Caprese Salad (Insalata Caprese)
Thick slices of ripe, sun-warmed tomatoes layered with creamy fresh mozzarella and fragrant basil, finished simply with good olive oil, salt and pepper. Few dishes prove so clearly that great cooking is really about great ingredients.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Slice the tomatoes
Core the tomatoes and cut them into slices about 1 cm thick. Lay them on a plate or tray in a single layer and sprinkle lightly with the fine salt.
- 600 g (4 large) ripe tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
✅ Done when: the tomatoes are sliced evenly and lightly salted
Let the tomatoes rest
Leave the salted tomato slices for 10 minutes. The salt draws out some of the watery juice, which concentrates their flavour and keeps the salad from turning soupy; tip off any liquid that pools on the plate.
✅ Done when: a little juice has collected around the slices and you have poured it away
Slice the mozzarella
While the tomatoes rest, drain the mozzarella and slice it about 1 cm thick, the same thickness as the tomatoes, so each bite has an even balance of both.
- 250 g fresh mozzarella
✅ Done when: the mozzarella is sliced and ready to layer
Layer on a platter
Arrange the tomato and mozzarella slices on a serving plate, overlapping them slightly in alternating rows or a circle. Tuck whole basil leaves between the slices, tearing the larger ones.
- 20–25 fresh basil leaves
✅ Done when: tomato, mozzarella and basil are arranged together on the plate
Season and dress
Scatter flaky salt and black pepper over the top, then drizzle generously with the olive oil, letting it pool slightly at the edges. Add a small pinch of oregano if you like it, though in Campania the salad is usually kept to just basil.
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
- to taste flaky salt
- to taste black pepper
- 1 pinch (optional) dried oregano
✅ Done when: the salad glistens with oil and is seasoned to taste
Rest briefly before serving
Let the salad sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. This short rest takes the chill off the mozzarella and lets the oil, salt and tomato juices mingle, which makes a real difference to the flavour.
✅ Done when: the mozzarella is no longer fridge-cold and the oil has settled into the salad
Slice the tomatoes
Core the tomatoes and cut them into slices about 1 cm thick. Lay them on a plate or tray in a single layer and sprinkle lightly with the fine salt.
- 600 g (4 large) ripe tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
✅ Done when: the tomatoes are sliced evenly and lightly salted
Let the tomatoes rest
Leave the salted tomato slices for 10 minutes. The salt draws out some of the watery juice, which concentrates their flavour and keeps the salad from turning soupy; tip off any liquid that pools on the plate.
✅ Done when: a little juice has collected around the slices and you have poured it away
Slice the mozzarella
While the tomatoes rest, drain the mozzarella and slice it about 1 cm thick, the same thickness as the tomatoes, so each bite has an even balance of both.
- 250 g fresh mozzarella
✅ Done when: the mozzarella is sliced and ready to layer
Layer on a platter
Arrange the tomato and mozzarella slices on a serving plate, overlapping them slightly in alternating rows or a circle. Tuck whole basil leaves between the slices, tearing the larger ones.
- 20–25 fresh basil leaves
✅ Done when: tomato, mozzarella and basil are arranged together on the plate
Season and dress
Scatter flaky salt and black pepper over the top, then drizzle generously with the olive oil, letting it pool slightly at the edges. Add a small pinch of oregano if you like it, though in Campania the salad is usually kept to just basil.
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
- to taste flaky salt
- to taste black pepper
- 1 pinch (optional) dried oregano
✅ Done when: the salad glistens with oil and is seasoned to taste
Rest briefly before serving
Let the salad sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. This short rest takes the chill off the mozzarella and lets the oil, salt and tomato juices mingle, which makes a real difference to the flavour.
✅ Done when: the mozzarella is no longer fridge-cold and the oil has settled into the salad
The Story Behind the Dish
The salad takes its name from the island of Capri, off the coast of Naples, where it is said to have been created as a light, patriotic dish combining the red, white and green of the Italian flag with tomato, mozzarella and basil. It became popular with Italian and foreign visitors to the island's cafés and quickly spread along the Campanian coast and beyond.
Its success rests entirely on the quality of its few ingredients: ripe, flavourful tomatoes, fresh mozzarella made that day or the day before, and basil picked just before serving.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It shows, more clearly than almost any other dish, how good Italian cooking depends on simplicity and the quality of raw ingredients rather than technique.
💡 Fun Fact
In its most traditional form, Caprese uses mozzarella di bufala from the Campania region, prized for its soft texture and slightly tangy, grassy flavour.
Island of Capri, Campania
40.55°N, 14.24°E
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