Name: Marinated Mozzarella Balls
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 6 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 10 oz mozzarella balls (ciliegine mozzarella); 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil; 3 leaves basil (fresh); 4 leaves parsley (fresh); 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 3 cloves garlic; salt + pepper to taste

Marinated Mozzarella Balls make for a great appetizer when entertaining. Serve with crusty bread, roasted red peppers, and or even fresh tomatoes.

I’ve been making marinated mozzarella cheese since I can remember, which is about 10 years old. I love it with crusty bread and roasted red peppers. Marinated mozzarella balls are easy to make at home and you don’t need to buy them premade at the store.

You’ll most likely have all of these ingredients in the house and just need to pick up maybe one item, if that. We love making it for entertaining, but really we always have it in the fridge. We make a double batch and keep it for 3-5 days, but it rarely lasts 3 days in our house.

You can use any container, we like how the mason jar looks and you can see inside too! Take as little or as much out as you want and then place the container back into the refrigerator. If you’re serving you can even pour the mozzarella onto a fancy serving plate or bowl.

If you don’t like raw garlic you can’t leave it out and use granulated garlic or even leave it out completely. It’s easy to add in your favorites and make this, even more, filling by adding in peppers or tomatoes. It’s great over salads too!

how to make marinated mozzarella balls

you’ll need these ingredients:

fresh mozzarella balls (we get ciliegine mozzarella in water fresh from the local farmers market)
good quality olive oil
fresh herbs, we use fresh basil and fresh parsley
red pepper flakes
fresh garlic
salt and pepper to taste

optional additions would be fresh lemon zest or even cherry tomatoes

how to marinate mozzarella

Drain the mozzarella from the water and place onto a clean kitchen towel and then lightly pat it dry to remove the water (we use reusable towels instead of paper towels).

Add cheese to your desired container.

Pour the olive oil into the container just enough to marinate the mozzarella.

Chop up your fresh herbs and garlic and place into the container.

Add in crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

Place a lid on the container and give a good shake to mix the fresh herbs and spices all around the mozzarella cheese.

Allow mozzarella to marinate in the fridge for a few hours before serving. If in a rush, we recommend at least 30 minutes for flavors to get into the mozzarella.

recipe notes

Keep refrigerated.
If you don’t have fresh herbs you can use dried, but always use less dried than you would fresh.
Don’t want heat? It actually doesn’t add much heat, you can take them off. the small amount we use is mostly for color. Instead of using crushed red pepper flakes you can use some chopped up red pepper or even tomato for added color.
Not a fan of fresh mozzarella? No worries, just use the mozzarella block and make cute cheese cubes with it.
Use this for other cheeses, works really well with feta cheese as well!
Did your oil become solid in the refrigerator? Just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes, even warm it up with your hands. It melts back to a liquid pretty quickly.
This is a vegetarian appetizer, but you can easily make it vegan with your favorite vegan mozzarella.
Don’t waste the oil and use on salads, easy as making a cucumber tomato and avocado salad – chop up and dress.

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