Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Basil and Quinoa

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Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad — ❤️🤍💚This EASY quinoa salad is packed with fresh Italian flavors. You can mix and match the ingredients to use up any fresh produce you have on hand! Great for summer potlucks, barbecues, and meal prep!

Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Quinoa Salad (GF) - Trying to keep meals healthier & lighter? Make this easy, refreshing & satisfying salad!

Summertime and an abundance of fresh produce is my favorite time of year. 

In case you’ll soon be up to your eyeballs in tomatoes from your garden or your eyes are bigger than your stomach as you wander your local farmer’s market and you bring half of it home with you (guilty), this fast, easy, and satisfying quinoa salad will take some tomatoes off your hands.

The simple but flavorful rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper dressing adds some tangyiness and zing while staying on the mellower side.

The crisp juicy tomatoes, in contrast with the soft cheese, and the chewy quinoa creates so many textures in every bite.

It’s just a good vegetarian, naturally gluten-free, and satisfying meal that’s easy. Not turning on the oven and keeping things as easy as possible is the name of the game.

Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Basil and Quinoa in large bowl with spoon

Ingredients in This Recipe

This caprese quinoa salad is loaded with garden-fresh ingredients including:

  • Cooked quinoa 
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Mini fresh mozzarella cheese balls
  • Fresh basil leaves
  • Rice vinegar
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Pinch sugar, optional

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

close up of Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Basil and Quinoa in a large white bowl

How to Make Caprese Quinoa Salad

  1. Cook the quinoa according to package instructions. (Make sure to rinse the quinoa before cooking it, otherwise it’ll taste slightly bitter!)
  2. Once the quinoa is cooked, place it in a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.
  3. Give the quinoa salad a good stir and taste it to see if it needs additional seasoning. I added a healthy amount of salt and a pinch of sugar to my salad to balance the flavors, but you might not need to. 

Make-Ahead Tip

This Italian quinoa salad can be served immediately, or you can allow the flavors to marry in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving. Make-ahead meals are the best, right?

Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Basil and Quinoa with basil leaves and cherry tomatoes in background

Recipe Variations

Summertime is about being carefree and our meals seem to be much more of the wing-it and whatever-is-around approach. Feel free to mix-and-match the tomato basil salad components based on what you have around.

  • Tomatoes: any kind from cherry to diced heirlooms will work
  • Mini mozzarella balls: crumbled feta, blue cheese, white cheddar, and almost any other cheese will work
  • Quinoa: can be swapped with brown rice or couscous
  • Adding extra veggies: Bulk up the salad and clean out your produce drawer in the process by adding diced zucchini, cucumber, yellow summer squash, avocado, bell peppers, carrots, peas, or whatever sounds good

What to Serve with Quinoa Salad

Storage Instructions

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, noting that the basil and tomatoes will soften over time.

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4.73 from 37 votes

Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad

By Averie Sunshine
❤️🤍💚This EASY quinoa salad is packed with fresh Italian flavors. You can mix and match the ingredients to use up any fresh produce you have on hand! Great for summer potlucks, barbecues, and meal prep!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
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Ingredients  

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa, (start with 1 cup uncooked quinoa, 2 cups water, and cook according to package directions)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes*, (grape tomatoes work too)
  • 8 ounces mini fresh mozzarella cheese balls**, (1 cup)
  • 15 basil leaves, torn (or to taste)
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
  • 1 pinch sugar, optional and to taste

Instructions 

  • Cook quinoa according to package directions and place cooked quinoa in a large bowl.
  • Add all remaining ingredients and toss very well to combine. Taste and see if salad needs more vinegar, salt, etc. and season or tweak accordingly. I found it needed a fairly generous amount of salt and a pinch of sugar to balance the flavors for my taste preferences.
  • Salad can be served immediately or transfer to an airtight container, refrigerate, and allow flavors to marry for up to 24 hours before serving.

