Marinated Mozzarella Balls

Looking for a quick and simple appetizer for the party season ahead? These Marinated Mozzarella Balls are the perfect solution – easy to put together and packed with flavour!

Fresh mozzarella cheese in all it’s many forms is one of my food weaknesses, but I especially love those little bite-size pearls of cherry bocconcini. Smooth, milky, cheesy mouthfuls of mozzarella cheese that are marinated in chilli, lemon and fresh herbs. Just mix it all up, and ta-dah! Appetizer!

Ingredients you will need to make Marinated Mozzarella Balls

• Pearl mozzarella balls – also called cherry (baby) bocconcini – see below for further info
• Fresh basil
• Fresh oregano
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Fresh long red chilli
• Garlic flavoured olive oil
• Fine salt to taste

See recipe at the end of this post for amounts and detailed instructions.

How to marinate mozzarella balls

• Drain the mozzarella balls, then place them in a single layer on a plate lined with a few sheets of paper towel – see Image 1.
• Place a few more sheets of paper towel on top, then roll them around a little to dry them out – see Image 2.

• Finely chop the basil and oregano – see Image 3.
• Finely chop the fresh red chilli (I remove the seeds & ribs as well) – see Image 4.

• Place mozzarella balls in a bowl, along with basil, oregano, chilli and the zest of one lemon – see Image 5.
• Add garlic flavoured olive oil to the same bowl, then mix well to combine –  see Image 6.

• This is what your finished product should look like – see Image 7.
• Add fine salt to taste – see Image 8.

What is bocconcini?

Bocconcini are round balls of fresh mozzarella cheese, about the size of an egg. They are usually packed in water or whey.

Mozzarella balls come in many different sizes, and are referred to by different names.

For this recipe I am using what we call here in Australia cherry bocconcini – available from the supermarket. And you guessed it, they are each about the size of a cherry. In other countries, they are called pearl mozzarella balls or baby bocconcini. 

My top tips for making marinated mozzarella balls

• Dry your mini mozzarella balls well. They tend to absorb some of the liquid they are packed in (usually water or whey) so I like to give them a little squash between the layers of paper towel to try and dry them out well. If you don’t dry them well, the excess liquid will dilute your flavours.
• For the finely chopped fresh chilli – if you remove the seeds and ribs before you chop it (like in my photo above) the chilli flavour will be quite mild. 
• I have used garlic flavoured olive oil in this recipe, which is easily available from the grocery or supermarket. 
• These little balls can be eaten straight away, but the flavour will develop even more if you leave them to marinate for up to 3 hours.
• I like to serve these with toothpicks for the guests to use.

Other recipes using cherry bocconcini you might like

Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad – all the traditional caprese flavours of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, just in the form of a pasta salad.