Tomato Mozzarella Caprese Salad
This Tomato And Mozzarella Caprese Salad recipe will be the star of your next BBQ! Beautiful ripe tomatoes, fresh and soft mozzarella topped with best quality extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil leaves will make this dish a summer favorite!
This salad is super versatile and can be enjoyed as a side dish accompanying for example a BBQ, you can serve it as an appetizer or even have it for lunch or dinner! My family loves making a tomato mozzarella salad for dinner. We either eat just the salad or have it with our normal bread with butter and jam dinner (I know we Swiss are boring with our dinners lol). This dish is one of the easiest and quickest salads you can make.
Ingredients for this salad:
For this recipe you only need a few simple ingredients you can easily get at the normal store or even already have at home. The ingredients are available all year around. As tomatoes are in season during the summer it is best to prepare the salad during the summertime.
- Tomato: I recommend using sweet, ripe tomatoes. Make sure they are rather firm and not to soft. We do not want a mess in our bowl. I usually use tomatoes on the vine. Any tomato you like will work tough. I highly recommend using beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes if you can get them.
- Mozzarella: Make sure you get a food quality fresh Mozzarella. You want one of those soft, pillowy mozzarellas swimming in liquid. Avoid the dry and pressed as well as shredded versions please.
- Olive Oil: You want to get a good quality extra-virgin olive oil. We keep a special, very high quality olive oil in our cupboard especially for salads. Trust me, it is so worth it getting a good olive oil!
- Balsamic Vinegar: Use a good quality balsamic vinegar or a balsamic glace if you prefer. Both works just fine.
- Salt and Pepper: You will season your salad with salt and pepper.
- Basil: Get some fresh basil leaves to bring some nice and fresh flavor into the salad.
How to make this tomato mozzarella salad:
This tomato mozzarella salad is super easy and quick to put together. Lets get started shall we?
First up we have to prepare all the ingredients:
Cut the tomatoes into 0.5cm / about ¼inch slices. Make sure you wash your tomatoes before slicing.
For the mozzarella you can use either 1 or 2 mozzarella balls. This really depends on how you like it. When we make it as a side dish we usually use one mozzarella and as a main 2 mozzarellas. When using one mozzarella cut the ball in half and then make 0.5cm slices. If you decide to use 2 mozzarellas then slice the whole ball into the same thickness.
Then we have to chiffonade the basil. You might ask yourself now what does chiffonade mean? To chiffonade basil might sound super complicated but trust me it is super easy to make and will make your salad look super fancy.
How to chiffonade basil?
- Step 1: Lay all the leaves on top of each other. Start with big leaves on the bottom and work up to the smallest leave.
- Step 2: Roll up the leaves. Basil already naturally curls to the backside. Just curl it into that direction lengthwise.
- Step 3: Now that you have your basil roll get a good knive and cut thin stripes.
- Step 4: Unroll and separate the stripes . There you go, you just made basil chiffonade woot!
After preparing the ingredients we now assemble the salad:
Get a shallow big bowl. Take your tomato and mozzarella slices and start laying them into a bowl alternating between tomatoes and mozzarella.
Next it is time to get our Italian dressing onto the salad. Drizzle your olive oil and the balsamic vinegar over the whole salad.
Lastly, to finish the salad season it with salt and pepper and scatter the basil chiffon over it.
Your salad is ready to be served!
Assemble Olive Oil Balsamic Vinegar
Can you make tomato mozzarella caprese salad recipe ahead of time?
You can absolutely prepare this salad ahead of time as long as you served it on the same day. Keep the salad in the fridge till 30 minutes before serving. Let it come to room temperature before you serve it as it will taste much better.
I do not recommend preparing it the day before as the salad will get very soggy and the tomatoes will loose a lot of their juice which will swim in the bowl.
What goes well with tomato and mozzarella salad
Tomato And Mozzarella Caprese Salad
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Knive
- Shallow bowl
Ingredients
- 2 Tomatoes medium sized, on the firm side
- 1-2 Mozzarella fresh (read notes for amount)
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil extra virgin
- 2 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar or balsamic glaze
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 handful Basil leaves
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients
- Wash your tomatoes and cut them into 0.5cm / about ¼inch slices.
- When using one mozzarella cut the ball in half and then make 0.5cm slices. If you decide to use 2 mozzarellas then slice the whole ball into the same thickness.
- Chiffon the basil. *
Assemble the salad:
- Put the slices into a shallow bowl alternating with tomato and mozzarella.
- Now pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the salad.
- Sprinkle some salt and pepper over it as seasoning.
- Add the basil stripes and serve.
Notes
- Use sweet, ripe tomatoes like tomatoes on the vine, beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes.
- For the mozzarella you can use either 1 or 2 mozzarella balls. This really depends on how you like it. When we make it as a side dish we usually use one mozzarella and as a main 2 mozzarellas.
- Chiffon Basil: In case you do not know how to chiffon your basil I have explained how to use the chiffon technique above.
- You can absolutely prepare this salad ahead of time as long as you served it on the same day. Keep the salad in the fridge till 30 minutes before serving. Let it come to room temperature before you serve it as it will taste much better.
Loving this caprese salad! It is so light and refreshing!