Vegan caprese salad, the perfect quick and easy summer appetizer or side salad!
There are typically only three main ingredients: tomatoes, basil, and cheese.
Each coinciding with one of the colors on the Italian flag. 🇮🇹 Since there are so few ingredients, freshness is key to making this simple dish absolutely delicious!
Tomatoes 🍅
If you’re growing tomatoes in your garden, you’re gonna really see their flavor shine with this recipe.
If you don’t grow tomatoes and don’t have a friend/family member/neighbor who is, then please try to go to a farmer’s market for some fresh tomatoes. It really makes a difference! Otherwise, I suppose you can settle for the ripest tomatoes you can find in the grocery store… Also, be sure to leave your tomatoes on the counter and NEVER put them in the fridge! Doing so causes them to get a grainy, mealy texture which will ruin the salad….unless you like that sort of thing.
Cheese ⚪
Here we’re going to use vegan cheese of course. Although it sounds limiting, you have a lot of options here! You can make homemade mozzarella with tofu, cashews, agar-agar, or a combination of each. Or, you can save yourself some time and get some store-bought vegan cheese if you can shell out a few dollars.
My favorite for this recipe is Miyoko’s vegan mozzarella cheese. It’s texture and taste are almost identical to the animal-based version.
Basil 🌿
This is the easiest part. Again, try to get some fresh leaves of this herb from your garden or window still if you can. If not, basil from the grocery store is fine so long as the leaves are firm and bright green, without any limp or browning leaves.
Final Touches 🧂
Add a little bit of balsamic vinegar glaze if you wish, your best olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. So delicious!
Here’s the recipe for the vegan caprese salad:
Vegan Caprese Salad
Ingredients
- 4 fresh, ripe tomatoes
- 1 package of Miyoko's Vegan Mozz
- 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
- 1 drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze (optional)
- 1 drizzle of olive oil
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into slices width-wise and place on serving plates.
- Cut the vegan mozzarella into slices, about the same size as the tomatoes.
- Place a slice of mozzarella on top of each slice of tomato.
- Place a few basil leaves on top of each slice of mozzarella.
- Drizzle olive oil on the salad. If you want the balsamic glaze, drizzle it as well.
- Top with a pinch of sea salt and a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
How do you prefer your vegan caprese salad? With balsamic vinegar or without?
Let me know in the comments below!
