Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad is so tasty - and easy! Made with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and fresh basil chopped caprese salad is the perfect Summer salad that you can make in 8 minutes or less! This is also a low carb and keto salad so everyone can enjoy!
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🎥 Recipe Video
❤️ Caprese Salad Cherry Tomatoes
"This is one of my favorite salads. It reminds me of our trip to Italy - in which we ate A LOT of it. It's just so fresh and delicious - I can't get enough of it. I came up with this idea when my garden started producing a ton of cherry tomatoes one year." 🙂 -Kori
Love salads? Make sure to try this make-ahead 24-hour Layered Salad, my low carb Dill Pickle Slaw, or this Italian Pasta Salad that can be me with pasta or cauliflower! Enjoy! 🙂
Super Easy
Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad can be made in 8 minutes or less with just a few simple ingredients! Fresh cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil are tossed with a tangy vinegar dressing. Oh Yum.
Perfect Year-Round
Caprese salad with cherry tomatoes is the perfect summer salad for your next potluck, backyard bbq, or cookout! Bonus: it can easily be doubled or tripled if you are serving large crowds!
Healthy Salad
Chopped caprese salad is a low carb & keto salad!
Full nutritional information is located at the bottom of the recipe card but here are the most important if you're following a low carb or keto diet:
13.5g fat | 2.3g net carbs | 6.9g protein
🥗 How to Serve
Caprese salad makes a great side salad to so many dishes!
It is the perfect salad to take for a cookout or picnic because it keeps and travels well.
Want to go Italian? Serve this salad with one of these fantastic main dish Italian recipes Italian Crock Pot Beef Roast, Stuffed Italian Meatloaf, or Italian Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs!
🍅 Ingredients and Tools
Here's what you'll need to make this cherry tomato salad:
Ingredients
- Cherry Tomatoes - I used cherry tomatoes because they are so convenient. You can serve them whole or even halve them. I often do both to take advantage of the cherry tomatoes juices.
- Mozzarella Pearls - the whole milk variety of mozzarella will give this salad the best flavor. I used mozzarella balls because they are SUPER easy - no cubing needed!
- Fresh Basil - fresh is best! Pick the small leaves and you don't have to tear or slice the leaves.
- Olive Oil
- Vinegar - use balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar - or a combination of the two.
- Garlic
- Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
Tools
🔪Instructions
Here's how to make Caprese Salad Cherry Tomatoes:
Add
In a medium-sized bowl add cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper.
Mix
Mix all the ingredients until combined.
Serve
Adjust flavors as needed. Serve and enjoy!
💭 Expert Tips
- I like to use the tiny small basil leaves for cherry tomato Caprese salad because you can just toss them in. If you don't have small leaves available no worries! Just tear the basil or chiffonade (fastest way) the leaves. Here's a video on how to chiffonade basil.
- Is your salad too tangy? Add a little sugar (or substitute). Is it too sweet? Add a little white wine or regular vinegar.
- If you aren't a balsamic vinegar fan, use white wine vinegar instead. Balsamic vinegar is a sweeter vinegar so it goes well with the tang of the tomatoes. You can also use half balsamic vinegar and half white wine vinegar if you want. If you use white wine vinegar only, you may want to add a 1/2 or 1 tsp of sweetener to offset the tang. Just make the salad with the vinegar you like, then do a taste test. Adjust seasoning from there!
- If you don't have cherry tomatoes: slice Roma tomatoes and whole mozzarella, and use full-sized basil leaves. Alternate the tomatoes, mozzarella slices, and basil on a platter. Drizzle the rest of the ingredients over the salad. So good!
❓ FAQs
Can This Caprese Salad Be Made Ahead?
You can prep this salad up to 24 hours in advance. Add all ingredients to a bowl, except the basil. Stir, cover, and keep in the refrigerator until about 1 hour before you plan on serving it then add the basil.
Basil is best served when fresh and once you tear it or chiffonade it will become bruised. Voila! One delicious Caprese salad!
