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!
Olive Penguin Appetizer
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!]
Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- 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
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!
Helpful Tools
- Toothpicks – you can use standard wood ones, or fancy them up. There are a lot of cute options. Here are a couple of my favorites – stars & jewels
- A decent paring knife for slicing the carrots & olives
Olive Penguins
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.Mozzarella balls
- 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.Large black olives
- 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.Small black olives, Baby carrots, Toothpicks
- Repeat as many times as you want/need. Enjoy!
Notes
- Prep all components ahead for a smooth assembly process.
- Slice baby carrots into thin disks (¼”–⅛”) for cute, proportionate feet.
- Use small mozzarella balls for the bellies—slice each into 4 pieces to fit easily into olives.
- Cream cheese is an option but can be messier and harder to work with.
- Avoid low sodium olives unless necessary—they tend to lack flavor.
Nutrition
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.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @melissa_pplates so I can see!
Speaking of cute food…
Monkey Cupcakes
Panda Cupcakes
Olive Pandas
These olive penguins are great! I’ve made them a few times and served them on a platter of ice cubes, set up at different levels so it looks like they are in their environment! Instead of just regular toothpicks, use the ones with the yellow cellophane tassels on the top…it makes the penguins look even better!
I love that idea! Sounds really cute 🐧