Summer is the season for tomatoes! These Caprese Salad Stacks use farmers market ingredients - summer tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil - to create a simple yet delicious salad that's ready in just 15 minutes.
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This salad was inspired by a Saturday morning trip I took to the Green City Farmers Market in Chicago many years ago. The market is the perfect spot to spend a warm spring or summer morning. Going to your local farmers market is a great opportunity to pick up fresh, seasonal fruits & veggies. I love to grab things to use in some recipes I'm testing.
Caprese salad is one of my favorite summer salads, so when I'm at the farmers market I always try to grab some nice fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. If you are not growing it at home, grab some basil too!
Contents:
Ingredient Notes
- Roma tomatoes: Ideally fresh from your garden or the farmers market but grocery store tomatoes work too. You can also use a different variety if that happens to be what you are growing.
- Fresh mozzarella: For this recipe, you want a large ball or log of fresh mozzarella that you can cut into thick slices.
- Basil pesto: I recommend making pesto from scratch but you can substitute store-bought if you prefer.
- Olive oil: Since you are just drizzling it on at the end, use the highest quality olive oil you have on hand.
- Balsamic Glaze: You can find balsamic glaze at most grocery stores or order it online. I recommend investing in a high-quality bottle, as it is a wonderful addition to salads, veggies, and many other things! There are a lot of different options for a balsamic glaze but this Nonna Pia's glaze is my current favorite.
How to make a stacked Caprese Salad
The real key to a great Caprese salad is using fresh, in-season tomatoes and high-quality mozzarella. Instead of just using basil leaves, I use pesto to give it a little more zing.
Including the time to make the pesto, this salad only takes a few minutes to pull together.
- Make the pesto: I always recommend making your own pesto. It only takes a few minutes and you can make a double, or triple batch and freeze the leftovers.
- Assemble the stacks. All you are doing here is layering slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella. Ideally, the mozzarella slices are about the same diameter as the tomato so you may have to trim them down accordingly.
- Add the toppings. Top each stack with some thin slices of avocado and a spoonful of pesto. Drizzle on some balsamic glaze and a bit of olive oil. Top with freshly ground pepper or flaky sea salt.
Pro Tip
I find that pesto is best made with a food processor, not a blender. Using a food processor gives you better consistency.
Serving Suggestions
Caprese salad is a traditional Italian dish so it goes well with other Italian food. But since it's also a salad you can serve it with just about anything to complete a meal.
In the summer, one of my favorite things to do is make a snack-based or small plates dinner. It pairs well with this Antipasto Platter.
For a larger meal, you could serve this with Creamy Lemon Pasta or this Mini Skillet Pizza.
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Stacked Caprese Salad
Ingredients
For the pesto:
- 1 cup of fresh basil leaves, packed
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup olive oil
For the salad:
- 3 large plum tomatoes, thickly sliced
- half an avocado, thinly sliced
- 4 ounces of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
- balsamic glaze, to taste
- cracked pepper, to taste
- olive oil, to taste
Instructions
- Make the pesto: Add the basil, garlic and pine nuts to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a standard metal blade. Pulse several times until the basil is chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil and continue to process until combined. Scrape down the sides again.
- Assemble the stacks: To assemble the salad, place two tomato slices on a plate, top with a slice of mozzarella. Continue until you have used up half of the tomato slices. Repeat to make four stacks.
- Add the toppings: Top each stack with avocado slices, basil pesto and cracked pepper. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze.
This post was originally published in June 2015. It was updated in August 2020 with some new images and information. No changes have been made to the original recipe.
Green City Market is located at the south end of Chicago's Lincoln Park - approximately 1871 N. Clark Street. For more information visit their website.
Kate
I always have a bit of trouble when going to the farmer's market. I tend to have "eyes bigger than my stomach" and overbuy produce! The Caprese stack looks delicious. I just want to cut straight down the middle, smoosh a bite through the pesto and balsamic, and dig in!
FoodieGirlChicago
Thanks Kate! I love the farmer's market but know what you mean about over-buying!! 🙂