Caprese Salad

If you’re looking for a truly refreshing salad, with the fresh taste of basil, then look no further than this gorgeous Caprese Salad recipe. Using a combination of fresh cherry tomatoes, bocconcini  mozzarella and basil with homemade croutons. A luscious Balsamic pesto dressing in this Caprese salad pops up the flavors to make it extra satisfying. 

Why Caprese Salad

Caprese salad is a great option if you are looking for a light but satisfying summer dish.

This traditional Italian salad Is lovely and cooling to have on those warm days and the addition of homemade croutons makes this a light but fulfilling salad.

Using really fresh flavors like basil and a zingy pesto dressing, this Caprese salad is anything but boring.

In Italy and in the island of Capri is where Caprese salad originated. The colors red, green and white are meant to represent the Italian flag and fresh simple food culture. 

While I appreciate the original version of this recipe so much, I’ve tried to use the same simple ingredients to play around with them a few times. There’s a Strawberry Caprese Salad that replaces tomatoes with strawberries. Super sweet and bright with a Basil Pesto dressing.

Also, I tried frying the mozzarella and skewered tomatoes and basil to make these Pistachio Fried Caprese Bites. That is a DREAMY finger food recipe you need to try!

I can’t urge you enough to try the so many varieties of this Italian classic!

How to Make Caprese Salad?

There is really nothing complicated about this recipe, and it’s super simple to make. With just a few fresh ingredients simply put together, you get a lovely salad you can enjoy in no time.

There are three main ingredients to the salad.

• Tomatoes. Use your favorite type of whole tomatoes sliced up or use cherry tomatoes as i did today.
• Fresh basil. Lots of it.
• Bocconcini or fresh Mozzarella. 

Arrange those simple tasty ingredients on a plate. 

Now all you have left to do is the dressing and homemade croutons. While croutons are optional and un-traditional, I absolutely urge you not to skip on them!

How to make homemade croutons?

The first step in this Caprese salad is to make homemade croutons. To do this you need to line a baking dish with a baking sheet or tin foil and break the bread into small/ medium-sized chunks and put them on the baking tray.

The bread you use for croutons is best when stale. You can leave some bread outside to get slightly dry and stale, as these make the best croutons. If you use sliced bread, you want to make sure you’ve got a loaf with thick slices. 

Fresh bread can also be used, however they will need extra time to dry out in the oven.

You then need to coat your bread in extra virgin olive oil and add the garlic and sprinkle with salt, oregano and chilli flakes.  Toss it all together so it spreads evenly over the bread and bake for 10 minutes.

Take them out and leave them to cool while you are making the rest of the salad.

Caprese Salad Dressing

Next, it’s time to prepare your Caprese Salad dressing.

A classic Caprese salad dressing could just be salt and olive oil. You’ll also find some dressings with a drizzle of Balsamic vinegar. 

However I’ve found the BEST dressing to be a combo of basil pesto, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and thoroughly mix them together.

This will give you lovely zingy basil and balsamic dressing to really relish your salad with. The croutons will also soak up some of this dressing and make them extra tasty.

PS – My homemade Basil Pesto post is a detailed step by step of the best pesto recipe. Plus tons of tips on making Basil Pesto without nuts, with different herbs, cheese, and storing/freezing the pesto. A MUST READ! 

Caprese Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

Now it’s time to assemble the rest of your Caprese salad on a serving platter.  

Firstly spread your fresh basil leaves on the plate and then add the croutons. Then take all the cherry tomatoes off the vine and spread them out onto the plate too. You’ll want to make sure you are using nice ripe tomatoes.

Now add the fresh mozzarella cheese to the plate. In this recipe, I use Bocconcini which is like small balls of mozzarella cheese that work really well in this recipe.

The final thing to do before you can enjoy this salad is to drizzle your pesto balsamic glaze over your salad and it’s ready.

For personal preference, you can add salt and pepper at the end. I would recommend using a coarse black pepper if you want to add this to the recipe.

Caprese salad Recipe Tips

This is a really simple salad to make and can be used as either a main dish or even as a lovely side dish to complement almost any other dish. Once you’ve tried this version of a Caprese salad with a pesto balsamic dressing, you’ll be making this healthy dish again and again.

• Choose ripe tomatoes! This is crucial.
• Make sure your use fresh Mozzarella cheese.
• Always slice tomatoes and cheese if using whole so the salad is easy to serve.
• Fresh basil is a must, avoid any other substitute.
• Adding Basil Pesto to the dressing along with sweet balsamic vinegar accentuates the flavors of this simple tasty Caprese so much!
• While croutons are not classically made in a Caprese, you’ll find that they add a hearty feel to the salad. 

Caprese Salad FAQ’S

I can’t find Bocconcini at my local store, what should I use?

If you can’t find any of the small little balls of mozzarella cheese then you can use the normal mozzarella you find in your local store. You can then either break the cheese up into little chunks or slice the cheese and layer it on your salad platter.

Do I need to use cherry tomatoes?

Traditionally this recipe uses normal tomatoes and not cherry tomatoes. However, I’ve used cherry tomatoes as they are full of flavour and sweeter than your normal large tomatoes. If you can I would use cherry tomatoes but you can use ordinary ones if necessary.

What Do you Eat Caprese Salad With?

It a great salad and appetizer as it is. However you can also use it on toast, quiche, pasta with chicken and so much more!!

Do you Eat the Basil In Caprese Salad?

A popular question and the answer is straightforward YES!! It’s like the “greens” of a green salad, and it compliments the tomatoes and mozzarella so beautifully! 

More Salad Recipes

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Best Feta Cucumber Salad Bites 

One Pot Quinoa Sweet Potato Salad

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