Want to know when I share a new recipe? Subscribe today!
Caprese Salad
This Caprese salad is proof that the simplest recipes are often the most satisfying. Sweet tomatoes, creamy bocconcini, fragrant basil, and a drizzle of good olive oil come together to create something far greater than the sum of their parts. Fresh, colourful, and packed with flavour, it’s the sort of recipe I make when I want something beautiful on my plate without spending hours in the kitchen.
Caprese Salad
This Caprese Salad celebrates simple ingredients at their absolute best. Sweet, juicy Perino tomatoes are paired with creamy baby bocconcini, fresh basil, and a drizzle of good olive oil to create a salad that's light, fresh, and full of flavour. I love making this during the warmer months when tomatoes are at their peak. Perfect as a side dish, starter, or light lunch, it's a classic Italian salad that proves great food doesn't need to be complicated.
Ingredients
- 250g perino tomatoes, halved and quartered
- 100g baby bocconcini, drained and torn in half
- Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (or a little more if you like)
- Sea salt flakes, to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Balsamic glaze, to drizzle (optional)
Instructions
- Put the tomatoes into a sieve and sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. This seasons the tomatoes and draws out excess water, which helps prevent a soggy salad. Discard any water or juice that drains off.
- Toss together the drained tomatoes, bocconcini, and basil in a bowl.
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with a little more salt if needed and a good crack of black pepper.
- Finish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze if you like, and serve immediately.
Notes
- The salting and resting step is the difference between a watery, flat caprese and one that's properly seasoned and vibrant. Don't skip it, and don't rush it. Thirty minutes minimum.
- Perino tomatoes are elongated, sweet, and have a lower water content than regular cherry tomatoes. They're ideal for caprese. If you can't find them, use the ripest, most flavourful cherry or grape tomatoes you can get.
- Baby bocconcini are the perfect size for this salad. Tearing them rather than cutting gives you a more rustic texture and rougher edges that hold onto the dressing better.
- Fresh basil is non-negotiable. Tear the leaves rather than chopping them to avoid bruising and keep the flavour bright.
- A good quality extra virgin olive oil is everything here. With so few ingredients, each one needs to pull its weight.
- This balsamic glaze is my go-to for drizzling. It adds a lovely sweet-tart finish without the sharpness of straight balsamic vinegar.
- Keep it simple. Caprese is one of those dishes where restraint is everything. Don't overload it with extras.
- This salad is best eaten fresh and immediately after assembling. The tomatoes will continue to release liquid as it sits.
- Not suitable for storing or freezing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 49Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 6mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 1g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Serve this with
- Serve with my Penne alla Rosa for a simple Italian-style meal. The fresh tomatoes, basil and bocconcini balance the creamy sauce and add a cool, juicy contrast.
- Pair with grilled chicken, steak or lamb and a serving of warm focaccia. The Caprese keeps richer mains feeling fresh while the bread catches the tomato juices and olive oil.
- Add it to a relaxed antipasto spread with prosciutto, olives, roasted capsicum and bruschetta. It works beautifully as a light starter or side for summer entertaining.
Want to know when I share a new recipe? Subscribe today!
Caprese Salad & Basil on the Balcony
I’ve recently started growing basil on my balcony, and I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me. Not only does it add a bit of greenery and colour to the space, but it also means I can wander outside and snip off a handful whenever inspiration strikes. Few things make me feel more like I’ve got my life together than growing herbs, even if they’re doing most of the hard work themselves.
Now, I absolutely love a Caprese salad, even though it’s technically little more than three ingredients thrown onto a plate. For some reason, it always feels special. Traditionally, I’d use heirloom tomatoes because they’re beautiful and full of flavour, but since leaving Adelaide they’ve become surprisingly difficult to find. Instead, I’ve fallen in love with colourful perino tomatoes, which work beautifully here.
I’ve also swapped the traditional mozzarella slices for baby bocconcini. Is it authentic? Probably not. Do I care? Also no. We work with what we’ve got, and honestly, I quite like the way the little bocconcini nestle amongst the tomatoes. Besides, after creating my Caprese gnocchi salad, I feel I’ve earned the right to take a few liberties with the original.
Cooking, Creating, and Staying Visible
I’ve got a full weekend of cooking ahead of me, and for the first time in a while, I’m genuinely excited about it. The older I get, the more I realise cooking isn’t just about feeding myself. It’s how I unwind, how I create, and how I reconnect with myself when life feels a little too loud. A quiet afternoon in the kitchen is still one of my favourite ways to spend time.
The reality is that this little blog doesn’t attract huge numbers these days. Years ago, I’d have been devastated by that. These days, I’m slowly making peace with my place in what the internet lovingly refers to as the Khia Asylum. The recipes are still here. I’m still here. And honestly, that’s enough most days.
