If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, it’s no secret that pizza is one of my family’s favorite foods. As a registered dietitian and Mom who likes to please her family with the food I make, I’m finding more than one way to make pizza a healthy food option. Let’s face it: carryout or delivery from your favorite pizza joint isn’t the healthiest choice. But there’s more than one way to make homemade pizza healthy. And these kid-friendly pizza kabobs make healthy pizza at home a tasty reality!
From whole-wheat dough, tortillas, English muffins, and mini-bagels, we’ve tried plenty of grain options when making homemade pizza. But a pizza kabob? That took a little creativity. A light bulb went off in my Mom brain [the portion that’s still working] when I was making fruit and cheese kabobs for a TV segment two weeks ago. Pizza components + marinara for dipping + skewer = GENIUS pizza kabobs! Sorry, sometimes I get a little excited about my kid-friendly creations. And the fact that Joey eats most of them!
The best thing about these pizza kabobs is that you can pick and choose your pizza toppings [or components] based on your family’s preferences. The only thing I’d suggest keeping the same is the cheese tortellini for the pizza kabobs base. Now we are the classic mozzarella, pepperoni and green bell pepper family. If you like to venture outside the pizza box, I’d suggest trying out a few of these other combos:
• Cheddar cheese cubes, ham, pineapple, tortellini, dip in marinara
• White cheddar cheese cubes, prosciutto [wrap around the cheese], olives, tortellini, dip in marinara
• Gouda cheese, chicken cubes [cooked], red onion, tortellini, dip in BBQ sauce
Clearly I can’t get enough pizza. Or pizza kabobs. Did I mention these would be great for a summer party or BBQ? Just remember to keep the kabobs refrigerated until you’re ready to serve. Oh and one more thing: get your kids in the kitchen with you while you are making these! It’s a great conversation starter—- talk about the ingredients, the taste, the colors, etc. Joey had more fun squishing the fresh mozzarella and eating the cheese tortellini than listening to be blab about the kabobs, but hey, I tried!
- ½ [9 ounce] package of refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 2 ounces of sliced of pepperoni [about 20 slices]
- 1 cup of small balls of fresh mozzarella [about 20 bocconcini]
- ⅔ pint grape or cherry tomatoes [about 20 tomatoes]
- 1 cup green bell pepper, diced into large cubes
- 1 cup of marinara sauce for dipping
- 20 small wooden or plastic skewers
- Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well.
- Fold pepperoni slices in half; Thread pepperoni slices, tortellini, mozzarella, peppers, and tomatoes on each skewer.
- Place kabobs in a single layer in shallow plastic storage containers. Store in your refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Serve with a side of marinara sauce or Italian dressing for dipping.
You can easily tailor the ingredients on each of the pizza kabobs to each family member or guest food preference. The more pizza components the merrier! If I had it my way, I’d do fresh mozzarella, black olives, green olives, banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, pepperoni…. Don’t worry you aren’t the only person making a weird face right now! [insert: Joey and Ted’s concerned facial expression].
Disclaimer: I am proud to partner with the United Dairy Industry of Michiganto bring you healthy recipes made with cow’s milk. Because of these great partnerships I am able to share delicious and nutritious family-friendly recipes. As always all opinion and ideas are 100% my own. Find out why Milk Means More on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Katie, this is such an awesome idea, so cute!! I LOVE IT! Adding those tortellinis was brilliant 🙂
Thanks friend!! I hope sienna likes them!
This is such a fun, cute, and yummy idea! You really can’t go wrong with anything pizza!
Right?! Pizza all the way! – Joey’s mantra
These look fantastic! I can’t wait to try them on my kids. 🙂
I hope they love them!!
such an awesome idea! This the perfect kid-friendly snack 🙂
Thanks Rachel! My kids love them.
Haha, this is beyond adorable!
Thanks friend!!
These are so fun! Love kebabs for kids!
Hopefully mine can help skewering them soon!
These were great! We had some pre-cooked chicken and customized everyone’s per taste. Mine had green olives, green peppers, red onion, mozzarella, and grilled chicken. Super tasty! We’re trying to go low-carb so didn’t add anything starchy. Even our picky eater enjoyed this meal. Thanks for the great idea!