Mini Caprese Skewers are a bite-sized taste of Italian summer!
This is a great appetizer to pull together when you are limited on time or oven space because there is hardly any prep time and zero cook time!
20 minutes is all you need. You can make mini Caprese skewers ahead of time, refrigerate, and drizzle the olive oil and balsamic right before serving.
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Jump to RecipeIngredients for Caprese Skewers:
- Short wooden skewers – 3.5″ is the ideal size or Rosemary Sprigs
- Cherry tomatoes – all red, or use multi-colored tomatoes for a variety
- Mini Mozzarella Balls (also called Bocconcini) – find these packed in water in the cheese section of your market
- Basil leaves – a must for caprese!
- Extra virgin olive oil – use the best quality you have on hand
- Balsamic vinegar – choose the best quality
- Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper – to taste
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes – packed in oil, optional for drizzle
Fresh ingredients are the key:
These colorful skewers do have one requirement: every ingredient should be super fresh! You taste the freshness in every bite of these little morsels, so don’t skimp on the quality here.
How to make Mini Caprese Skewers:
Assemble each skewer in this order:
- If using rosemary skewers, clean, strip the needles, and cut to size (see below for details)
- One Cherry tomato
- One bocconcini (mozzarella ball)
- Another cherry tomato
- Repeat with each skewer
- Arrange on a shallow but large platter
- Sprinkle with chopped basil (alternately you can thread a basil leaf on the skewer)
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
- Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- If desired, top with a few tablespoons of roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil. This addition will give the platter an added punch of flavor and color.
What are Caprese Skewers?
Caprese skewers are a take-off of Italian-style Caprese Salad. The salad is made by overlapping pieces of tomatoes and mozzarella, sprinkling with basil, and dressing with a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic.
We all love Caprese Salad, but these are easier to eat if you have a crowd because they are finger food. I like to use a 3.5″ wooden skewer, or a sprig of rosemary, but you can adjust based on what is available in your area. In a pinch just use a toothpick and make them a bit smaller.
Bright pops of color from the basil and tomato will add needed color to any appetizer menu, game day party, or BBQ buffet. Christmas buffets are perfect for these little nibbles because of the green and red colors.
Make ahead for easy entertaining
- Mini Caprese Skewers are a great make-ahead.
- Just assemble skewers with tomatoes and mozzarella balls, up to 12 hours ahead of time, cover, and refrigerate. When ready to serve chop and add the basil, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes.
How to make rosemary skewers:
Rosemary skewers add such a whimsical touch to any skewer and they are super simple to make:
- Cut single stems of rosemary with fluffy tops
- Wash very well and pat dry
- Remove all of the needles except for the fluffy top
- Cut to size. Cut the bottom of the sprig on an angle so you can easily thread the tomatoes and mozzarella onto the skewers
Storing Leftovers
- Leftover skewers can be refrigerated and stored for up to 2 days
Looking for other great appetizers?
- Crab Cakes with Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- Mini Taco Salad Cups
- Szechuan Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Easy Baked BBQ Chicken Wings
- Ahi Poke Tuna
- Honey Roasted Cashews
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Mini Caprese Skewers Recipe
Equipment
- 3" wooden skewers or rosemary stems
Ingredients
- 36 Cherry tomatoes
- 18 Mini mozzarella balls, also called Bocconcini, drain and pat dry
- 18 Basil leaves, chopped
- 2-3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1-2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- pinch Sea Salt
- pinch Black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 Tablespoons oven dried Tomatoes, packed in oil, drained, roughly chopped, optional
Instructions
- Assemble each skewer with a cherry tomato, a mini mozzarella ball, and a second tomato, in that order. Repeat with each skewer. Arrange on a large shallow platter. If making ahead, cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours.
- Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Sprinkle with chopped basil, sea salt and pepper to taste.
- If desired, top with a few tablespoons diced sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, roughly chopped.
Rosemary Skewers:
- If using rosemary branch skewers, simply pull off all the needles, except the very top. Cut stem to size and thread tomatoes and mozzarella balls in same order.
Notes
- Homemade Oven Dried Tomatoes are easy to make!
- You can use full-sized mozzarella balls and cut them into bite-sized pieces
Nutrition
Emmeline
Such a fun and delicious idea! I love that you used rosemary for the skewers!
Jayne
Thanks! I love to use what’s in my garden!
Elizabeth
This is a super canape recipe for a summer BBQ, thank you! It’s effortless to make and it looks super impressive on the BBQ table too!
Dannii
How fun are these! Perfect for a BBQ when we can finally have one.
Laura Tobin
I love the idea of the Rosemary Skewers, they really add to the plate.
veenaazmanov
This is so cute and creative. Love to have it at my home parties. Looks so colorful and flavorful too.