This post contains helpful tips and tricks! If you’re in a rush, please use the “Jump to Recipe” above!
🥗 What is Caprese salad?
Caprese salad literally means salad from the island of Capri - a beautiful, serene island in Southern Italy. Traditional Caprese salads use fresh tomatoes, beautiful and creamy mozzarella (or burrata), basil, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Occasionally, folks will drizzle balsamic vinegar or pesto. However, I recommend saving that for when you might not be able to get the freshest of summer ingredients).
💭 Why you’ll love this recipe
15 minute, six ingredient recipe. Seriously, get the fresh ingredients, chop them up and you’re in for a treat! Perfect for all your summertime needs and can make a great addition to any dinner party appetizer platter.Authentic recipe. This is a simple recipe but the tips and tricks I use are all from my time living in Rome!
📋 Traditional Caprese salad ingredients
My recipe uses the same exact ingredients as traditional Caprese salad - tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, and salt & pepper. This salad only has six ingredients, so like most Italian food, you want to get the highest quality ingredients you can afford!
Top tips and ingredient notes
Fresh basil leaves. Use whole or half leaves - a few brown spots are okay - but if it has large brown, black, or slimy spots, you should probably toss those! Mozzarella or burrata cheese, or mozzarella packed in water. You can also use burrata (which is a softer, creamier version) Heirloom tomatoes are the best tomatoes for Caprese salad. But you can also use any fresh garden tomato, cherry or vine tomatoes. I’ve used a mix of heirloom beefsteak tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. I try to avoid other varieties with high water content! Use a combination of salt and flaky sea salt (like Maldon’s). This adds texture as well as flavor to the dish!Use extra virgin olive oil. Good quality olive oil is not expensive, but try to get the best possible EVOO you can.
A great Caprese salad begins and ends with great ingredients! But see below for some other top tips while you make yours.
🍴 Serving & Storage Suggestions
Caprese salad is best served fresh. If you made extras, it stays okay in the fridge for a couple of days (but the tomatoes typically go mushy) -3 days. If you need to make it ahead of time, slice the mozzarella and tomatoes and store them separately in the refrigerator. What do you eat Caprese salad with? Well, glad you asked. Here are some great mains you can serve with this salad.
Pastas like this authentic cacio e pepe, or pea shoot pesto pasta with oyster mushrooms Avocado toast! If you’re craving a salad but also carbs, check out my ultimate guide to avocado toast toppings, including a Caprese option!Bread or rolls (I love serving with a rustic slice of bread) but hey - these cheddar biscuits taste awesome too!
If you want to check out an awesome variation of this Caprese salad, make sure to also check out this one pan Caprese orzo! If you like this recipe, check out my other summer salads: If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📖 Recipe
Note: This recipe was originally published on 25 June 2020, and was updated on 29 April, 2021.