There’s Nothing Better than a Fantastic Caprese Salad

Pair perfectly ripe, juicy tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and peppery basil.

There’s no better way to showcase tomatoes than this: Caprese salad! This salad represents Italian cuisine at its finest: beautiful ingredients combined in a way that’s both elegant and simple. 

How to make the best Caprese salad: find the best tomatoes

Making the best Caprese salad is all about the ingredients! Italian food is often simple and uses the highest quality ingredients to get the best flavor. Here’s what to know about how to find the best tomatoes for Caprese salad:

• Use only juicy, perfectly ripe tomatoes. Do not even think about making this recipe outside of tomato season. Buy ripe and juicy tomatoes only: and local tomatoes if possible! A farmers market is a great place to shop. Garden tomatoes get even more points.
• Heirloom tomatoes add nuance in flavor and variation in color. Heirloom tomatoes are a variety that has been passed down, through several generations of a family by saving the seeds. Each type of heirloom tomato has a different flavor and a beautiful color, from red to green to yellow to purple. Get creative and use heirlooms if you like!

Use fresh mozzarella or burrata cheese

Fresh mozzarella cheese is a must here: the higher quality, the better! And if you can find burrata, it’s absolutely worth the splurge. Here are a few notes on cheese:

• Find best quality fresh mozzarella. Opt for a mid-price range fresh mozzarella that you can find at your grocery cheese counter. If you have a local creamery and you can buy some at the farmers market, even better!
• Amp it up with burrata cheese. Burrata cheese is fresh mozzarella with cream inside, and man is it rich and decadent! It’s perfect for Caprese salad with a little twist (or use it for Burrata Salad).
• Slice these in rounds or tear it into pieces. Caprese salad is often served with rounds of mozzarella cheese. But we like to tear it up into pieces: it makes it easier to eat and looks more interesting.

Season with olive oil, salt and pepper

Caprese salad is so simple because you barely need a recipe. Slice the tomatoes, tear up the mozzarella and sprinkle with basil leaves. The only other thing you need to do is drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. It’s absolutely necessary because fresh tomatoes need to be well-seasoned with salt.

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Step it up: drizzle with balsamic reduction

Want to really impress your guests with this Caprese salad? Add balsamic reduction! This syrupy glaze is also Italian and it adds flair to this recipe by bringing in a tangy sweet component. It’s absolutely not necessary and and actually not very traditional. But lots of restaurants serve their Caprese salad this way to dress it up. It’s very easy to make and you don’t even need a recipe! Here are the basic steps:

• Bring to a boil: Place ½ cup or more balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer.
• Simmer: Simmer gently for about 10 to 15 minutes until the quantity has reduced in half and it coats the back of a spoon.
• Cool: Remove from the heat, then transfer to a separate container to cool.

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Classic Caprese Salad