Savor the essence of Italian cuisine with our 4-ingredient Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze. This classic recipe serves beautifully as either a starter or a crisp side, capturing the sun-kissed sweetness of garden tomatoes. Its effortless assembly makes it an ideal choice for summer gatherings, offering a taste of Italy on your plate.
Today, we’re making the 4 ingredient Caprese salad, a classic Italian dish known for its fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, and olive oil, echoing the Italian flag’s colors.
While traditional Caprese ingredients might not always be available, common variations include cow’s milk mozzarella and arugula. You can also add extras like pesto, nuts, avocados, or capers.
Choosing high-quality ingredients is crucial, especially the mozzarella, which should be brine-soaked and free of yellow spots, with a soft, juicy texture, not rubbery.
Let’s begin.
Ingredients you will need to make a Delicious Caprese Salad:
- Tomatoes. I used different types of tomatoes to add more flavors and more colors to the plate. If you want, you can use only one type of tomato for this recipe.
- Mozzarella. You can use baby mozzarella or fresh mozzarella. For the true lovers of this type of cheese, I would recommend using buffalo mozzarella. Or, for a different and special taste, you can use the burrata cheese that will change totally this salad.
- Basil Pesto. You can use the commercial pesto, or if you have the necessary ingredients, you can make your own basil pesto at home.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s very important to use an oil of high quality because in that salad we have only a few ingredients and the taste of every ingredient counts.
- Balsamic Vinegar Glaze.
- Optional: Basil for decoration.
How to make a delicious Caprese Salad?
Cut the mozzarella cheese into small slices of ¼ ″.
Slice the tomatoes in the same way as the mozzarella.
Mix the basil pesto with olive oil and after that, spread 1/3 of this sauce on the plate.
The next step will be to arrange as you want the tomato slices on the plate.
With another third of the sauce, splash on the tomatoes.
Now it’s time to add the mozzarella to the plate. Arrange it above the tomatoes.
Splash with the last third of basil sauce above the salad.
And the last step, splash the salad with a few drops of Balsamic sauce.
😻 Other Recipes You May Enjoy
- 4 Ingredient Tomato And Onion Salad
- Easy Pittsburgh Chicken Salad
- 4 Ingredient Tomato And Feta Salad
- 4 Ingredient Eggplant And Feta Salad
- Shrimp Pasta Salad With Italian Dressing
Answering Your Questions:
How Long Does Caprese Salad Last?
This is not a salad that allows you to keep it for a long time. Once you cut the tomatoes and put on the dressing them, it must be eaten.
Can I Make the Caprese Salad Ahead of the Time?
I will not recommend doing that because the tomatoes will leave the juice and they will lose their appearance and taste.
Also, it is a recipe that is very easy to prepare, and it would not make much sense to cook ahead of time.
But, if for some reason, you have to prepare the Caprese salad ahead of time, you can replace the regular tomatoes with cherry and leave them uncut.
Recipe Card:
4-ingredient Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
- 4 Tomato Red and Yellow
- 8 oz Mozarella
- 2 tablespoons Basil Pesto
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar Glaze
- 4 leaves Basil for decoration
Instructions
- Cut the mozzarella cheese into small slices of ¼″ .8 oz Mozarella
- Slice the tomatoes into the same way as the mozzarella.4 Tomato
- Mix the basil pesto with olive oil and after that, spread ⅓ of this sauce on the plate.2 tablespoons Basil Pesto, 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- The next step will be to arrange as you want the tomato slices on the plate.
- With another third of the sauce, splash on the tomatoes.
- Now it’s time to add the mozzarella to the plate. Arrange it above the tomatoes.
- Splash with the last third of sauce above the salad.
- And the last step, splash the salad with a few drops of Balsamic sauce.1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar Glaze, 4 leaves Basil
Quick Note
I highly recommend reading the entire recipe to find more tips and notes about this recipe. Read Full Recipe ⇑
Karen
This is a great idea for a party appetizer! I’m hosting one tomorrow and this is already on my menu as well as many other of your recipes! Thank you so much!