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Caprese Salad Stacks

Simple to make and impressive to serve, these fresh and delicious caprese salad stacks are a tasty side dish or appetizer and take minutes to make.
Slices of tomato, basil and mozzarella stacked on top of each other.

Last Updated on April 20, 2023 by Betty Davies

Perfect in their simplicity, these Italian Caprese salad stacks are wonderfully fresh and delicious. Tomatoes and creamy mozzarella are stacked with fresh basil leaves and drizzled with a herb olive oil. Easy to make, no cook, and ready to serve in less than 10 minutes, they are perfect for an impressive side dish or appetizer.

Caprese salad stacks drizzled with basil olive oil.

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Sometimes the best tasting food is the simplest, and it doesn’t get much better than this twist on a traditional Italian caprese salad.

These caprese salad stacks are fresh and herby and they are so quick to put together! They look gorgeous on the plate, and can be served as an appetizer or a salad side dish. They are perfect to serve to company, and ideal for those warmer days.

Great tasting food doesn’t need to take hours to prepare, and this no cook recipe is the perfect example!

Be sure to check out my Pesto Caprese Salad too!

Why you will love this recipe!

  • So delicious: The herby fresh flavors in these salad stacks are hard to resist! Juicy tomatoes with creamy mozzarella, what’s not to love?!
  • Simple ingredients: You just need a handful of fresh produce to make this recipe.
  • Quick and easy: This is such a quick salad to make, but looks super impressive when served!
  • Dietary info: These caprese salad stacks are gluten-free, low carb and keto and vegetarian.
Caprese stacks topped with a fresh basil leaf.

Ingredients

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Mixed with fresh basil leaves and drizzled over the stacks. Extra virgin olive oil adds a delicious richness, but if you don’t like the flavor, you can use a light olive oil. Avocado oil will also work well.
  • Basil leaves: Fresh basil leaves give the most amazing aroma and flavor. They are chopped finally and used to flavor the oil drizzle as well as being used whole in the stacks.
  • Tomatoes: Use large tomatoes. For this recipe I used greenhouse tomatoes that are sliced and stacked, heirloom tomatoes will work really well too.
  • Mozzarella: Use a good quality fresh mozzarella for the best texture and taste.
  • Seasonings: Salt, black pepper, sugar and dried oregano.

How to make caprese salad stacks

Be sure to scroll down for the full recipe!

  • Mix the olive oil with chopped basil leaves and seasonings.
  • Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella.
  • Stack tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves.
  • Drizzle with the herb olive oil.
Ingredients to make caprese salad stacks on a chopping board.

Recipe Variations

These caprese salad stacks are pretty delicious, but you can easily adapt them to suit your own tastes.

  • Use pesto instead of the basil olive oil. You may want to thin it slightly with a little additional oil. Use a store bought or homemade pesto, my lemon basil pesto would work great!
  • Caprese salads are traditionally made with basil, but you can use other fresh herbs like dill or parsley if you prefer.
  • For an extra hit of flavor, drizzle over a little balsamic vinegar reduction to the finished stacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use dried basil instead of fresh?

Fresh basil is a must in this recipe for me, but if you are in a pinch, you can use dried. You can sprinkle a little over the tomatoes and stir some into your olive oil for flavor.

What’s the best mozzerella?

For this recipe, use fresh mozzarella than comes in balls and is packed in tubs with liquid to keep it moist. This will be rich, soft and creamy. Whole cow’s milk or buffalo milk mozzarella will give the best texture and taste.

Four caprese salad stacks on a serving plate.

Serving Suggestions

As a side dish, these caprese salad stacks are great to serve with grilled meats and seafood, and you can also serve them up by themselves as a light appetizer. Try them with some of these favorite recipes:

Make Ahead and Storage

These are best made close to serving so that the ingredients don’t dry out. You can make the stacks up earlier in the day, but skip adding the olive oil. Keep them covered in the fridge, then drizzle the oil over just before serving.

Recipe Notes and Tips

  • Fresh ingredients are key to this simple recipe. Use the best quality ingredients you can for the tastiest dish.
  • Don’t make the stacks too far ahead of time or the cheese and tomatoes can become dry. Don’t add the olive oil til just before serving.
  • If you don’t like the taste of extra virgin olive oil, light olive oil will work well, as would avocado.
Tomato, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil drizzled with olive oil.

I love how simple these caprese salad stacks are to make, no cooking, just fresh and delicious ingredients. Perfect for the warmer weather, these beauties are a must!

More Easy Salad Recipes

If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to leave a star rating and a comment below!

Slices of tomato, basil and mozzarella stacked on top of each other.

Caprese Salad Stacks

Simple to make and impressive to serve, these fresh and delicious caprese salad stacks are a tasty side dish or appetizer and take minutes to make.
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 stacks
Calories: 250kcal
Author: Betty Davies

Ingredients

For the basil olive oil

For the stacks

  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 2 fresh mozzarella balls (4½oz / 125g each)
  • 8 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

  • Mix together the ingredients for the basil olive oil and set to one side.
  • Cut the ends off of the tomatoes, then cut each one into 4 even slices. Repeat with the mozzarella balls.
  • Make four stacks consisting of:
    – Slice of tomato
    – Slice of mozzarella
    – Whole basil leaf
    – Slice of tomato
    – Slice of mozzarella
  • Drizzle some basil olive oil over each stack, and finish with a fresh basil leaf.

Notes

  • Fresh ingredients are key to this simple recipe. Use the best quality ingredients you can for the tastiest dish.
  • Don’t make the stacks too far ahead of time or the cheese and tomatoes can become dry. Don’t add the olive oil til just before serving.
  • If you don’t like the taste of extra virgin olive oil, light olive oil will work well, as would avocado.

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 260mg | Potassium: 262mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2667IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 1407mg | Iron: 1mg

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