X

Olive Penguins

This post may contain affiliate links meaning if you buy from them, I will make a few pennies, at no cost to you. See disclosure here.

These Olive Penguins are made with black olives, mozzarella balls, and carrots. They are an adorable and fun appetizer, perfect for game day or small gatherings. These delicious poppers are almost too cute to eat!

penguins made out of black olives, mozzarella balls, and carrot feet. Held together with toothpicks.

Click HERE to save recipe to Pinterest

These Black Olive Penguins aren’t turkeys, but they came to Thanksgiving dinner.

Everyone felt guilty eating them because they were so cute. Too bad there weren’t any kids at our dinner, I feel like kids would love them.

I also feel like I am meant to have kids just to make cute things/crafts with them.

I need to borrow some kids.

[Edit May 2016 – now I’ve got my own toddler to make edible art with!]

OLIVE PENGUINS INGREDIENTS

  • Large Black Olives – for the penguin body
  • Small Block Olives – for the penguin head
  • Carrots – for the feet and beaks – I like to use baby carrots
  • Mozzarella Balls – use mini/small mozzarella balls and they’ll slide right into the olive “body”
  • Toothpicks – to hold everything together
These Olive Penguins are made with black olives, mozzarella balls, and carrots. They are an adorable and fun appetizer, perfect for game day or small gatherings. These delicious poppers are almost too cute to eat!


I’ve seen some “Pinterest fails” of little guys similar to these, but I promise they’re simple. Give them a shot & let me know how it goes!

I feel like these would be adorable at a kids birthday party (or an adult’s birthday party…who doesn’t love penguins?).

Some tips to make these Olive Penguins a success…

  • Assemble/prepare all your pieces before you start your penguin assembly line. If you have everything prepped, it will make putting them together really easy – especially if you’re making a lot of penguins.
  • For the feet, start with baby carrots and slice them into thin disks (approximately 1/4-1/8″). When they’re too thick and bulky, they don’t look as cute.
  • Use small mozzarella balls for the bellies. My local market carries them in the specialty cheese section. I’ve seen people use cream cheese but I imagine that makes life more difficult and messy.
  • Start with small mozzarella balls then slice each one into 4 pieces. That way, they pop right into the olives.
  • Try to avoid low sodium olives (unless you need them). I think they taste terrible!
These Olive Penguins are made with black olives, mozzarella balls, and carrots. They are an adorable and fun appetizer, perfect for game day or small gatherings. These delicious poppers are almost too cute to eat!

TOOLS TO MAKE OLIVE PENGUINS

Monkey Cupcakes | Persnickety Plates
panda1.jpg
california-ripe-olive-panda-art1

Speaking of cute food…
Monkey Cupcakes

Panda Cupcakes

Olive Pandas

CONNECT WITH PERSNICKETY PLATES!

Follow along on my social media so you never miss a post!

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

I made a fun group on Facebook for sharing recipes, asking questions, and talking about food. I’d love to have you! Request to join HERE.

Also, sign up to receive an email in your inbox for each new recipe:

FREE EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION & EBOOK

If you MAKE & LOVE this recipe, share it on Instagram and tag me @melissa_pplates and/or #persnicketyplates so I can see it. I LOVE seeing what you make & I’ll share it in my stories!

It is VERY HELPFUL to me and other readers if you leave a review after you make my recipe. Please come back & let me know how it turned out!

penguins made out of black olives, mozzarella balls, and carrot feet. Held together with toothpicks.

Olive Penguins

Melissa Williams | Persnickety Plates
Simple Olive Penguins made with black olives, mozzarella balls, and carrots, are adorable and make a fun appetizer!
3.93 from 53 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 8 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 15

Ingredients
 

  • Large black olives for body
  • Small black olives for head
  • Baby carrots
  • Mozzarella balls
  • Toothpicks

Instructions
 

  • I got everything ready then made a penguin assembly line.
  • Cut each mozzarella ball into about 4 pieces.
  • Chop baby carrots into thin disks, then cut out a tiny triangle to make feet. Use the cut out triangle to make the beak.
  • Slice a large olive & slide in a piece of cheese.
  • Stack the large olive onto the carrot, then a small olive sideways onto the body. Hold them straight and secure with a toothpick. Insert the carrot/beak.
  • Repeat as many times as you want/need. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Tried this recipe? Tag me!Mention @melissa_pplates or tag #persnicketyplates!

Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying/pasting and/or screenshots of full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Content and photographs are copyright protected.



Reader Interactions

    Share Your Thoughts

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. stephanie says

    those are adorable!! I might try my hand at making those for Maggie’s birthday 🙂

  2. tara says

    omg! how cute!!

  3. Cranberry Morning says

    These are the cutest things ever!!! Love penguins and love olives. I don’t know if I could bear to eat these. ♥

  4. HungryLittleGirl says

    This is so amazingly cute. I am totally in love with them and have to pin this! Thank you so much for sharing this at Wednesday Extravaganza! Hope to see you there again this week with more deliciousness!

  5. Kyla @HouseofHipsters.com says

    Oh my goodness! I love these! They are super duper cute! We would love to have you share them at our link up party Found & Foraged this Friday at 8PM Central Time (normally it starts on Saturday at 8PM, but this week only it starts on Friday). I hope you can make it over to http://houseofhipsters.com/

  6. Amy says

    I love the penguins! I’m always telling my granddaughter to close the fridge so she doesn’t let the penguins out! Would that be a surprise to a 2 yr old?

    • Melissa Williams says

      That would be so fun! My daughter is 3 and would be thrilled.

  7. Leigh McSweeney says

    Hi Melissa;
    JUST joined ‘your page’.
    You said to say “hello”.
    Very much looking forward to receiving your ALREADY great pics/posts of delicious (and adorable penguins) recipes!
    Thanks bunches!!

    • Melissa Williams says

      Thanks for saying hi! Happy to have you =)

  8. Lenna Melka says

    These are so cute! Could you clarify what size mozzarella balls you use please?
    Thanks

    • Melissa Williams says

      I did in the post – small mozzarella balls sliced in quarters 🙂

  9. Harriet says

    This look so cute, it’s a shame to eat them!

  10. Sue says

    5 stars
    Thank you

Melissa Williams/Persnickety Plates is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. For more details, please see my Privacy Policy & Disclosures page.