Try our amazing Italian Tomato Salad to take advantage of wonderfully aromatic summer tomatoes. Our easy salad recipe can be scaled up or down to suit any occasion.
What tomatoes should I use?
We used all the tomato varieties that we had growing in our garden some firm Roma tomatoes, some oh so sweet cherry tomatoes and a couple of huge heirloom tomatoes from seeds that a family friend had given us.
So long as you have a kilo or so of tomatoes, you decide what type of tomato works best for you! Just make sure that they are ripe and aromatic.
What to serve with your Italian tomato salad
A great all round salad that pairs well with just about every type of meat, poultry, fish or seafood. You could keep it Italian and serve it with pizza or pasta, serve at your next barbecue with grilled meats or alongside your roast, kebabs or koftas.
Try it with…
- Lasagne or your favourite pasta
- Greek meatballs, keftedakia or Greek lamb chops
- Crispy chicken parmesan
You will need…
Consider adding..
- Your favourite cheese such as Parmesan, mozzarella, Burrata, feta or gorgonzola.
- Roasted nuts such as pine nuts, almonds, walnuts or macadamias
- Other vegetables or fruit try some peach or nectarine slices, avocado, green beans or cucumber
- Crispy croutons or pita bread fried or roasted with some olive oil or garlic
- Grilled prosciutto or bacon
- Your favourite marinated olives or artichokes
📓 RECIPE NOTE
To be honest I don’t usually measure the oil and vinegar for this salad I just haphazardly pour a generous amount of each. I mean, who doesn’t love to dunk their bread in gorgeous vinegary tomato juices – simply heaven!
1CUT YOUR TOMATOES
This is a rustic salad so feel free to cut your tomatoes any way that you like. We sliced the Roma’s into rounds, sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and cut the heirloom tomatoes into bite-sized wedges. Sprinkle the tomatoes with some sea salt or pink Himalayan salt.
SLICE ROMAS INTO ROUNDS SLICE CHERRY TOMS IN HALF CUT TOMATOES INTO CHUNKS AND WEDGES FOR SMALLER ONES
2PREP REMAINING INGREDIENTS
Drain and rinse capers, wash basil, shake to remove excess water then pat dry.
Remove the basil leaves from the stems and roughly chop.
Grate the ripe tomato.
ROUGHLY CHOP BASIL GRATE A RIPE TOMATO
3ASSEMBLE THE SALAD
Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl, season and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings according to your liking.
Arrange in a salad bowl, you can scatter some extra basil leaves on top and keep chilled until ready to serve for a cooling summer salad.
ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO BOWL MIX WELL TO COMBINE CHILL TIL READY TO SERVE
Can I make this salad ahead!
This salad can be made several hours in advance and kept chilled in the fridge until you are ready to serve. I do not recommend making it the day before as the tomatoes will go soggy and the basil will brown.
What to do with any leftovers
To be honest this is one of those salads that I love making a big batch of because we love it so much but also because the leftovers can be used in so many different ways…
- Even though it has lost its freshness this salad can still be eaten the following day.
- However, I like to blitz any leftover Italian tomato salad, place it into freezer containers and freeze to use in my next tomato based recipe such as a Bolognese a homemade passata or a stew. It is also great to use chopped up in an omelette or frittata.
- Great diced up and stirred through cooked pasta or risotto with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and minced garlic.
Ingredients
- 1 kg tomatoes (we used Roma, cherry and heirloom tomatoes, approx. 2.2lbs)
- ¼ cup Basil leaves
- 3 tbsps capers
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 medium tomato (a ripe tomato that has been grated)
- 3 tbsps red wine vinegar
- Pinch dried oregano
- Sea salt and cracked pepper
Instructions
- This is a rustic salad so feel free to cut your tomatoes any way that you like. We sliced the Roma’s into rounds, sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and cut the heirloom tomatoes into bite sized wedges. Sprinkle the tomatoes with some sea salt or pink Himalayan salt.
- Drain and rinse capers, wash basil, shake to remove excess water then pat dry.
- Remove the basil leaves from the stems and roughly chop.
- Grate the ripe tomato.
- Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl, season and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings according to your liking.
- Arrange in a salad bowl, you can scatter some extra basil leaves on top and keep chilled until ready to serve for a cooling summer salad.
Video
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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