If you love the Italian classic caprese salad, you simply must try our Tomato Mozzarella Salad! It’s got all the same flavors, but we’re kicking things up a notch with our homemade Basil Vinaigrette. Essentially, it’s a fancier basil olive oil that has a bright citrus flavor with a slight kick from red pepper flakes and garlic. It’s so delicious, you’ll want to serve the basil vinaigrette on everything!
But back to the tomato mozzarella salad — it’s a beautiful way to celebrate the freshness of summer tomatoes! Make sure to use fresh mozzarella cheese instead of pre shredded or packaged, it will make all the difference in the world!
If you love this salad, be sure to check out our Panzanella Salad or our all-time favorite Peach Burrata Salad!
Clean, Simple Ingredients
This tomato mozzarella salad has 4 components: fresh summer tomatoes (though you can have fun with it and used a variety of shapes and sizes for improved texture, flavor, and appearance!, fresh mozzarella, flaky sea salt, and our basil vinaigrette! Feel free to use bocconcini (small mozzarella balls) or fresh burrata in place of traditional mozzarella!
In a twist on a traditional caprese salad, instead of simply using fresh basil leaves as an ingredient, we’re puréeing them with extra virgin olive oil, chopped shallot, a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of white wine vinegar, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and Kosher salt. If you could bottle the flavor of summer up and sell it, it would taste like this basil vinaigrette, hands down!
How To Make Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
If you have a personal size or mini blender, those are great for making salad dressings or small batch sauces. We recommend the Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender.
Place fresh basil leaves in the blender cup, then add one chopped shallot, a clove of sliced garlic, fresh lemon juice, white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar), Kosher salt, red pepper flakes, and an extra virgin olive oil that you love. Purée until smooth, then pour into a small bowl for serving and taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Basil vinaigrette will keep for up to 2 weeks in a fridge.
Uses For Leftover Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
Serve over any and all salads, grilled vegetables or proteins, such as chicken, salmon, shrimp, steak, or pork chops. This dressing is especially delicious served over grilled bread slices with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar — speaking from personal experience here!! Try it on our Grilled Corn and Zucchini Salad next!
How To Make Tomato Mozzarella Salad
Rinse and dry tomatoes, then slice, place on a plate or platter, then season with flaky sea salt. Let the seasoned tomatoes sit for at least 10 minutes. The salt will bring out their natural flavor.
Next, rip or tear the fresh mozzarella into bite sized pieces. Alternatively, you could use bocconcini (those little mozzarella balls) either whole or halved. Scatter around and on top of the tomatoes, then drizzle the whole plate with lots of basil vinaigrette. We add a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper. Garnish with a few fresh basil leaves, then serve immediately!
If you want, you can do a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or reduced balsamic glaze on top, but we find that flavor competes with the basil vinaigrette, which honestly is the star of the show.
What’s The Best Type Of Tomato To Use?
We tend to stick to heirloom tomatoes for their enhanced tomato flavor, but certainly use whatever is fresh, ripe, and looks best. We recommend using a variety of tomatoes, with the larger ones lending better to slices or wedges, while grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes are best sliced in half. You end up with a beautiful presentation and a variety of textures that is seriously pleasing.
Make It A Complete Meal!
While this is our idea of a perfect summer side dish, you can add roast chicken, grilled sausages, or any protein you love to make this more of a complete meal. Steak, seafood, pork, burgers — you name it, it will probably work well here.
Some of our favorite summer entrées are: Lamb Burger, Grilled Spatchcock Chicken, Crispy Grilled Chicken Wings, Skirt Steak with Cilantro Chimichurri
Looking for another no cook salad that is crazy delicious? Try our Broccoli Salad — I could eat the whole bowl myself!
This is one of those easy salad recipes you’ll make again and again! From the inexpensive ingredients to the quick prep time and big flavor the vinaigrette delivers, it’s a total crowd pleaser!
If you make this Tomato Mozzarella Salad recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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More summer recipes to try!
- BLT Salad
- Grilled Swordfish Skewers with Italian Salsa Verde
- Smoked Salmon Salad
- Pappardelle With Corn, Tomatoes, and Basil Cream Sauce
- Grilled Lobster Tails and Clams
15-Minute Tomato Mozzarella Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large heirloom tomatoes cut into slices of wedges
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes any color, cut in half
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella hand ripped or torn
- Flaky sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Basil leaves for garnish
- ½ cup basil vinaigrette
Instructions
- Make the basil vinaigrette. If you haven't already done so, make the basil vinaigrette.
- Assemble the salad. Place sliced tomatoes or wedges on a large platter or serving plate. Add halved cherry or grape tomatoes, then season the tomatoes with a few generous pinches of flaky sea salt. Let the tomatoes sit for 10 minutes. Scatter the mozzarella pieces on top.
- Dress the salad. Drizzle as much of the lemon basil vinaigrette on top of the tomatoes and mozzarella. Season with freshly ground black pepper, if using, then garnish with a few small basil leaves. Serve immediately or within 1-2 hours.
Notes
- Basil vinaigrette will keep for up to 2 weeks.
Thank you, I made a basil vinaigrette ladt night to dress 6lbs of med ravioli cold salad with some small tomatoes in half. I will add the lemon juice to dressing tonite. Seems thick to be total dressing on ravioli. What can i do so it does not look like green ravioli? For a large part tomorrow
Hi Shirley, you can always add more olive oil (and lemon juice) to thin it out, but you want to be sure to taste and adjust the ratios so that you don’t over power the flavor of the dressing with too much of either. Given the amount of basil in the vinaigrette, it’s definitely a green dressing… if you don’t want the dressing to be green, I wouldn’t make something with fresh herbs in it. Hope this helps! xo, Ari
The best vinaigrette I’ve ever made!
Thanks, Holly!! So happy to hear this! xp, Ari
Made this basil vinaigrette twice and my family loved it!! It really kicks your dinner up a notch. Made it with skirt steak and a simple salad, easy peasy. Keeping this in rotation this summer.
It adds the best flavor!! Love that you served it with skirt steak — yum! xo, Ari
Oh my goodness, this dressing is out of this world!!!
Thank you, Lisa!! We love it too! xo, Ari
Made your lemon basil vinagrette for a pasta salad. It was absolutely delicious. Will be on repeat all summer long.
It’s perfect with pasta, I agree! Thanks, Dee! xo, Ari
This dressing will be on repeat all summer, so delish! Thanks for sharing!
It is such a delicious use for fresh basil! xo, Ari
I didn’t make the salad in this recipe, but used the dressing on a white nectarine & white peach and avocado panzanella salad of sorts — and it was amazing! So light and tangy and refreshing! And perfectly zippy against the sweetness of the peaches. Thank you!
Thanks, Tamara! It’s a great all-purpose dressing! And man, I SO love peaches. Great combo. xo, Ari