Caprese Salad Recipe with Balsamic Glaze – A classic caprese salad recipe with out of this world flavor. Topped with a sweet, yet tangy balsamic glaze to elevate every single bite!
Garden fresh tomatoes and basil along with creamy mozzarella, drizzled with a tangy balsamic glaze is one of my favorite sides, especially in the summer. The flavor combination and presentation make this such a favorite dish!
We absolutely love caprese salads. As in, my family can not get enough of them when our basil and fresh tomatoes are at their peak. But, I won’t turn it down any time of year with store-bought tomatoes and basil. It’s that delicious!
Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze
There are a few tricks that I use on my Caprese Salad that I think makes it the best I’ve ever tasted.
How to Make Caprese Salad
To make this, you’ll need:
Ingredients
Tomatoes – I prefer to use fresh, in-season ripe tomatoes. If I can get these from my own garden or my local farm stand or CSA, they make they salad taste a million times better in my opinion. Here you’ll notice that I’ve used fresh heirloom tomatoes from the garden. It is just hard to beat their rich flavor! The better the tomatoes, the better the salad, I think!
Mozzarella – I love to cut thick slices of my mozzarella for layering. I do have a couple of tricks that I use for slice my mozzarella that might be of use. Mozzarella slices best when firm and straight from the refrigerator. Use the sharpest knife possible or even dental floss for cutting your mozzarella into beautiful slices. Once sliced, your mozzarella is perfect for layering.
Basil – I prefer to use fresh basil straight from my herb garden in my Caprese Salad. It just tastes so fresh -just like summertime! If you do use basil from the farmer’s market or even from the produce stand at the grocer, make sure that you store your basil stems in fresh water so that they stay as fresh as possible.
Olive Oil – A drizzle of quality olive oil adds to the flavor of the salad.
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Glaze – I use my homemade Balsamic Glaze as it only takes minutes to make and is so delicious, but you can use a favorite brand if you wish. It adds a bit of sweet and tangy flavor to eat bite of Caprese salad and enhances the presentation, as well as the deliciousness, of the dish.
Step by Step Instructions
- Assemble. To start assembling the salad, simply place a slice of tomato onto a platter. Then add a slice of mozzarella, then repeat with another tomato, and so on, repeating until complete.
- Top with Basil. Next, chiffonade the basil by rolling it tightly and cutting it into ribbons, then add to the top of tomatoes and mozzarella assembled.
- Season. Then drizzle the salad with olive oil. Sprinkle salad with salt and pepper. Finally, drizzle with Balsamic Glaze.
- Serve. Serve the Caprese Salad immediately for the freshest, most scrumptious flavor. .
Other Favorite Caprese Recipes
Topping On Bart’s Best Hamburgers
Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Here’s how you make caprese salad. It’s a classic that just works with so many meals or just right by itself on a hot summer day!
Caprese Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large tomatoes washed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
- 12 ounces Mozzarella cheese sliced into 1/4-inch slices
- 1/2 cup basil leaves washed, rolled and sliced into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Assemble caprese salad by alternating tomato and mozzarella slices on a medium platter. Top the slices with strips of basil and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over the salad and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- Serve immediately.
If you love caprese salad as much as I do, you might want to try my caprese salad skewers that are perfect bite-sized appetizers when entertaining or for special occasions.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published in 2010.
One of my fav things to enjoy!
mozzarella is so yummy!
It just does not get any simpler and tastier than this. I just made a fresh pizza for the guys at work today and this would have been a terrific starter. I guess I was just not thinking right today. Next week’s pizza gets this salad!
Tell us about the balsamic glaze. Is it a simple reduction?
Yes eager to hear about the glaze…how is it made? Thank you!
Mmm yes. Caprese Salad. Caprese Sandwich. Caprese anything! It’s been a while since I’ve made one so I think it’s time to go shopping for these ingredients! I love the yellow tomatoes, I hadn’t thought about switching it up but it looks beautiful with them!