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.
Marinated Mozzarella Balls
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Print Pin SaveIngredients
- 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
Instructions
- Remove the mozzarella from the water and pat dry.
- Place the cheese in your desired container, we use a mason jar.
- 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.
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
- Keep refrigerated.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
These are so good! I had bought marinated mozzarella balls at a grocery store and these are so much better. The amount of garlic was a bit much for me, so I halve it. They’ve been a hit with anyone I’ve shared them with, and I have them in my fridge most of the time now. Love this recipe!
So glad you love them and enjoy it regularly!
Help! I make this often and I use tomatoes and organic olive oil but that’s the only change to your recipe. Fresh it’s delish but I find the oil wants to harden in the frig. I can’t figure out why, is it because it’s organic oil?
If hou have any answers I would appreciate as I love this and like to make ahead but it’s really not good after oil hardens.
Thanks for suggestions.
Since it’s a natural fat it will naturally thicken or solidify in the refrigerator. What we do is let it sit a few minutes at room temperature before enjoying it. So if I’m making dinner I’ll take that out to serve with some bread and veggies before dinner about 10-15 minutes before we want to serve.