Easy Caprese Salad With Balsamic Glaze

I LOVE a good, hearty summer salad. Like caprese salad. But this year, my caprese salads have been better than ever! You know why?

Because I’ve been making it with heirloom tomatoes that I grew in my own garden!

My garden has been a work in progress over the last 2-3 years, and it’s been such a rewarding experience to grow food in it! And it’s forcing me to come up with lots of creative ways to use the vast amounts of tomatoes, squash, eggplant, banana peppers, green beans, soy beans etc. that it’s producing this year!

And if you’re looking for quick and easy ways to enjoy fresh tomatoes, you really can’t beat a simple & fresh tomato mozzarella salad!

What is caprese salad?

Caprese salad is a tomato mozzarella salad that originates from Italy. Also known as insalata caprese (salad caprese), it’s said to have originated from the isle of Capri, in the region of Campania. The Campania region is known for mozzarella production and for growing fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes.

The classic caprese salad is made with vine ripened firm tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves to represent the red, white, and green colors. Followed by a drizzle of olive oil and a little salt.

A classic caprese salad is always delicious when you have the freshest, highest quality ingredients. There’s no denying that.

This caprese salad is made with my own freshly grown tomatoes as well, but I do include a couple of ingredients that are not quite traditional, but still makes for a delicious caprese salad variation (and quite possibly my favorite summer salad – right next to a good panzanella salad).

This easy caprese salad is made with red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese, and green basil leaves, but also includes green tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic syrup as well.

Recipe highlights

• Such a simple recipe with the freshest flavors and vibrant colors, and a perfect summer salad.
• Fantastic way to enjoy fresh tomatoes, AND green tomatoes as well.
• While the balsamic glaze isn’t traditional, it adds a lovely sweet, tangy flavor to the caprese salad.

Ingredients

Tomatoes

Perfectly ripe tomatoes that are firm. Ideally, slicing tomatoes. Not paste tomatoes. You can also add green tomatoes to the mix to add color and more texture and flavor.

Cherry tomatoes can be used as a salad base. But these cannot be plated the same way as sliced tomatoes.

Fresh mozzarella cheese

Mozzarella cheese that is sold in brine – not the block mozzarella cheese. This is fresh mozzarella cheese and is usually in the shape of a ball. You can get buffalo mozzarella cheese too.

You could use bocconcini as well, but these are small bite-sized mozzarella balls and are better paired with cherry tomatoes than large slicing tomatoes such as heirloom.

Fresh basil

You can’t use dried basil for this salad. Fresh basil leaves are a must. You can break larger leaves into pieces.

Olive oil and salt

Traditional extra virgin olive oil can be used. I use an infused oil instead here, because I really love the subtle spice in it. But you can use traditional, plain olive oil. For salt, I use Maldon sea salt flakes. This is my favorite finishing salt.

Balsamic syrup OR condimento balsamic vinegar

If affordable, a condimento balsamic vinegar can be used for a more complex flavor. Condimento balsamic vinegar is all balsamic vinegars that have a thick syrupy consistency.

DOP balsamic vinegars are super duper expensive. The IGP aged balsamic vinegars that are thick are less expensive, but still in the pricey range. Supermarket grade balsamic glaze is the most affordable, and usually contains thickeners and added sugar.

However, I recently shared my homemade balsamic glaze recipe! This is perfect to drizzle over any salad, not just caprese salad, and is made with supermarket balsamic vinegar.

So it’s more affordable and you can customize the flavor by adding herbs and other spices too!

How to make caprese salad

Step 1 – Choose good ingredients

Since this is a simple, no cook recipe, the quality of the ingredients carries much of the weight.

