Spinach Caprese Salad

This Spinach Caprese Salad is a baby spinach salad with tomato and mozzarella topped with a delicious balsamic sauce and fresh basil. It’s an easy vegetarian salad perfect as a light, low-carb dinner or side to grilling.

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Bring out all the Italian flavors on your table with this healthy spinach salad Caprese-style!

Caprese salads are usually made with tomato slices and fresh mozzarella. Here’s a spinach version to add a bunch of greens to your plates.

What’s A Caprese Salad?

A traditional Caprese salad is an authentic Italian salad recipe served on a large flat plate where tomato slices are layered with fresh mozzarella slices and topped with fresh basil.

Usually, the salad dressing is made with balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction, which is a thick sweet balsamic glaze.

Is Caprese Salad Healthy?

Caprese salad is a healthy low-carb salad recipe made with high-protein cheese and vitamins, low-calorie vegetables, tomatoes, and basil.

How To Make Spinach Caprese Salad

It’s very easy to make this Caprese salad with spinach.

Ingredients

All you need are:

• Baby Spinach Leaves – don’t use large spinach leaves that tend to be thicker and much crunchier. Baby spinach has a milder and sweeter taste.
• Fresh Mozzarella Cheese – prefer mini mozzarella balls to make them easier to cut and prettier on the plate. Mini mozzarella balls are also called Perlini (smallest balls), Ciliegine (small), Bocconcini (medium size), or Ovoline (medium-large).
• Cherry Tomatoes – there are many variants of cherry tomatoes. Pick a bright red, ripe type.
• Fresh Basil Leaves – basil is essential for this recipe, don’t swap it for any other fresh herb.
• Sea Salt
• Balsamic Reduction – learn how to make your own balsamic vinaigrette below.

Making The Spinach Caprese Salad

First, place the baby spinach leaves into a salad bowl or large serving plate.

Then, cut the baby tomatoes in halves and place them on top of the spinach leaves in the large bowl. Top up the slices of tomato with basil leaves

Finally, cut the pearl mozzarella balls into bite-sized pieces and add them on top.

Just before serving, make the dressing you love. There’s an option below, the most classic option being a balsamic reduction.

Spinach Caprese Salad Dressing

A Caprese salad is always served with a balsamic  vinegar dressing made of:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Liquid Sweetener like honey – if you want to make a balsamic reduction, but totally optional if you want to skip the added sugar, just combine the two above ingredients.

Other Salad Dressing Options

You can use a balsamic salad dressing for this Caprese spinach salad or just add a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar.

Other delicious salad dressing recipes are:

• Italian salad dressing – it contains a touch of Parmesan cheese that goes well with this salad
• Red wine vinegar salad dressing
• Ranch dressing – for a creamy dressing
• Avocado salad dressing  – to add healthy fat and green color to your salad

Add-Ons

Of course, you can add some delicious other ingredients into this spinach salad like:

• Red onion and a sprinkle of garlic powder for extra crunch and a mildly sweet flavor.
• Grilled chicken for extra protein – my baked lemon pepper chicken tenders are a great option to add a touch of tangy lemon flavor to the salad.
• Bacon and black pepper.
• Pine nuts or any nuts.
• Avocado

Serving With Caprese Salad

The best is to serve your salad as a side dish to meat like a cooked steak or chicken breast, but you can also serve it with a pizza or pasta.

• Marinated Steak
• Crispy Chicken Tenders
• Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets
• Buffalo Chicken Pizza
• Steak Alfredo On Pasta
• Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders
• Keto Chicken Marsala

Storage

Serve the Caprese salad immediately or store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 24 hours before serving.

Always add the dressing just before serving to avoid wilted spinach leaves.