Avocado Tomato Mozzarella Salad

Avocado Tomato Mozzarella Salad: Or also called, a Caprese salad, is an easy salad recipe that can be made in minutes, and is the ultimate side dish!

 

Why you’ll love this recipe

If you love quick and easy side dishes, then this simple salad recipe to hang on to! It can be put together in just a few minutes and can even be made ahead of time!

Note: I’ve found if you refrigerate tomatoes, they tend to lose the flavor so I actually prefer to make this right before serving to experience the bright flavors, but it’s not mandatory, and can be made in advance.

Ingredients

It’s so wild to believe that just a few ingredients can pack a punch of flavor! See the ingredients you need to make this, below, with extra ideas and substitutions provided below, if needed, as well!

• fresh mozzarella cheese pearls
• red ripe tomato
• fresh basil leaves
• olive oil (extra virgin is our favorite)
• salt

Instructions

1. Begin by breaking up the mozzarella pearls and placing them in a medium-size bowl.

2. Next, slice up the avocado and the tomato in to small, bite-size pieces.

Tip: When slicing the tomato, we’ve found it’s best to remove the inside (gooey part of the tomato) as this makes the salad a different texture and seedy).

3. Pour diced avocado and diced tomato on top of mozzarella pearls.

4. Chop fresh basil and add to bowl.
5. Drizzle olive oil on and sprinkle kosher salt on top.

6. Stir to combine.

Serve!

Substitutions

Cheese: If you don’t have mozzarella pearls on hand, you can absolutely use a ball of mozzarella that you slice in to small pieces. That creamy mozzarella is to tie for and much better than shredded, powdery mozzarella.

You can also substitute feta or goat cheese (or your favorite cheese) if you like! It’s a versatile recipe, that tends to incorporate different cheeses well.

Tomatoes: You can use roma or vine tomatoes for this recipe, or even cherry tomatoes if you prefer. (Note: I’d slice the cherry tomatoes in half for easier bites.)

Basil: Using fresh ingredients like basil, is our absolute FAVORITE but I know keeping that on hand can be more difficult than keeping a jar of dried basil in the pantry. Feel free to use dried if you like. We’ve used that many times and it’s still delicious!

Variations

If you love adding balsamic vinegar (or balsamic glaze, or balsamic dressing) to your avocado Caprese salad recipe, you can definitely add that to this one. I’d add a teaspoon to start, and then add more after tasting if you prefer a stronger flavor.

Additional Items – If you’d like to add other items or spices to this, here are some ideas you may like to try:

• Garlic Powder
• Chicken (to create a main course)
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Dashes of Hot Sauce
• Cumin
• Red Onions
• Black pepper

How to store

As mentioned earlier, when a tomato is refrigerated, it can tend to become more firm and lose flavor. However, if you happen to have some of this leftover caprese avocado salad, it must be stored in the refrigerator.

Store in an airtight container, or by placing plastic wrap over the bowl it was made in, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Love avocado and tomato together?

We absolutely love using any extra tomatoes and avocados that we may have on hand, to make tomato avocado toast the next morning! It’s so easy and refreshing for a quick and healthy breakfast idea!

Avocado Tip

It’s best to use ripe avocados! Soft to the touch, on the skin but not too soft… as those are too ripe. If you cut in to the avocado and there’s brown everywhere, you’ll want to discard it. A beautiful green is the desired ripeness.

I know how hard it is, to keep avocados on hand before they rot.

Note, I’ve made this recipe a TON, only using the cheese and tomatoes, without the addition of avocado and it’s STILL delicious!

But here are tips on how to help keep avocados from turning brown!

Looking for other healthy side dishes?

I’ve compiled all of our healthy side dish recipes in case you are looking to add more to your meal plan!

Recipe

This delicious avocado caprese salad is one of my favorite staple weeknight recipes. I hope you give it a try and that it becomes one of your favorite salads too!