Caprese Salad on a Stick
Classic Caprese Salad features sliced tomatoes, creamy mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, olive oil and salt. Hailing from the island of Capri, Italy, insalata Caprese is simple, colorful, and bursting with fresh, seasonal flavor.
Caprese skewers consist of the same cheese, herb and fruit trifecta as the traditional salad, but bite-size and skewered onto a stick.
Sprinkled with a hint of salt, and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic glaze, this simple, yet fancy finger food is a welcome addition to any party spread for all kinds of events.
I especially love serving Caprese skewers at summer picnics and parties. There’s nothing like pinching fresh basil from my own plant and plucking in-season cherry tomatoes off the vine. Talk about fresh and delicious!
Why You’ll Love Caprese Skewers
Easy, fresh ingredients. This appetizer is beyond easy to make and is bursting with classic Caprese flavors. If you love Margherita pizza like me, with tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella, then this appetizer is a must-try.
No cooking. Perhaps calling this a Caprese skewers recipe is a bit of a stretch. It’s more like assembly. There’s no cooking involved whatsoever (unless you want to reduce your own balsamic) and is simply a matter of threading three main ingredients onto a skewer, then drizzling with olive oil and balsamic glaze.
Serve as an appetizer or side dish. Salad on a stick works equally as well as a light appetizer or a side dish alongside a meal. For another option, try these Greek Salad Skewers.
For another easy salad-on-a-stick party appetizer, check out my recipe for Greek Salad Skewers.
Ingredients
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Balls – Caprese salad is always prepared with fresh mozzarella cheese. It’s creamier than typical low-moisture mozzarella (the kind often used on pizza).
For this Caprese salad on a stick, use mini, fresh mozzarella cheese balls.
They come in a variety of sizes: bocconcini, ciliegine and pearls.
For this bite-size appetizer, cherry size Ciliegine is best. Bocconcini are too large and would need to be sliced and pearls are a bit too small.
Want to amp up the Italian flavor? Marinate mozzarella balls in a garlic-infused, herb-filled olive oil marinade ahead of time. They only takes 10 minutes to prep plus time to soak up all the yumminess.
Cherry Tomatoes – I prefer cherry tomatoes over grape tomatoes which are often more elongated and larger.
Round cherry tomatoes similar in size to the Ciliegine mozzarella, also make a pleasing party presentation.
Fresh Basil Leaves – For this recipe you need fresh basil leaves, not dried basil flakes.
Grocery stores often sell basil plants in the produce section or clam shell packages of fresh basil leaves. Just keep the leaves at room temperature.
During the summer months I always have a potted plant of basil growing outdoors. The flavor is amazing and a real money-saver if you make a lot of recipes that call for basil.
Olive Oil & Balsamic Glaze– Traditional Caprese salad is served with olive oil and a dash of salt. You can serve the skewers that way if desired.
For parties, I prefer to drizzle on balsamic glaze in addition to olive oil.
The balsamic adds a bit of a fruity-tart taste, adheres to the cheese and tomatoes, and makes this salad on a stick look a touch more sophisticated.
Sea Salt (optional) – A very light sprinkling of salt brings out all the flavors.
How to Make Caprese Salad Skewers
This recipe has one of each salad component on a 3-4 inch stick. If you want to double up the ingredients, use longer 6″ skewers.
- Rinse fresh basil leaves and tomatoes under running, tepid water to remove any dirt. Dry thoroughly.
- Thread one tomato, folded basil leaf and drained mozzarella ball onto each bamboo skewer. To make longer skewers add a second basil leaf after the mozzarella, followed by a second tomato.
- Arrange Caprese skewers on a platter and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze just before serving. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
Detailed recipe and instructions are in recipe card at bottom of post.
Recipe Tips
Use fresh ingredients. Caprese salad has just 3 components, so the flavor of each really matters.
Buy locally from a farmers market or try your green-thumb out. If I can grow basil and cherry tomatoes in pots on my patio near Chicago, you can too. They taste amazing!
Don’t make them too far in advance. When hosting a party, it’s certainly nice to prep ahead of time as much as possible.
But the thing is, basil leaves don’t like refrigeration (they turn black).
If you must thread the skewers in advance, only make it a few hours. Since it’s so quick to do, this is one appetizer that I don’t mind putting together at the last moment.
Get creative. Select tomatoes in a variety of colors. Make the skewers any length you want. Arrange them on a round platter to make a wreath for holiday parties.
When it comes to Caprese skewers, there are so many options and not really any rules beyond the basic recipe.
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Caprese Salad Skewers
These easy Caprese salad skewers are simply fresh mozzarella, basil leaves and cherry tomatoes threaded onto a wooden skewer. Drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze, this party appetizer only takes minutes to assemble and has all the same components as a classic Caprese salad.
Ingredients
- 24 mini mozzarella balls, Ciliegine cherry size
- 24 cherry tomatoes
- 24 basil leaves
- olive oil, for drizzling
- balsamic glaze, for drizzling
- fine kosher salt
Instructions
- Rinse fresh basil leaves and tomatoes under running, tepid water to remove any dirt. Dry thoroughly.
- Thread one tomato, folded basil leaf and drained mozzarella ball onto each bamboo skewer. To make longer skewers add a second basil leaf after the mozzarella, followed by a second tomato.
- Arrange Caprese skewers on a platter and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze just before serving. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
Notes
Caprese skewers with fresh basil are best made just before serving or a few hours ahead of time the day-of. Basil leaves do not refrigerate well and may turn black if refrigerated too long.
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