Robyn StoneCaprese 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!
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 have to tell you. I won’t turn it down in the dead of the winter with store bought tomatoes and basil either! There’s no shame!
How to Make Caprese Salad
There are a few tricks that I use on my caprese salad that I think makes it out of this world delicious!
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 in your caprese salad.
To layer, simply place one slice of tomato onto your platter, then a slice of mozzarella, then repeat with another tomato, and so on.
Basil
Again, I prefer to use fresh basil straight from my herb garden in my caprese salad. It just tastes so fresh and 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.
I used to just place a basil leaf between each layer of tomato and mozzarella, but discovered that if I stack the basil leaves and then roll them into a tight roll and slice them (chiffonade), then it makes for a pretty presentation and uses just the perfect amount of basil for each bite.
Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper
Once I have my tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil arranged on the platter, I drizzle the entire caprese salad with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. At this point, your classic Caprese Salad would be complete! However, I like to take it just one step more.
Balsamic Glaze
Drizzle your entire caprese salad with a bit of balsamic glaze to heighten and add a bit of sweet and tangy flavor to eat bite of your caprese salad. It adds just the special touch to make your caprese salad even better, I think.
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. They are just the cutest and easiest little skewers, but believe me, they disappear quickly! Therefore, I recommend that you always make more than you think you need!
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!