This easy Caprese salad layers tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with olive oil and a touch of balsamic glaze. Ready in just 10 minutes, this scaled-down recipe makes one generous light meal or two side-salad servings, and it's easy to double for a larger appetizer platter.
If ripe tomatoes are available to you, you can put them to very good use in this classic Caprese salad. If you're able to find them at a farm or farmers market, even better. 🙂 This tomato mozzarella salad takes just minutes to make, and you won't believe how well these fresh ingredients play together.
🌿 Ingredients
To make your Caprese salad recipe really pop, I can't recommend fresh, locally grown tomatoes enough. Their fresh flavor makes truly makes this recipe taste like summer. Look for bright red tomatoes that are juicy to the touch, not too firm and not overly ripe and soft either.
Look for fresh basil in the produce department or a farmers market (I don't recommend dried basil for this recipe.)
Also, opt for balsamic glaze over balsamic vinegar if you can. Either will work, but a glaze will make it super easy to drizzle over the dish and create an artistic and fancy looking dish.
Pro tip: To save a little time, look for a pre-sliced mozzarella log!
See recipe card below for exact quantities.
🥧 Serving suggestions
If you're cooking for one, this Caprese recipe makes a generous portion that would be perfect for a lunch or light dinner paired with some crusty bread. Or, serve as a first course or side salad and save half of the ingredients to assemble fresh the following day.
🍅 Use up the extras
If you have fresh mozzarella, basil, or tomatoes left over, try one of my other Caprese salad ideas next. A chopped Caprese salad with lettuce turns the same flavors into a heartier salad, if you'd like to involve some greens too.
💭 FAQ
Fresh mozzarella packed in water or brine is best for making Caprese salad. (You don't want to use low-moisture mozzarella, used for pizza making, which is too dry and salty for Caprese.) Look for a mozzarella log that you can slice, or buy a pre-sliced log to save some prep time.
Yes; balsamic vinegar will still work fine in a Caprese salad, but if you prefer a bit of extra sweetness as well as the ability to more artistically drizzle the balsamic over your salad, balsamic glaze is the way to go.
You can slice and arrange the mozzarella and tomatoes a few hours ahead of time if needed, but wait until just before serving to add the basil, oil and balsamic glaze to make sure your salad is as fresh as possible.
🍳 Recipe
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Wash and dry 2 medium tomatoes and ½ bunch fresh basil.
- Slice ½ mozzarella log into ¼" slices unless it's already sliced, and then slice the tomatoes to similar thickness.
- On a serving platter, alternate slightly overlapping tomato and basil slices, working from the edges of your platter into the center. Sprinkle the fresh basil leaves around the platter and drizzle 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil and 1 ½ teaspoons balsamic glaze over everything followed by a pinch sea salt and a pinch freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
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