Name: Caprese Salad (Insalata Caprese)
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 4 large tomatoes; 1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese; 1 cup fresh basil leaves; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar; 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley; 1/2 teaspoon dried basil; salt and pepper

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Quick, easy and delicious, this Italian caprese salad is perfect to serve as an appetizer or a side dish. Made with simple ingredients and finished with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, it's ready to serve in less than 10 minutes.

I'm not much of a salad person but there are always times when you want to accompany your meals with something fresh and delicious. This is without doubt my favorite salad ever!

It's perfect to serve as an accompaniment to any main meals, I love serving Insalata Caprese with my grilled chicken skewers. It's such a fresh and flavorful dish that's great to serve by itself as a delicious appetizer.

Caprese Salad Ingredients

Tomatoes: Use large rip tomatoes for the best dish. I like to use ones on the vine or large plum tomatoes that have the sweetest and freshest flavors.
Mozzarella Cheese: Use fresh mozzarella cheese, I like to use a whole milk one that is really creamy.
Basil Leaves: The basil leaves adds a unique freshness and flavor.
Olive Oil: If you have extra virgin olive oil, then use this to drizzle over the salad rather than cooking olive oil.
Balsamic Vinegar: Balsamic adds a tasty tang that cuts through the creamy cheese.
Dried Parsley and Basil: A little sprinkling adds a wonderful herby aroma and flavor to each bite.
Salt and Pepper: Added to taste to bring out the flavors from the other ingredients.

How To Make Caprese Salad

This is such a quick, simple and scrumptious salad that I cannot think of any reason why one wouldn't make it on a regular bases. Specially, during small gathering. It is great as an appetizer or as a side dish for lunch or dinner. Making it is so easy.

preparing the salad and adding it to a platter

drizzling balsamic vinegar over the salad

Just cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into slightly thick slices and place them on a pretty platter with the basil leaves, alternating.
Then, drizzle them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Finally, sprinkle with dried parsley, basil, salt and pepper.

That is all! In 10 minutes, you'll be enjoying an amazing, super delicious healthy salad. Did I mentioned it looks pretty too? No?

Well then, it's so pretty!

Why is it called caprese salad?

This simple caprese salad, originates from Italy. It is from the island of Capri, and insalata caprese literally translates to 'salad of Capri.'

Can you make it ahead of time?

You don't want to make this salad too far ahead of time, otherwise the mozzarella and tomatoes can dry out. You can slice the cheese and tomatoes up to 2 hours before you are ready to serve the dish and keep it covered with plastic wrap. I keep it at room temperature rather than refrigerate it.

When you are ready to serve, drizzle over the oil, vinegar and sprinkle the seasonings.

close view of juicy tomatoes and creamy mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar

Recipe Notes and Tips

Use the freshest mozzarella you can for the best flavor and texture. I like to buy it the day I plan to serve it.
Make sure your tomatoes are super ripe so that they are at their sweetest.
Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into even thicknesses.
This simple dish is all about the ingredients, so use the best you can!

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