This Easy Caprese Salad is fresh, easy to make, and is bursting with delicious flavour! Best made with garden fresh ripe tomatoes and basil.

If you’re looking for a delicious and simple salad recipe, this is it! Get this salad on to your summer plates! 😉

What do you eat caprese salad with?

Caprese salads are perfect for those hot days when you’re pressed for time…just take 5 minutes and make one, then serve it as a side dish with barbecued meats like steak and chicken, or serve them with your favourite pasta dishes. But they’re also perfect served as a light lunch or flavourful appetizer. So good.

Caprese Salad Recipe Variations

There are many ways to make this salad, including the mini tomato and mini bocconcini cheese version I made a while back. But the same stands true for all Caprese salads – they’re fresh, easy to make and they’re bursting with flavour. And one of the nice things about this salad are the many variations you can make of it. Use different Bocconcini cheeses (large ball, small balls and slices), use different types of tomatoes (colourful tomatoes look so pretty), add arugula or spinach, even fresh sliced peaches.

Major deliciousness going on here. You need to add this to your summertime menu! Enjoy!

Tips & Tricks

Tomatoes: You can use 6 vine ripened tomatoes or 2 cups of grape or cherry tomatoes for this salad. Heirloom tomatoes look especially nice! Just make sure to use the most flavourful and best tomatoes you can find.
Basil: Use fresh basil for this salad!
Bocconcini Cheese: We use a bocconcini ball (fresh mozzarella cheese) for this salad, and rip it up into chunks. You can also use bocconcini slices or small balls.
Balsamic: This salad is delicious served with a balsamic glaze reduction or even just balsamic vinegar. I prefer the reduction because it’s sweet and flavourful. I just buy a pre-made reduction, they’re easy and delicious. You can even make a balsamic vinegar/olive oil vinaigrette.
Serve with: Have extra balsamic reduction (or vinegar) available. You can also serve this salad with baguette slices.
Additional Options: You can add other ingredients to this salad like arugula and spinach. A dollop of pesto is also a delicious addition!
Make Ahead. This salad is best served right away, but it can be made about an hour before you want to serve it…if you leave it any longer the tomatoes will release their juices and the salad will get runny. Just make sure you keep it covered so the cheese doesn’t dry out. OR assemble everything except the cheese and add it right before you serve it.