• Tomatoes – A good quality slicing tomato that is ripe BUT still firm. These tomatoes should also be flavorful. Summer tomatoes are better in flavor than off season tomatoes as well. I use black krim tomatoes that I grew in my yard. These are delicious and sweet, but you have to use them at the optimal time because they become soft so quickly.
• Green tomatoes – OPTIONAL. I also love to add some green tomatoes to the mix. Green tomatoes are very firm and have a more sour flavor that really complements the sweet and softer texture of red tomatoes.
• Mozzarella – There are many different brands of fresh mozzarella cheese you can buy. Fresh mozzarella is sold soaking in brine, and it’s soft. Not dry and hard. I prefer to use local mozzarella cheese if available, but the flavor must be good too! Fresh mozzarella cheese can be made with cow milk, buffalo milk, or sheep milk. It should have a lovely milky flavor. I also personally prefer salted mozzarella cheese because it has more flavor, but unsalted mozzarella cheese can easily be seasoned too.
• Basil leaves – Choose fresh basil leaves that are free from blemishes and brown patches and have a lovely green color. Since I grow my tomatoes with basil, I use garden grown basil.
• Balsamic syrup – You can make your own balsamic reduction, and I prefer this option as it’s affordable and I can adapt the flavor to my liking. Store-bought glazes don’t taste the same for me, but you can use them too.

You can also buy Condimento balsamic vinegar (thick balsamic vinegar), but this is usually pricey, although the flavor can be complex!

Step 2 – Prepare the ingredients

Slice the tomatoes with a sharp knife (image 1). If you use a dull knife, the tomatoes would get squashed when slicing. This will obviously affect their texture in the salad.

I like to slice the tomatoes at least 5 mm thick.

Rinse the mozzarella cheese to remove excess salt from the brine. Then slice the mozzarella to the same thickness as tomatoes (image 2).

Smaller basil leaves can be left whole, but tear the larger leaves into smaller pieces if you like (image 3). They can be left whole as well and placed with the tomatoes.

Sprinkle Maldon salt over the sliced tomatoes and cheese (if unsalted) (image 4).

Alternate the tomato and mozzarella slices on a large plate or platter (image 5). Sprinkle the basil leaves on top (image 6), OR tuck them in between the sliced tomatoes and cheese.

Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes and cheese (image 7), followed by the balsamic glaze (image 8).

Make sure the balsamic glaze is drizzled in a very thin stream so that you don’t add too much.

Serve immediately.

Tips for making an amazing caprese salad

• Use firm but ripe tomatoes for the best texture and flavor. Summer tomatoes also have the best flavor.
• Overripe tomatoes will be soft and the texture will be too mushy.
• Use a good mozzarella cheese that tastes delicious as is (or with a little salt).
• Slice the tomatoes and cheese into a similar thickness.
• Use a sharp knife so that it slices through the tomatoes easily without bruising / squashing them.
• Salt the tomatoes separately. Salt will help draw out some of the water and enhance the sweetness and overall flavor of the tomatoes (much like roasted tomatoes).

Add-ins and serving suggestions

• Traditional caprese salad only contains olive oil and salt on top. So, this balsamic glaze drizzle is a lovely add-in. I find that the balsamic glaze adds a sweet and tangy flavor to the tomato salad and cuts through the creaminess of the cheese. But too much of it will overpower the flavor of tomatoes as well. So be light-handed when drizzling it.
• This salad can be made with cherry tomatoes too! I like to halve the cherry tomatoes and bocconcini and tear the basil leaves for this salad. I’d also serve the balsamic glaze on the side, so that guests can drizzle it over the salad once they serve their portion.
• If you use cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls, you could serve these as caprese skewers too!
• Add fruits such as peaches or strawberries to make this fruity and fresh! Perfect for summer BBQs.
• While you can serve this with burrata cheese, I do not recommend slicing burrata. Instead, serve the burrata in the middle of the plate surrounded by the sliced tomatoes and basil with balsamic glaze. Tear open the burrata and drizzle with olive oil. When serving, guests can spoon soft burrata over the sliced tomatoes on their plate.
• This salad can be served with anything as a side dish! Grilled chicken, grilled steak, grilled vegetables etc. are delicious when paired with this balsamic caprese salad.