Our Caprese toast appetizer is a delicious twist of our favorite summer salads. Toasted bread is topped with juicy fresh tomatoes, basil from the garden, and paired with creamy mozzarella and balsamic vinegar. A wonderful snack or light lunch dish to enjoy!
My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Looking for more appetizer ideas? Try our BLT tomato bites, oven roasted shrimp, Guacamole, and if you love the taste of this tomato mixture, you should try our Bruschetta pasta dish!
Traditional Italian foods follow two simple rules: Ingredients should be fresh & your recipe simple. Nothing is more simple than a Caprese salad!
Tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil tossed with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This salad is a staple on our table during the summer.
Normally, we serve this with a toasted piece of rustic bread on the side. So, I started thinking, why not put the salad ON the bread?!
What you need to make Caprese toast
A very popular appetizer that uses bread is called bruschetta or crostini; small baguette slices of bread toasted in the oven. This can be topped with chopped tomatoes or olive tapenade.
Using thicker slices of bread makes this a more substantial snack and could be a meal in and of itself!
- Cutting Board– Essential with all the slicing, dicing, and mincing you will be doing! A good wooden board is good for your knife too.
- Chef Knife– a good sharp knife
will make prep of ingredients so much easier! - Chef Scissors– or herb shears are perfect for cutting fresh basil!
- Baking Sheet: use this to toast your bread slices evenly and all at once.
- Large Spoon– a large serving spoon works great at placing a good heap of tomatoes on your bread!
will make prep of ingredients so much easier! 
are perfect for cutting fresh basil!
: use this to toast your bread slices evenly and all at once.
works great at placing a good heap of tomatoes on your bread! Ingredients
- Good Bread– Find a nice crusty loaf of peasant bread or artisan Italian bread.
- Fresh cherry tomatoes– I like using the multicolor packs with red, yellow, and purple small tomatoes. They are really good and look pretty too.
- Basil Leaves– fresh basil is preferred for this Caprese appetizer
- Olive Oil– you can use any variety of olive oil
- Balsamic Vinegar– I absolutely love Fini balsamic, but when I can't find it, I pick another from the Modena region.
, but when I can't find it, I pick another from the Modena region. How to make Caprese appetizer
You can toast slices of bread in the oven- which is my preferred method, but you can also toast in the toaster
too!
If baking in the oven set the temperature to a low 200 degrees.
- Place 1-inch slices of rustic bread on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil using a pastry brush. Bake for 3 minutes until toasted.
- Place a bread slice on a plate.
- In a small bowl, combine chopped tomatoes and drizzle Tablespoon olive oil over the tomatoes. Toss to coat.
- Slice cheese and place 1-2 pieces on top of the bread.
- Top toast with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with chopped or snipped fresh basil & a drizzle balsamic vinegar.
- Add a pinch of kosher salt.
- Enjoy!
. Bake for 3 minutes until toasted. 
, combine chopped tomatoes and drizzle Tablespoon olive oil over the tomatoes. Toss to coat.
Caprese Toast Appetizer
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 loaf artisan bread
- 1/4 cup golden-yellow tomatoes cut in quarters
- 1/4 cup red cherry tomatoes cut in quarters
- 2 large fresh basil leaves sliced or torn thin
- 1 ball fresh mozzarella sliced thin
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
- You can toast slices of bread in the oven- which is my preferred method, but you can also toast in the toaster too!
- If baking in the oven set the temperature to a low 200 degrees. Place 1-inch slices of rustic bread on a baking sheet.
- Brush with olive oil using a pastry brush. Bake for 3 minutes until toasted.
- Place toasted bread on a plate.
- In a small bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, and pour 1Tablespoon olive oil over the tomatoes. Toss to coat.
- Slice cheese and place 1-2 pieces on top of the bread.
- Top toast with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with chopped or snipped fresh basil & a drizzle balsamic vinegar.
- Add a pinch of kosher salt.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Updated post 5/4/20
This is my absolute favorite flavor combination!
Mine too!! I never thought to put on bread….so delicious!! 🙂
Caprese salad is my favorite! This looks delicious.
It really is…I will have this more often. Yum!
Great idea. Found you through GenFab. I’ll be subscribing.
Hi Sandra!
So glad you stopped by from GenFab…I love that place! Such smart women…Thanks for subscribing!
Will you marry me?
For reals.
That looks amazing.
😀
You always say the nicest things…that get a smile each and every time!
You must make this…it’s like having a rock star on a plate!
We eat tons of caprese salad during summer and I love it. I’ve even mixed it with left over pasta for a pasta caprese salad… soooo good. I like the idea of using the little cherry tomatoes.
We do too Susi- nothing beats going out to the garden, picking from the garden and within minutes enjoying this salad! The little tomatoes came by accident…and a great one I might add!
Oh so that’s what a caprese salad is!
You’ve never had this before???!! Oh, my! You must! So delicious.