Caprese Pasta Salad is an easy to prepare salad that requires only a few ingredients. The perfect make ahead salad that is great served alone or as a side. Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, basil, and ciliegine combined in a pasta salad that's packed with tons of flavor. Gluten Free, Easy.
Pasta salads are just one of those things that seem to come together rather quickly and that most people Enjoy!
So if you're a fan of caprese then you'll REALLY love this classic easy to make salad.
And it's also pretty enough to serve to guests or for that special someone you wanna impress. 😉
What is caprese?
It is basically a salad that consists of fresh mozzarella cheese, basil, & tomatoes.
The best tomatoes to use
You want to use tomatoes that are smaller in size, fresh and flavorful....
Since there are very few ingredients you want them all to pop with flavor.
So I would suggest cherry or grape tomatoes...
Although roma tomatoes would work as well if you just cut them into smaller chunks.
Ingredients needed
- Gluten Free Pasta.... you can use any shape... but this is made with chickpea pasta small shells
- Fresh tomatoes... such as cherry or grape
- Ciliegine.... which is fresh mozzarella balls
- Fresh basil
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Balsamic vinegar
- Dried oregano
What to serve with it
- A small green side salad
- Steamed broccoli
- Roasted asparagus
- Green Beans
I would tend to stick with something that wasn't high carb since the pasta has plenty of carbs.
So any kind of green vegetables would go nicely with this.
Recipe tips
- Always use quality fresh ingredients & organic whenever possible
- So a good olive oil and an aged balsamic vinegar can make a big difference
- Allow at least 2 hours prior to serving to give flavors a chance to blend
- Taste for seasoning before serving
- After refrigerating leftovers take out of fridge 15 minutes prior to serving...
- It usually tastes better if not as cold
AND IF YOU TRY THIS RECIPE PLEASE BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW…..
I’d love to hear if you make this & how you like it. Plus please be sure to include a star rating.
More salad recipes
Until next time- xoxo
📖 Recipe
Caprese Pasta Salad (GF & Easy)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Gluten Free pasta
- 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes sliced
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella cheese balls
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- handful of fresh chopped basil
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- ¼ tsp. dried oregano
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
- Drain completely and place in large mixing bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients and toss together.
- Allow time for flavors to marinate prior to serving.
- Taste for salt & pepper before serving.
Jacqueline Debono
Caprese salad is a classic here in Italy! Italians also call it 'il tricolore' because it contains the colours of the Italian flag! Love the idea of making it into a pasta salad! I must look out for chickpea pasta!
Jill
I need to make a batch of this to have on-hand for my lunches. I love anything caprese!
Mary Bostow
Wow! I made this last night and it was delicious! I had it warm, yum! Tonight I will eat the leftover cold. I’m sure it will be just as delicious!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
What a delicious pairing of two of my favorite things -- pasta salad and a tomato basil caprese! This will replace my standard pasta salad recipe this summer.
Lisa Huff
What a fun idea to make it into a pasta salad. Saving for this summer!