Caprese Salad is an easy Mediterranean salad prepared with a handful of fresh ingredients.
Make this Italian salad all year round and enjoy for lunch or as an appetizer, or make it your own with my flavor options!
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Caprese Salad makes me happy, and I can eat it all the time, not just in summer. My husband was mesmerized by the flavors the moment he was introduced to it.
He describes the tomato mozzarella and basil as a brilliant marriage between ingredients, and the olive oil completes the dish.
Sounds promising, right?
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What is Caprese Salad?
Caprese Salad, Insalata Caprese in Italian, means salad from Capri. The island of Capri belongs to Italy.
The salad consists of fresh basil leaves, fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. The green, white and red ingredients represent the Italian flag in the Caprese Salad.
Green for the basil, White for the buffalo mozzarella and red for the tomato. The textures and flavors make this layered salad so special.
It's served as a dish on its own or as a side dish salad.
Ingredient Notes
Getting and using quality ingredients for your Caprese salad is crucial!
- Mozzarella — Use only fresh buffalo mozzarella, not the processed mozzarella cheese which is used on pizzas and which looks like cheddar. Soft fresh mozzarella cheese is turned into a ball and then kept in brine. Soft mozzarella can be stored for a few days in the brine in the fridge. Follow the expiry date. You can use small mozzarella balls too.
- Basil — Use Italian fresh sweet basil for this recipe. That's the most common basic basil in stores. Don't use Thai Basil or Holy Basil (Tulsi), they taste different. Young Italian basil leaves are always preferred.
- Tomato — Pick red fresh tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market are great for this. I love juicy tomatoes in my caprese salad!
- Olive Oil — Quality olive oil is the dressing for this salad. Drizzling a bit of olive oil over your caprese salad makes it a proper Italian dish. Use extra-virgin olive oil with this salad, which can taste a bit spicy. This just adds flavor to your dish.
- Salt & Black Pepper — You can use pink Himalayan salt or French sea salt. Try to use only freshly crushed quality black pepper for the best result. I like fruity black pepper varieties such as Tellycherry.
If you intend to use mini fresh mozzarella balls (known as bocconcini), use cherry tomatoes or small grape tomatoes.
You can use orange or green ripe tomatoes varieties too, but then it's just a tomato mozzarella salad.
It's called a caprese salad because the colors of the ingredients represent the Italian flag.
The tomatoes can be room temperature or cooled. Cut the slices of tomatoes not too thin, nor too thick.
How to make it?
Step 1
Cut open the mozzarella packet and remove the cheese ball from the brine. Drip off excess water. Cut the soft mozzarella into slices.
Step 2
Wash your tomato, pat dry and slice.
Rinse off fresh basil leaves to get rid of impurities and pat dry as well.
Step 3
Layer the salad the traditional way by placing a basil leaf to a mozzarella slice and a tomato slice (for the Italian flag). Arrange on a serving platter.
You can also place all the ingredients into a salad bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Serve your salad.
📖 Recipe
Italian Caprese Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tomato medium
- 1 Large Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
- Basil Fresh fresh
- Dash Olive Oil extra virgin
- Pinch Salt
- Pinch Black Pepper Ground
Instructions
- Rinse tomatoes, pat dry and cut into medium to thick slices.3 Tomato
- Cut open the mozzarella cheese bag, discard all the water, shake off liquids from the cheese ball. Cut mozzarella into slices. You may cut the ball first into half if it's a large one.1 Large Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
- Rinse fresh basil leaves to get rid of impurities. Pat dry.Basil Fresh
- Layer your salad ingredients. Place basil leaves, mozzarella slice, and tomato slice alternating on a serving platter.
- Sprinkle olive oil, salt and if you like black pepper, over the arranged Caprese salad.Pinch Salt, Pinch Black Pepper Ground, Dash Olive Oil
- Serve your salad cooled.
Notes
Nutrition
Variations
You can enhance your salad by adding the following ingredients to it. Italians would call this an adulterated version.
- leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula and baby spinach.
- strawberries (Panera Copycat)
- other fruits such as peach and watermelon
- chicken cooked, such as leftover rotisserie chicken
- avocado
For the dressing, you can also sprinkle balsamic vinegar, a balsamic glaze reduction over the salad or enjoy it with basil pesto.
Another idea is to use burrata instead of a mozzarella ball in this caprese salad recipe.
FAQs
Yes, you can make this salad ahead of time. Just slice and place all ingredients into an airtight container. To serve, sprinkle olive oil and seasoning over the arranged fresh ingredients.
Italians always assemble this salad according to the Italian flag. Start with a fresh leave of basil, a slice of mozzarella cheese touching a tomato slice. Repeat the process and create as many rows as you like. You can serve up a whole caprese platter!
Yes! It's a well-balanced salad with fresh ingredients that is served with olive oil. The salad is low-carb keto.
The salad goes well with small Italian Ravioli, Gnocchi or Pasta meals. You might also enjoy it with veal Milanese or Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
White wines or roses are most suitable with your Carpese Salad. I recommend a crisp, slightly sweet but balanced Pinot Gris white wine or a Laroque rose.
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