Hawaiian Pizza Skewers

The holiday seasons - especially when New Year’s Eve was still looming - made me all too aware of the fact that I didn’t have much of the way in easy party appetizer recipes - or finger food options - on my sites.

So here we re with a delicious appetizer that’s a great addition to the party food menu for all kinds of special occasions and get togethers.

Most of the work - the marinating - is done beforehand, so these appetizer skewers are a good choice for a make-ahead appetizer.

They’re simple, but also kind of elegant, with a pretty color contrast coming from the varied ingredients. This quick appetizer would be equally at home served at baby showers, wedding showers, and engagement parties, as it would be for the big game, game night, or a casual backyard BBQ.

Make it as-is for a smaller crowd, or multiply the recipe for a large crowd

You know - basically the perfect party appetizer!

Anyway, enough raving about this easy summer appetizer - let me show you how we make these amped up ham and pineapple skewers!

Ingredients

This recipe uses really simple ingredients that can be found at any grocery store.

At it’s most basic, this recipe is in two main parts - the marinated fresh mozzarella balls, and the rest of the ingredients to skewer with them.

There are also all kinds of fun ways you can customize this recipe - just as there are all kinds of ways to customize a base Hawaiian pizza.

Some notes for you:

Marinated Bocconcini

Bocconcini is a type of cheese sold in little tubs, brined. Small balls of mozzarella cheese, specifically.

As-is, they don’t have a ton of flavour, so a bit of marinade can really help them out. You can marinate the cheese an hour or so ahead of time, or - for the best result - a day or two ahead of time.

The marinade imparts some basic pizza flavours to the cheese, using the following ingredients:

Olive oil
Dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Garlic Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Salt

Skewer Ingredients

In addition to the cheese, you will need:

Back Bacon

Try to get actual back bacon if you can, rather than the ham sold as “Canadian Bacon”. It’s SO much better!

If you want to try making your own, I have a recipe up at How to Make Peameal and Back Bacon - it’s even better than store bought!

Whether it’s already cooked all the way through or not, you’ll want to heat the meat slices up in order to fold/roll them, without tearing.

Pineapple

As shown, I used fresh pineapple. I like the flavour better, and I like having the control over the thickness / size of the pineapple chunks I use for threading the skewers.

That said, feel free to use canned pineapple slices or chunks if it’s a better option for you!

Provolone Cheese

Finally, a nice sized chunk of provolone cheese, so you can cut appropriately sized cheese cubes from it.

Dip & Optional Ingredients

I tend to default to marinara sauce as a dip for these skewers, but you can use whatever you’d use on your Hawaiian pizza.

Personally, I like a Hawaiian pizza made with BBQ sauce or Pesto, depending on my mood. Both would work well as alternative dips for these ham and pineapple skewers.

I also love a spicy Hawaiian pizza - and will often drizzle sriracha over a slice. If you’re the same, you can either drizzle a bit of sriracha over a small bowl of marinara dip, or mix it right in.

For that matter, you can add a bit of Crushed Chilies to the cheese marinade.

On that note, you can definitely customize the skewers with your favorite flavors. Some ideas:

1 - Bring the tomato flavour to the skewers themselves, ad add some cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes right on the skewers.

2. Like peppers on your pizza? Cut up some squares of red peppers or green bell peppers and add them to the skewers - raw or grilled!

3. If you tend to request olives on your Hawaiian pizza, thread an olive on each skewer! Black olives, green olives, kalamata olives - whatever you’d put on the pizza will work on a skewer!

4. Want some fresh herb goodness? Thread a fresh basil leaf on each skewer, for a pretty - and tasty - addition.

Charcuterie Skewers and Toothpicks

I like to use wooden skewers / wooden sticks, rather than metal skewers for appetizer skewers. They look better and are more comfortable to eat with, IMHO.

As pictured, I used 4.75" Bamboo Skewers with Knot.
They\re relatively small skewers, and were the perfect size for the amount of base ingredients I used for this batch.

If you’d adding a bunch of optional ingredients, you’ll want to use longer charcuterie sticks.

Finally, you’ll need toothpicks as well - 1 for each skewer you’ll make.

These don’t make it to the final product, but will hold your cooked ham in place as it cools, so it keeps the right shape for skewering.

How to Make Hawaiian Pizza Skewers

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

Marinated Bocconcini

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, oregano, basil, and garlic powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Drain mini bocconcini, blot lightly with paper towels. Add cheese to the marinade, toss gently to coat everything.

Cover with plastic wrap - or transfer to a airtight container - and chill for at least 1 hour.

Note: You can let the cheese marinate for several days if you like. If the olive oil solidifies, let it come up to room temperature before preparing the other ingredients.

Hawaiian Pizza Skewer Assembly

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick pan.

Working in batches, cook the slices of bacon until fully cooked (if applicable), heated through, and pliable.

As you remove the slices from the pan, fold / roll each into a bite sized parcel, and secure with a toothpick - this will hold the shape as it cools.

Thread a piece of provolone onto a skewer, followed by a piece of pineapple.

Remove the toothpick from a slice of back bacon, thread it onto the skewer through the hole left by the toothpick.< Finally, stick the toothpick into a bocconcini ball, taking care to balance everything if you’ll be serving them upright (as shown).

Best when used either the day assembled, or the next day at the latest.

More Gluten Free Skewer Recipes!

Looking for more excuses to serve gluten-free food on a stick? Here are some fun ideas for you!

Antipasto Skewers
Berry Skewers with Keto Mojito Cheesecake Dip
Fajita Chicken Kebabs
Gluten Free Chicken Satay
Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Greek Salad Skewers
Heart Fruit Skewers with Raspberry Cheesecake Dip
Hop Marinated Chicken Skewers
Jambalaya Skewers
Muffaletta Skewers
Rainbow Fruit Skewers with Mimosa Cheesecake Dip
Tropical Fruit Skewers with Pina Colada Dip