caprese Salad Skewers are the perfect summer appetizer. These little caprese salad kebabs are delicious, festive finger food that's fun to eat and fun to make as well!
I love this dish so much and I'm really excited to share it with you. It's easy to assemble and such a great appetizer for summer when basil and cherry tomatoes are in season and at their best. Mini is the theme here: small skewers, mini mozzarella balls, tiny tomatoes. Packed with fresh and flavorful ingredients, each skewer is a scrumptious micro mini caprese salad on a stick. Finger food at its best!
The Best Mozzarella Balls for Mini Caprese Skewers
Mozzarella balls come in many different sizes. The term bocconchini, Italian for "little mouthfuls," refers to balls of mozzarella cheese that are about the size of a cherry tomato. Those are great if you want to put one ball and one tomato on a skewer, but that's not what we're talking about here. There's an even smaller size of mozzarella balls called mozzarella pearls that are about the size of - you guessed it - pearls. If you want to make mini caprese skewers, the pearls are the perfect size. You can fit three of pearls on a small (4-inch) skewer, along with a couple of cherry tomato halves and basil leaves in between, for the perfect two-bite appetizer.
The Best Skewers for Mini Caprese Skewers
Bamboo skewers come in many sizes. You can make this appetizer work with almost any size skewer, including a plain old 2 ½-inch toothpick. However my favorite skewer for these mini caprese appetizers are double-pointed, 4-inch skewers that resemble long toothpicks. They're the perfect size to make a festive-looking kebab, that has just the right amount of cheese, tomatoes and basil.
How to make Mini Caprese Salad Skewers
To make caprese skewers, you'll need a bunch of small skewers, pearl-sized mozzarella balls, ripe cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.
- To assemble the skewers, thread the ingredients in an alternating pattern: mozzarella, tomato, basil, mozzarella, tomato, basil. When you've made all the caprese skewers, arrange them on a platter, drizzle them generously with good quality olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Set out the platter or pass it around and watch them disappear fast.
- For variety, add thinly sliced prosciutto and pitted kalamata olives to the mix, and you've got little Italian antipasto skewers.
- Drizzle the skewers with balsamic reduction for even more flavor.
This recipe will serve between 9-12 people, assuming 3-4 skewers per person. You'll be working from an 8-ounce container of mini mozzarella balls (pearls) which contains about 100 balls. Assuming 3 little balls per skewer, you should be able to make around 32 appetizer-sized skewers.
This recipe came together in an unplanned way. My son returned from a grocery trip he made on my behalf, with tiny little mozzarella balls instead of the normal larger ones I usually get. I'm so glad he did. Instead the big communal Caprese salad platter I often make for company, I came up with this appetizer recipe, which was an immediate hit. These mini caprese skewers have become my new favorite summer appetizer for entertaining. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Other Delicious Appetizers To Try:
- My Favorite Goat Cheese Appetizer
- Grilled Figs, Prosciutto and Burrata Appetizer
- How To Roast and Marinate Red Peppers
- Grilled Zucchini Caprese Stacks
Here's the Mini Caprese Skewers Recipe. If you try this, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
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Mini Caprese Salad Skewers
- Total Time: 30 min
- Yield: 9-12 servings 1x
Description
Tiny skewers of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. A great appetizer for summer entertaining.
This recipe makes 32 skewers, enough for 9-12 people, assuming 3-4 skewers per person.
Ingredients
You will need 32 4-inch bamboo skewers or something similar
- An 8-ounce contain of mini, pearl size mozzarella balls (about 100 balls per container)
- 2 pints of cherry tomatoes, halved (you'll need about 32 cherry tomatoes - 1 halved tomato per skewer)
- 1 large bunch of basil, leaves removed from the stems (you'll need about 64 leaves)
- Good quality Extra virgin olive oil
- Malden salt or sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Optional Add-ons
- Pitted kalamata olives, halved (figure 1 olive per skewer)
- Thinly sliced prosciutto or Genoa salami, optional (figure two 1-inch pieces of meat per skewer)
- A drizzle of thick balsamic vinegar (balsamic reduction)
Instructions
- Thread the ingredients onto the skewers in alternating patterns: mozzarella ball, tomato, basil, mozzarella, tomato basil, mozzarella ball. If the basil leaves are large, fold them in half before skewering them. If you want some variation, include olives and/or prosciutto in some of the skewers.
- Lay the skewers out on a platter. Drizzle them generously with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: no cook
- Cuisine: Italian
Candice
This is the greatest recipe! I've made this for several parties. They are festive and everyone loves them. Thank you Lisa, for sharing this!
Lisa
I'm so glad to know you're enjoying the recipe Candice!
Hofterzielbeek
I would love to make this recipes. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
jennifer Jostyn Goldyn
Perfect for summer!! Thank you!
Lisa
Thank you Jen!