This Classic Caprese Salad Recipe is the perfect fresh appetizer to serve friends and family on a hot summer evening, though you can easily enjoy it anytime.
With only a few simple ingredients, making this traditional Italian Caprese salad takes less than 10 minutes. It's flavor-packed and filled with such freshness you won't be able to resist!
Read on to learn how to make a classic Italian Caprese salad.
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What Goes into a Traditional Italian Caprese Salad?
The web is filled with recipes for Caprese salad. Most recipes call for a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar, which is fine, unless you want an authentic Italian experience.
Traditional Caprese contains just five simple ingredients of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, good extra virgin olive oil, and salt. That's it.
From what I have read, balsamic vinegar is not included in classic Caprese, as Kate Wickers of Italy Magazine vehemently defends in her article, "Insalata Caprese."
You will not find balsamic vinegar in my recipe either, because I prefer the authentic style and I don't like vinegar.
Reasons You'll Love This Recipe:
- Fresh, simple ingredients
- Easy to prepare anytime
- Crowd-pleasing appetizer with little effort
Ingredients
As previously mentioned, this recipe is easy to make with just five ingredients - six if you like pepper - and balsamic vinegar is not one of them.
When I first began using fresh mozzarella in recipes, it was very challenging to find a brand that did not include vinegar as an ingredient. That is, until I found Crave Brothers mozzarella. (No, this is not sponsored and, no, I am not affiliated, I just really love their products.)
Crave Brothers makes fresh mozzarella cheese in Wisconsin with just milk, citric acid, salt, and enzymes. The taste is incomparable to any other cow's milk mozzarella I have found, which I am believe has to do with the absence of vinegar. If you can find bufala/buffalo mozzarella, use it as it's more authentic to how this dish is prepared in Italy.
These are the ingredients you will need:
- Fresh Tomatoes, 2 to 4 large - Get large firm but ripe fresh tomatoes. I used two large Beefsteak tomatoes. Hothouse, On The Vine, and even Cluster Tomatoes should also work well for this recipe.
- Fresh Mozzarella, 12 to 16 ounces - I used about 10 to 12 ounces for this recipe, but you can easily use 16 ounces and it will turn out equally delicious.
- Fresh Basil, handful of leaves - Look for fresh basil leaves and avoid packages with leaves that are turning color. I purchased a 2 ounce package just to make sure I had enough of the freshest leaves to spread around the platter.
- Extra virgin olive oil, 2 to 3 tablespoons or to taste - Be sure to use a good extra virgin olive oil meant for drizzling over salads and other foods.
- Salt - A sprinkle of table salt to taste is all you need. I recommend trying it first without salt, because mozzarella usually contains a little salt on its own which may be enough.
- Pepper (optional) - If you like pepper, season to taste.
Kitchen Supplies and Equipment
You most likely have the kitchen supplies and equipment to make this Caprese salad recipe. However, I do offer recommendations below for the kitchen supplies that I use and love in case you are interested.
Serving Platter
Create a beautiful presentation of your Caprese salad on a lovely serving platter. I love this stunning pleated edge white porcelain oval platter that I used to serve our salad on as well as my Homemade French Fries, Scalloped Potatoes, and Roasted Peppers. The brand, Pillivuyt, still makes their beautiful high-fired porcelain in France that is lead and cadmium free, shock resistant, and should last you a very long time if taken care of.
Paring Knife
For slicing tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, I highly recommend this super sharp serrated paring knife that has a non-stick ceramic coating on it. It's Swiss designed and made with Japanese steel. I have the white serrated paring knife as well as the blue paring knife (non-serrated).
Directions
Step 1
Slice the tomatoes about ¼ inch thick. Set aside.
Step 2
Slice the mozzarella about ¼ inch thick. Set aside.
Step 3
Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella on the serving platter, alternating between the two. Fill in space with the fresh basil leaves. Drizzle olive oil over the platter and sprinkle with salt - and pepper if you want - to taste. Serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions
You can enjoy this fresh classic Caprese salad recipe anytime, especially in the spring and hot summer months.
Bring a platter of Caprese salad to brunch with friends and family, serve it as an appetizer while watching a game on the big screen, or make a platter to serve pool-side.
Classic Caprese Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 Tomatoes, large firm but ripe Beefsteak, Hothouse, On The Vine, or even Cluster Tomatoes
- 12 to 16 ounces Mozzarella, fresh bufala/buffalo or cow's milk mozzarella
- Handful Basil leaves, fresh
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper (optional), to taste
Instructions
- Slice the tomatoes about ¼ inch thick. Set aside.
- Slice the mozzarella about ¼ inch thick. Set aside.
- Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella on the serving platter, alternating slices. Fill in space with the fresh basil leaves. Drizzle olive oil over the platter. Sprinkle with salt - and pepper if you want - to taste. Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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