Name: Marinated Summer Caprese Salad
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half; 8 oz fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine); 1/3 cup olive oil; 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1/4 cup basil leaves, finely chopped (plus more to add right before serving); 1 tsp onion powder; 1/2 tsp dried oregano; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp pepper

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This Summer Caprese Salad is loaded with juicy tomatoes and creamy balls of mozzarella cheese all marinated in a delicious combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and fresh herbs!

This Summer Caprese Salad is loaded with juicy tomatoes and creamy balls of mozzarella cheese all marinated in a delicious combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and fresh herbs!

This Marinated Caprese Salad is truly one of my favorite summer staples that everyone is guaranteed to love! Not only does it make a great side dish to any meal or delicious appetizer, but this salad is super easy to make! Just a few simple ingredients, zero cooking required and you can easily throw this dish together in just 5 minutes. Summer is all about bright vibrant colors and fresh flavors which is why I love this recipe so much!

You can easily serve this as a side dish when grilling chicken or steak, and it also makes a delicious appetizer that you can serve with some slices of toasted bread. The marinade on the cheese and tomatoes is a delicious combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, fresh basil leaves along with some onion powder, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Seriously SO good!

This Summer Caprese Salad is loaded with juicy tomatoes and creamy balls of mozzarella cheese all marinated in a delicious combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and fresh herbs!

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

Cherry tomatoes – I love the assorted colors of tomatoes in this salad, but feel free to use any cherry tomatoes you’d like. Other size tomatoes would work well in this recipe too
Mozzarella balls – also known as Ciliegine, I like to use 1-inch size balls for this salad, but you could also use pearl size or even cut up chunks of mozzarella to add to the salad
Fresh basil – you can’t have a caprese salad without some fresh basil! I like to add some to the marinade and then toss a little extra in right before serving!
Olive oil – you’ll want to use good olive oil in this recipe. Doesn’t have to be expensive, just make sure it’s cold-pressed and organic for the most flavorful (in my opinion).
Balsamic vinegar – I also like to use a good balsamic vinegar, but if you’re not a fan of this flavor you can just leave it out of this recipe. The salad will still taste delicious!
Fresh garlic – I used 2 cloves of garlic that I chopped and mixed in with the salad, but you could substitute fresh garlic with about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Seasonings – I used a combination of onion powder, dried oregano, red pepper flakes along with some salt and pepper

HOW TO MAKE SUMMER CAPRESE SALAD

Chop, chop, chop! This recipe is super simple to make and the most time consuming part is really just slicing your tomatoes and chopping up the basil! I like to slice the tomatoes in half and chop the basil really fine.
Make the marinade. In a small bowl or jar, mix together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, seasonings and fresh basil. Pour the marinade all over the tomatoes and mozzarella and mix well until everything is nice and coated.
Marinate! Cover the salad with plastic wrap and let everything marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or you can even marinate it overnight. I find that the sweet spot in this recipe is about 6 to 7 hours so I’ll make this in the morning to serve later in the day!
Serve and enjoy. When ready to serve, take the salad out of the fridge and let it come to room temp. Olive oil solidifies while in the fridge, so letting it come to room temp will allow the olive oil to return to liquid form. I also like to throw in a some extra basil and adjust any seasonings right before serving!

This Summer Caprese Salad is loaded with juicy tomatoes and creamy balls of mozzarella cheese all marinated in a delicious combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and fresh herbs!

HOW LONG SHOULD THIS MARINATE FOR?

You can let the tomatoes and mozzarella marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or even overnight (24 hours). I don’t recommend marinating for longer than 24 hours as the balsamic vinegar will start to break down the cheese and potentially change the texture. I find that the sweet spot for this recipe is marinating for about 6 to 7 hours for the best taste! Basically I’ll make this in the morning and serve it later in the day 🙂 Just make sure to take it out about 30 minutes to an hour before serving so that the salad can come to room temp first. As I said before, olive oil solidifies while in the fridge, so allowing it to come to room temp will return the olive oil to liquid form.

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