Name: Caprese Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 ripe tomatoes, sliced; 1 fresh mozzarella ball (8 oz), sliced; 1 cup fresh basil leaves; 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1 tbsp balsamic glaze, optional; 0.5 tsp flaky sea salt; 0.5 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked

← Back to all recipes

Caprese Salad

FreshEasyPrep 10 minCook 0 minServes 4

Three ingredients, done right: ripe tomatoes, creamy mozzarella and basil, with good olive oil and flaky salt doing the rest.

Ingredients

4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 fresh mozzarella ball (8 oz), sliced
1 cup fresh basil leaves
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic glaze, optional
½ tsp flaky sea salt
½ tsp black pepper, freshly cracked

Steps

Alternate tomato and mozzarella slices, slightly overlapping, on a platter.
Tuck basil leaves between the slices.
Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze, if using.
Season with flaky salt and pepper and serve at room temperature, not fridge-cold.

Serve with: grilled bread, prosciutto or as a starter before pasta.

Caprese at room temperature tastes twice as good as caprese straight from the fridge — cold mutes both tomato and mozzarella.

Find this recipe in the Salads section on the RecipeDelish home page, where you can scale it, print a clean PDF, download the shopping list and use cook mode.

Tips & mistakes

Serve at room temperature — cold mutes the tomato and the mozzarella, and this salad is all about them.
Use the best olive oil you have; with three ingredients, the oil is a main flavor, not a background note.
Salt the tomatoes first and let them sit 5 minutes; the salt pulls out juice that becomes part of the dressing.
Tear the basil by hand — a knife bruises the leaves and turns the edges dark within minutes.

Frequently asked questions

What tomatoes are best? Ripe, in-season tomatoes: beefsteak or heirloom. Out-of-season tomatoes make a flat caprese, and no amount of good mozzarella fixes that.

Can I add anything? A drizzle of balsamic glaze is the only classic addition; avocado or peaches are modern twists. Keep additions to one at most, or the salad stops being a caprese.

Can I make it ahead? Assemble it up to an hour ahead and keep it at room temperature; refrigerating dulls the flavors. If you must refrigerate it, let it sit out 30 minutes before serving.

More to explore

Keep cooking — five sections our readers love most.