Notes

*Tomatoes can be substituted with any variety diced tomatoes.
**Mozzarella can be substituted with crumbled feta, blue cheese, or your favorite cheese.
Storage: Salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days, noting that vegetables will release water as time passes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 401kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g, Cholesterol: 45mg, Sodium: 760mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Caprese Salad Recipes: 

Pesto Chicken Caprese Salad — Homemade pesto coats every bite of JUICY chicken, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella in this fun twist on caprese salad!! EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and loaded with rich basil flavor!!

Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad — Juicy chicken coated in balsamic along with plump tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and basil!! Easy, healthy, ready in 15 minutes! The caprese salad you’ll make AGAIN and again!!

Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad — Tender pasta, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella are coated in Parmesan cheese and DELICIOUS pesto sauce!! EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and great for easy meals with planned leftovers or for parties because it feeds a crowd!!

4.73 from 37 votes (22 ratings without comment)

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. I’ve made this many times, and it is fantastic. I do have a few questions, as we can’t have olive oil so could we use ghee instead? Also do you think a bruschetta blend go well with it instead of basil?

    1. I really haven’t tried it any other way than how I wrote it…and as long as you’ve made it many times and love the results, I would just stick with what’s working for you. Or not…if you’re feeling adventurous :)

  2. what a fabulous looking salad, perfect for the summer and so, so healthy. Il definitely be making this for my lunch! thank you for sharing.

  3. I’ve always loved this combination – tomatoes & mozzarella & basil! Have to try it with quinoa :)

  4. Love this recipe. LOVE IT! I recommended it on my blog today because I had to share the love. I’ve linked to your page rather than write out the recipe and given you full credit. May I also use one of your gorgeous photos? Again, full credit goes to you :) ย Thanks! ย https://healthylittlechanges.com/2015/05/28/recipes-whole-foods-italian-three-ways/ย 

  5. Hi Averie,ย 

    My name is Maria and I love your recipes! I love salads and have been saving healthy, tasty salad recipes from around the web in a Google Doc. My friends and family always ask me for recipes so I decided to post them on my blog. I posted a link to this recipe with a couple details here:ย https://www.mariasalad.com/mozzarella-basil-and-tomato-quinoa-salad-recipe/. I just want to make sure it’s ok with you, especially since I’m using one of your gorgeous photos.

    Thanks for the recipe! I love it. For some reason, I have never thought to add quinoa to the mozzarella, tomato, basil combo- genius! So refreshing.

    Thanks again,
    Maria

    1. I appreciate you wanting to share my recipe and it’s fine what you did. Thanks for double-checking.

  6. This salad looks beautiful. I am a huge fan of Quinoa and sneak it in any way possible. Never thought about combining the tomato and mozzarella textures with Quinoa. Just bookmarked it. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.

  7. Thanks Averie! I think this is going to be a great dish to make and take camping. After a long day of driving this sounds like a nice tasty dish. I would love to know the recipe for the feta, watermelon, quinoa salad! YUM 100+

  8. Did you use RICE wine vinegar as stated in the ingredients, or RED wine vinegar as stated in the blog post?

    1. I’ve actually made it with both – if you have a preference, use which ever you like. I find rice wine to be a little mellower, and red wine to be a bit more bold.

  9. Oh yumm!!! Why have I never thought to add quinoa to a caprese salad before? Perfect for summer BBQs.

  10. What a gorgeous salad! Nothing better than fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes on a warm summer day. Thanks for sharing!

  11. I love your approach to summer foods! Cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes… Just add honeydew and berries, and I’ll be the happiest girl there is! I basically live off of fresh fruits and veggies all summer, and I’ll have multiple salads a day just to get as many of them as I can. Thank goodness for farmer’s markets and TJ’s! I love how you added mozzarella and basil; basil is my all-time favorite, even though my guy hates it. (He hates a lot of things I like, come to think of it! Basil, chocolate, peanut butter…) At least that means I wouldn’t have to share!

  12. I seriously want to devour a huge bowl of this salad now! Quinoa is often my go to grain when making salads or when I don’t want to use rice or pasta but still want something carby. The combination of basil, tomato and mozzarella is one of my favs and totally screams summer.

    Great recipe, Averie! Pinned. Hope you have a fabulous weekend! :)