Can I make caprese salad without balsamic vinegar?
Yes, you can make caprese salad without balsamic vinegar. Whether you don't like balsamic vinegar, or you are watching your sugar content, you can substitute a white wine vinegar or even a red wine vinegar.
While balsamic vinegar is traditionally used, I use white wine vinegar too. Sometimes I even mix the two. I have on occasion picked up a very sweet balsamic vinegar. It's okay to use half white wine vinegar and half balsamic.
What is the best vinegar to use in caprese salad?
The classic way is to serve caprese salad with balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar. Some balsamic vinegar is very sweet so you can blend two types together if you'd prefer (or use less).
How long will caprese salad last in the fridge?
Once the dressing is added this salad is best when eaten within 1 to 2 days.
Can I make caprese salad without basil?
Yes and no. Technically it isn't going to be a true Caprese salad without basil, but as with anything, it is totally a personal preference!
Is caprese salad healthy?
Yes, Caprese salad is healthy. Tomatoes are very healthy and provide almost 30% of your day's vitamin C and 20% of vitamin A. The mozzarella provides calcium, and the olive oil is a healthy fat.
This recipe fits well into the low carb and ketogenic diets because it has 13.5 g fat, 6.9 g protein, and only 2.7 g net carbs.
There is no added sugar in this recipe and all ingredients are gluten-free. If you are worried about the sugar content in balsamic vinegar, use white wine vinegar. If you want to offset the tang of the vinegar and tomatoes use 1/2 to 1 tsp of sugar-free sweetener.
How can I lower the fat in this salad?
You can use a lower fat mozzarella and cut into cubes if it doesn't come in the pearl size. You can also use less olive oil than the recipe calls for.
There are 6 grams of carbs in cherry tomatoes for every 1 cup. Each cup also has 2 grams of net fiber, resulting in 4 net carbs.
Yes, absolutely. You can eat tomatoes on keto. Each cup has only 4 net carbs. It is important to eat nutritious vegetables when following a keto diet. For more information on what you can eat on keto please see our Printable Keto Food List PDF
There are 157 calories per serving, this salad serves 8 people and each serving is approximately 1/2 to 2/3 a cup.
✔️ More Salad Recipes
- Grilled Shrimp Salad Recipe (Shrimp Louie Salad)
- Hawaiian Chicken Salad
- Seafood Pasta Salad (Use Pasta or Cauliflower)
- Best Greek Salad Recipe
- Low Carb Coleslaw (Dill Pickle Slaw)
- Thai Peanut Salad (Low Carb and Keto)
⭐ Let's Connect
If you tried this Cherry Tomato Salad, let me know! I'd love for you to come back and give the recipe a 5-star rating and/or a review in the comments! 🙂 Let's stay connected, so please share photos of your creations with me and others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! Don't forget to tag #seekinggoodeats
📋 Recipe
Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad
This salad is so tasty - and easy! Made with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and fresh basil chopped caprese salad is the perfect Summer salad that you can make in no time!
Ingredients
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes, (halved)
- 8 oz whole-milk mozzarella pearls, (about 1½ cups)
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, (tear or slice larger leaves)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon vinegar, (use balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar - or a combination of the two)
- 1 garlic clove, (minced)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl add cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, basil, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Stir until combined. Refrigerate up to 1 or 2 hours before serving.
- Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1/8 recipe (approx 1/2 to 2/3 cup)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 157Total Fat: 13.5gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 258mgCarbohydrates: 3gNet Carbohydrates: 2.3gFiber: 0.7gSugar: 1.8gProtein: 6.9g
Charlene Seger says
This was a great recipe! I used yellow cherry tomatoes
from my surplus and didn't put all the cheese in, it seemed to be too much. Added it in with the little bit of leftovers. I'll make this again!
Kori says
Great! Thank you!! So glad you loved the salad and were able to use up some surplus cherry tomatoes. That's EXACTLY how I came up with the recipe. More cherry tomatoes than I knew what to do with. lol 🙂