Caprese Pasta Salad (Print)

A refreshing blend of cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and balsamic dressing tossed with cooked pasta.

# What You Need:

→ Pasta

01 - 10.5 oz short pasta (penne, fusilli, or farfalle)
02 - 1 tsp salt (for boiling water)

→ Vegetables & Herbs

03 - 9 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
04 - 1 small clove garlic, minced
05 - 1 oz fresh basil leaves, torn

→ Cheese

06 - 7 oz fresh mozzarella balls (bocconcini or ciliegine), drained and halved

→ Dressing

07 - 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
08 - 1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
09 - 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
10 - 0.5 tsp sea salt
11 - 0.25 tsp freshly ground black pepper

# Directions:

01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water to halt cooking.
02 - Place the halved cherry tomatoes, minced garlic, and torn basil leaves into a large salad bowl.
03 - Incorporate the drained mozzarella balls into the salad bowl.
04 - Whisk together extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, sea salt, and black pepper in a small bowl or jar until emulsified.
05 - Add the cooled pasta to the salad bowl. Pour the dressing over and gently toss to combine all ingredients evenly.
06 - Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately or chill for 30 minutes to enhance flavors.

# Helpful Hints:

01 -
  • It tastes like summer in a bowl, light enough to eat on hot days when nothing else sounds good.
  • You can throw it together while the pasta cools—no complicated techniques or hovering over the stove.
  • The dressing comes together in literally thirty seconds and somehow tastes like you spent hours thinking about it.
02 -
  • Don't skip rinsing the hot pasta under cold water; if you don't, the residual heat will wilt your basil and turn your mozzarella into a sad cheese soup before you even finish assembling it.
  • Fresh mozzarella is delicate, so buy it the day you're making this if you can—older mozzarella tastes like nothing, and that's the one thing this salad cannot afford to be.
03 -
  • Make the dressing in a jar, seal it, and shake it hard for thirty seconds—you'll get a better emulsion than whisking, and there's something satisfying about the violence of it.
  • Salt your pasta water like you're seasoning soup; bland pasta cannot be rescued by anything that comes after, no matter how good your dressing is.
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