Caprese Salad

5 from 1 vote

Nothing screams summer more than Caprese salad made with juicy, ripe tomatoes, creamy mozzarella cheese, and sweet and spicy basil!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Total Cost: ($13.93 recipe / $2.32 serving)

Servings: (1 cup each)

Calories: 203kcal

Author: Jess Rice

Ingredients

8 oz. ball of fresh mozzarella, torn $4.26
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, whole $1.78
3 cups tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces* $6.37
2 Tbsp olive oil $0.34
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar $1.08
2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.08
1/8 tsp salt $0.01
1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper $0.01

Instructions

Halve or quarter the tomatoes (depending on their size), pick the basil, and tear the mozzarella.
Drizzle with olive oil and set aside.
Combine balsamic and brown sugar in a skillet and whisk to combine.
Bring the mixture up to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then continue to simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced in volume by about half. This should take around ten minutes, but the total time can vary depending on your cookware and burner. You'll know it's done when the simmering bubbles linger on the surface of the vinegar instead of immediately popping.
Remove the glaze from the heat and allow it to cool. It will thicken considerably more as it cools. Test the glaze with a spoon, if it leaves a lingering residue that clings to your spoon, it’s done! If it isn't to your desired thickness, you can simmer the glaze again to further reduce.
Drizzle balsamic glaze over caprese salad. Season with a crank or two of salt and pepper and enjoy!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Video

Notes

* I used a variety of cherry tomatoes and heirloom slicer tomatoes that I picked up from the farmers market and picked from my garden, but any variety of tomatoes will do.

Nutrition

Caprese Salad https://metabolic-life.news/caprese-salad/%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-94897":{"type":"food","name":"Caprese Salad","slug":"wprm-caprese-salad","image_url":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Caprese-Salad-Balsamic.jpg","rating":{"count":1,"total":5,"average":5,"type":{"comment":1,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","name":"ball of fresh mozzarella, torn","notes":"$4.26","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11951,"id":14534,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","name":"fresh basil leaves, whole","notes":"$1.78","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11945,"id":14535,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"3","unit":"cups","name":"tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces*","notes":"$6.37","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11946,"id":14536,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3","unit":"cups","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"2","unit":"Tbsp","name":"olive oil","notes":"$0.34","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11943,"id":1150,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tbsp","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tbsp","unitParsed":"Tbsp"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","name":"balsamic vinegar","notes":"$1.08","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11945,"id":1151,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"2","unit":"Tbsp","name":"brown sugar","notes":"$0.08","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11943,"id":1239,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tbsp","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"Tbsp","unitParsed":"Tbsp"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"1\/8","unit":"tsp","name":"salt","notes":"$0.01","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11942,"id":1103,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"tsp","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"tsp","unitParsed":"tsp"}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"1\/8","unit":"tsp","name":"freshly cracked black pepper","notes":"$0.01","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":11942,"id":1483,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"tsp","timestamp":1774499980000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/8","unit":"tsp","unitParsed":"tsp"}}}],"originalServings":"6","originalServingsParsed":6,"currentServings":"6","currentServingsParsed":6,"currentServingsFormatted":"6","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"type":"recipe","recipeId":94897,"name":"Caprese Salad","image":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Caprese-Salad-Balsamic-500x500.jpg","servings":6,"servingsUnit":"(1 cup each)","parent_id":"94896","parent_url":"https:\/\/www.budgetbytes.com\/caprese-salad\/","cachedAt":1774499980,"modifiedAt":1757430094}}}