Italian Tomato Salad Recipe

Tomato salad is an easy, quick, and healthy side dish for an occasion! This Italian tomato salad recipe is packed with ripe juicy tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, and fresh fragrant basil! Tossed and marinated with a simple vinaigrette, this naturally gluten-free, vegan, allergy-free, and low-carb dish is a must-have for summer BBQs, cookouts, and potlucks!

Fresh, juicy, cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, tons of herby aromatic basil. Tossed and marinated in a super simple olive oil and red vinegar dressing. It's the most refreshing and simple summer side dish that will pair perfectly with any entree! The tomatoes are the star of the show but you can easily customize it with more flavors and ingredients. But just like cold Italian pasta salad, why mess with the classics when simplicity is key?

What Is Italian Tomato Salad?

Not to be confused with Caprese, this simple, fresh tomato salad is just sweet cherry tomatoes, red onion, fresh basil, and a simple vinaigrette. Let it all marinate together in the fridge for a delicious, healthy, Italian-inspired salad. There's no cheese (aka mozzarella) or balsamic like there is with Caprese. There is, however, ripe juicy tomato and basil! The salad is dressed with a homemade Italian dressing just like a pasta salad.

Why You'll Love This Tomato Salad Recipe

Summer in a bowl, this veggie (or...fruit) salad is straight-up healthy refreshment! It's a perfect way to brighten up your grilling, BBQ, and cookout meals. Light and easy, it goes well with weeknight dinners and lunches too!

• Gluten-Free
• Vegan & Vegetarian
• Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Nightshade-Free, Fish-Free, Shellfish-Free, Coconut-Free, Corn-Free)
• Keto, Low-Carb
• Sugar-Free & Paleo
• Quick, Easy, Simple Ingredients
• Kid-Friendly
• Make-Ahead & Meal Prep Staple
• Perfect Side for Lunch, Dinner, or an Appetizer

Ingredients In Tomato Salad

• Fresh Tomatoes: My favorites are sweet, juicy, cherry tomatoes. They're the perfect size, low-acidity, and have no mealiness. You can use plain red or get crazy with multi-colored varieties.
• Red Onion: The key to optimal onion flavor here is thinly sliced red onion. No big chunks, the thinner the better so the onion isn't too overpowering and will marinate well in the Italian dressing! You can swap the red onion with thinly sliced shallots instead!
• Fresh Basil: Fragrant, aromatic, palate cleansing. There's nothing better than fresh basil! If you absolutely hate basil, you can use fresh Italian parsley. Even try a combo of the two!
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Make sure you use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). This type is cold-pressed and unrefined so it has a stronger, robust flavor, and is made for raw applications like salads.
• Red Wine Vinegar: It adds the perfect acidity to the dressing and slight pickling to the onions when left to marinade. Try to use red wine, but white whine vinegar will work as well as balsamic, however, play around with the amount since balsamic has a strong flavor.
• Dried Oregano + Salt + Pepper: You can keep it simple with just salt and pepper, to taste, or add some dried oregano like I did! The oregano makes this salad taste, kind of like a pizza.

What Is The Best Salad Tomato?

Cherry tomatoes are the best tomato for salads and snacking! Bite-sized (like a cherry), thin-skinned, and juicy with a sweet flavor. You'll find them in red, orange, green, and even Sungold yellow. Grape tomatoes are similar in small size and flavor, however, they have less water content and can yield a slightly mealier texture, and have thicker skin. Other options that aren't of the small variety would be beefsteak, cocktail, vine-ripe, Campari, and heirloom tomatoes. You'll need to chop these larger tomatoes finer if you're going for the easy-to-eat cold salad.

How To Make Cherry Tomato Salad

1. Halve the tomatoes, thinly slice the red onion, and lightly chop the fresh basil leaves.
2. Add the veggies to a large bowl.

3. Add the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano to a small bowl.
4. Whisk the Italian dressing together until combined.

5. Pour the Italian dressing over the bowl of chopped and sliced veggies.
6. Mix and toss everything together until the veggies are coated in the vinaigrette. Allow the salad to marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving for optimal flavor.

How To Cut Cherry Tomatoes For Salad

You'll see tons of hacks to speed up the process, but if you want the cleanest cut, grab a very sharp knife, and line 2-3 cherry tomatoes up with the stem dot facing up. Using the pressure of the knife to keep the tomatoes in place, slice straight down until the tomatoes are in halves. By slicing right through the center middle, the cut goes right through the inner seam and holds the juices, gel, and seeds perfectly in place, even when tossed around in the making of the salad!

How To Store Fresh Tomato Salad

Regardless of if you're serving the tomato salad right away, allow it to marinate at room temperature for 1-2 hours before covering the bowl and storing it in the fridge. Store the marinated tomato salad in the fridge for up to 4 days. Make sure you bring the salad to room temperature before serving and toss everything together to redistribute the Italian dressing and coat all the tomatoes to prevent them from being dried out.

Can You Make It Ahead Of Time?

You can make the salad in advance, but remember, tomatoes degrade quickly once cut. It's fine to keep tomatoes in the fridge once they are at their peak ripeness, which these are, but once they're cut, they start to lose moisture. I would make this no more than 2 days in advance of serving it for the first time to guests.

How To Serve Italian Tomato Salad

This Italian cherry tomato salad is the perfect summer side dish for cookouts, BBQs, and potlucks. Think of serving it alongside grilled entrees like these grilled chicken burgers, perfectly seasoned grilled chicken breast, or veggie entrees like grilled cabbage steaks or eggplant steaks! Of course, this side salad also goes well with everyday weeknight entrees like salmon, roast chicken, lentil loaf, and baked cheesy pasta!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Cherry tomatoes are at their peak ripeness during the summer months, however, you can find ripe tomatoes year-round. Make sure they're firm and fragrant, this way you know they're at their optimal sweetness!
• Make sure to allow the salad to marinate! The salt acts via osmosis on the tomatoes, extracting the natural sweetness and juices. The acid from the vinegar softens and mutes the astringent flavor of the red onions, giving them a slight pickle. It's crucial that you wait a minimum of 30 minutes before serving the salad!
• Don't leave your tomatoes whole! You want to expose the insides to the marinade. Plus, too large of a pop in the mouth is a bit too much experiment for this side salad!
• If you have really large basil leaves, you can chiffonade the basil. Roll the leaves into a tight cylinder and slice. I just grabbed a bunch and chopped normally.
• If you want more dressing to toss the salad in, you can add an extra tablespoon of each, olive oil, and vinegar. I played around with the amounts and it's really up to you.

More Delicious Side Salads:

• Classic Italian Pasta Salad
• Mexican Street Corn Salad
• Old-Fashioned Cucumber Salad
• French Carrot Salad
• Classic Broccoli Salad
• Shirazi Salad

Print

It's so simple and technically a fruit salad...with onions...take that as you will. Regardless, it's the most simple, delicious Italian cherry tomato salad recipe you'll ever make, or eat!

So tell me:

+ What's your favorite variety of tomatoes? If you want to get crazy, try some green tomatoes!

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