What keeps me going are the people who continue to visit, leave comments, send emails, and share photos of the recipes they’ve made. Every message still makes my day. I may never be the biggest food blogger on the internet, but I know my recipes work. I know they’ve found their way into family dinners, weeknight meal plans, and holiday tables. That’s something I’m incredibly grateful for.
Finding Peace in Brisbane
Adelaide still feels like home, which is slightly ridiculous given I only lived there for two years. I’ve been gone seven months now, and if I’m honest, I’m homesick. I miss the people, the pace, and the sense of belonging I found there. One day, I fully intend to move back. It isn’t a matter of if. It’s a matter of when.
For now, though, Brisbane is exactly where I need to be. The past decade has been a lot. Messy marriages, secret escapes, international moves, interstate moves, divorces, complicated relationships, and more grief than I ever expected to carry. Losing my dad is still something I struggle with, and breaking up with the man who is now my best friend remains one of the most complicated experiences of my life.
Brisbane has become a place of rest. A place to heal, reflect, and slowly figure out what comes next. My kitchen here is beautiful, and that’s no small thing. I’ve learned that you can usually tell how content I am by the way I cook. When life feels balanced, I make colourful, nourishing food just for myself. Food like this Caprese salad. Simple, fresh, joyful, and exactly what I needed.
FAQ
What’s the difference between caprese salad and insalata caprese?
Nothing at all. They’re the same dish. Insalata caprese is simply the Italian name, which translates literally as “salad from Capri,” referring to the island off the Campanian coast where the dish is said to have originated. Caprese salad is just the shorthand version that the rest of the world uses. Same tomatoes, same cheese, same basil.
Do I have to use bocconcini, or can I use regular mozzarella?
You can absolutely use regular fresh mozzarella if that’s what you have! The main difference is texture and size. Bocconcini are small, soft balls of fresh mozzarella that are perfect for a salad like this because they’re already bite-sized and tear beautifully. A larger ball of fresh mozzarella sliced thickly works just as well and is actually the more traditional presentation. What you want to avoid is the low-moisture block mozzarella used for pizza, which is too firm and too mild for a caprese.
Can I make caprese salad ahead of time?
Not really, and the salting step is actually the only part you can do in advance. Salt the tomatoes, let them drain, and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble. Once the bocconcini and basil go in and the olive oil goes on, the clock is ticking. The basil wilts quickly and the bocconcini toughens as it sits. Assemble it right before you want to eat it and serve immediately.
Ingredient breakdown
Perino tomatoes
Perino tomatoes are a variety of small, elongated tomatoes that sit somewhere between a cherry tomato and a Roma in terms of size and flesh density, and come in wonderful colours. They’re sweeter and fleshier than standard cherry tomatoes with less water content, which makes them the better choice for a salad where excess moisture is the enemy. The salting and resting step draws out even more of that water before they go into the bowl, which is what gives you a concentrated, intensely flavoured salad rather than a watery puddle at the bottom. Good quality cherry or grape tomatoes are a perfectly fine substitute if perinos aren’t available.
Baby bocconcini
Small, fresh mozzarella balls drained and torn in half rather than sliced, which gives you rough, irregular edges that soak up the olive oil and any tomato juices far better than a clean cut surface would. Bocconcini are mild, milky, and soft, and they provide the creamy counterpoint to the sweet acidity of the tomatoes. Tearing rather than cutting is a small detail that makes a real difference to the final result both texturally and visually.
Fresh basil
Roughly torn and never chopped. Chopping bruises the leaves and turns the edges black almost immediately, whereas tearing keeps them looking vibrant and releases the flavour more gently. Fresh basil is completely non-negotiable in a caprese. Dried basil is not a conversation worth having here.
Sea salt flakes
Used at two points. A generous sprinkle goes over the tomatoes at the start of the resting period, which draws out excess moisture and seasons the tomatoes deeply rather than just on the surface. Then a small pinch goes over the finished salad if needed, but taste first because the tomatoes are already well seasoned from the resting step.
Extra virgin olive oil
The only dressing this salad gets, and the quality of what you use is completely visible because there is nothing else to hide it behind. Use your best bottle. A good extra virgin olive oil drizzled over a properly made caprese is one of the most satisfying things in Italian cooking, and a cheap or bitter one will let the whole dish down immediately.
Serve this with
- Grilled chicken or pan-fried fish for a light meal that lets the salad do most of the talking.
- Crusty bread or focaccia for mopping up the olive oil and tomato juices at the bottom of the bowl.
- As part of an antipasti spread with cured meats and olives for something more relaxed and social.
