If you're a tomato & mozzarella fan, you will LOVE this Caprese chopped salad with lettuce and chopped veggies drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze.
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Every year as it gets closer to summer I count down the days until I can find perfectly ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes at my local farmers market. Of course, you don't have to wait for summer (this recipe is delicious any time of the year!) But if you can get your hands on some just-picked cherry tomatoes for this recipe, I highly recommend it. 😉
This Caprese salad idea was actually inspired by my cherry tomato Caprese salad recipe, which is just a simplified version without the greens...I make both of these as often as possible here. And the great thing about a chopped salad is that it can easily be a light lunch or dinner on a warm day. On cooler days, you could also pair it with a cup of roasted butternut squash soup or minestrone. And for other delicious salad ideas, I highly recommend this classic Greek salad recipe, this French Niçoise salad or this simple cold cut salad.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Takes only 15 minutes to make
- Great way to use extra cherry tomatoes on hand
- Perfect side salad or light summer salad dish
- Easy to meal prep ahead of time
- Delicious variation on traditional Caprese salad
🌿 Ingredients
The ingredients you'll want to focus on here are the mozzarella, tomato and basil. Feel free to use baby mozzarella balls or a larger ball, and any kind of tomatoes if you don't have cherry tomatoes. I like to use balsamic glaze since it's so easy to drizzle, but balsamic vinegar works too if you can't find glaze.
See recipe card below for exact quantities.
📝 Instructions
Step 1: Wash and dry the salad greens and other vegetables, and slice the red onion, cucumber and basil. Then, halve the mozzarella and cherry tomatoes.
Step 2: Pour the greens out on a serving platter or into a large bowl and top them with the sliced cucumber.
Step 3: Add the red onion, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. No need to perfection here, just lay things out as evenly as possible.
Step 4: Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic glaze over everything, season with black pepper if desired, and serve immediately.
📋 Substitutions
Feel free to make any of the following substitutions as necessary!
- Mixed greens - substitute any kinds of greens, baby spinach, or chopped Romaine or red or green leaf lettuce
- Red onion - use white or yellow onion instead
- Cucumber - feel free to use sliced green or yellow pepper instead, or just leave out
- Basil - fresh basil is highly recommended for Caprese salad recipes, but a smaller amount of dried basil could work in a pinch
- Mozzarella - if you can't find baby mozzarella (bocconcino), you can just use a larger ball of mozzarella and slice it into 8-10 rounds
- Olive oil - use avocado oil instead
- Balsamic glaze - use balsamic vinegar instead
🔪 Equipment
I used the following equipment to make this recipe:
- cutting board
- chef's knife
🍱 Storage
This salad is best consumed immediately once the olive oil and balsamic glaze have been added, but will stay fresh for up to 24 hours in the fridge.
For meal prep, wash the veggies and slice and store everything in the fridge for up to 4 days in meal prep containers or separately. When you're ready to eat, drizzle the olive oil and balsamic glaze over your salad and season with freshly ground black pepper if desired.
🎉 Top tip
Look for the ripest, juiciest cherry tomatoes or other tomatoes you can find and see if you can find all of the produce in season and locally; it really makes all the difference in the world.
Enjoy!
💭 FAQ
A Caprese chopped salad typically contains chopped lettuce or mixed greens as the base, along with tomato, mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic vinegar or glaze along with other chopped salad veggies such as onion or cucumber.
Caprese salad is best consumed immediately, but the veggies can be washed and prepped up to 4 days in advance. When you're ready to serve the salad, drizzle the olive oil and balsamic glaze over it and season with freshly ground black pepper if desired.
Any fresh mozzarella can be used for a Caprese salad recipe, including baby mozzarella balls or larger balls of mozzarella (note that shredded mozzarella cheese for pizza is not the same and doesn't work in Caprese salads.)
It is highly recommended to use fresh basil if you can find it since it's an integral part of the fresh flavor profile of Caprese salads, but in a pinch you could substitute a little dried basil instead.
🍳 Recipe
Caprese Chopped Salad
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Prep: Wash and dry the salad greens and other vegetables, and slice the red onion, cucumber and basil. Halve the mozzarella and cherry tomatoes.
- Assemble: Pour the greens out on a serving platter or into a large bowl. Top them with the cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil and then drizzle the olive oil and balsamic glaze over everything.
- Enjoy: Serve immediately, season with black pepper if desired, and enjoy!
Allison
We made this salad last night and the whole family loved it!