With Saint Patrick’s Day approaching, consider adding this festive touch to your appetizer spread. This is a creative and delicious idea – Saint Patrick’s Day Caprese salad skewers! While Caprese salad is technically an Italian dish, we’ve added a fun St. Patrick’s Day spin by cutting the mozzarella into festive St. Patrick’s Day shapes and using shamrock toothpicks. They are also the colors of the Irish flag if you use orange tomatoes. It’s an easy appetizer for St. Patrick’s Day with no cooking involved.
St. Patrick’s Day Caprese Skewer Ingredients and Supplies
Start by gathering the following:
- ripe cherry or grape tomatoes
- fresh mozzarella, sliced (must be thick enough for 2.4 inch cookie cutters) I used BelGioioso 16 ounce fresh mozzarella sliced
- fresh basil leaves
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- balsamic glaze (optional)
- shamrock cocktail picks 4.7 inches long
- St. Patrick’s Day cookie cutters
St. Patrick’s Day Caprese Skewer Directions
St. Patrick’s Day Shaped Mozzarella Cheese:
We recommend getting the mozzarella out of the refrigerator about fifteen minutes before cutting it with the cookie cutters. It will be softer and the stamp will work better.
IMPORTANT: As mentioned above, the mozzarella log must be thick enough for 2.4 inch cookie cutters. I used BelGioioso 16 ounce fresh mozzarella sliced. The 8 ounce package was too skinny so the slices were too small. If the mozzarella slice is just a little small for the cookie cutter, you can first flatten it out a little to increase the size by using a rolling pin or pressing with a flat surface such as the bottom of a glass.
Cut the mozzarella with the cutter and, before removing the cutter, press the stamp into the top.
Assembling the Skewers
Assemble the skewers by skewering the mozzarella either through the top or middle depending on which look you prefer:
Then add basil leaves and cherry tomatoes.
Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper. To add sweet acidity, drizzle with balsamic reduction just before serving.
Alternatives
Classic Caprese Salad using St. Patrick’s Day Shaped Cheese
As an alternative, you can make a classic Caprese salad using the festive St. Patrick’s Day shaped cheeses. Just substitute larger tomatoes and skip the skewers.
St. Patrick’s Day Antipasto Skewers
Add in salami and your favorite olives for an antipasto skewer. This would be another delicious and festive St. Patrick’s Day hors d’oeuvre using your shaped cheeses.
Other Shapes for Other Holidays
Here are some other cutters you could use to make these caprese skewers for holidays other than St. Patrick’s Day:
This St. Paddy’s day appetizer idea is perfect for your next St. Patrick’s Day party. It is an eye catching appetizer that is sure to impress your guests!
If you love this St. Patrick’s Day themed food, you might also love our Saint Patrick’s Day breakfast idea in this post.
