Caprese pizza is an easy dinner ready in 30 minutes. Made with homemade basil oil, tomatoes and mozzarella, this pizza is a crowd pleaser. Watch the video for a complete tutorial.
Pizzas and flatbread are the perfect weeknight dinner. We love our Mediterranean pizza and Meatball sub pizza, both super easy recipes that are perfect for a quick dinner. The pizza recipe we have today is one of the easiest dinner recipes out there. You just need a few ingredients and in just about 30 minutes, you can have a pizza on the table that with every bite, it would take you to Italy!
Tomato, basil and mozzarella, the magical caprese
If you've check out out caprese pasta salad recipe, you know we love the combination of mozzarella, tomato and basil. The classic caprese salad is an all time favorite. This classic Italian combination can be added to many recipes such as caprese sandwich and caprese stuffed chicken breast. The flavor of caprese is hard to beat, you have creamy mozzarella with juicy sweet tomatoes and a kick from fresh basil. With some balsamic vinegar, it's the perfect combination.
If you love caprese salad, you're going to devour this pizza. This vegetarian pizza is another take on the classic Italian combination. It's made with a few ingredients and even though it's such as simple recipe, it's very delicious and easily becomes a family favorite. We love this recipe for a quick weeknight dinner or as an appetizer for a party or gathering. A slice of this classic pizza has a lot of flavor thanks to the homemade basil oil and fresh tomatoes.
Pizza Caprese ingredients
The ingredients you need to make this recipe are:
- Pizza dough - Homemade or store-bought.
- Homemade basil oil
- Tomatoes - I prefer large tomatoes for this pizza, but you can really use any kind including grape tomatoes.
- Fresh mozzarella - sliced or shredded
- Balsamic glaze
A simple list of ingredients makes this recipe very accessible and easy to prepare. If you have time to make homemade pizza dough, that's great. For this recipe, I used store-bought pizza dough and it worked out very well. Since the ingredients used in this recipe are very simple, make sure to use high quality ones to enhance the flavor.
How to make caprese pizza at home
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Coat the pizza pan with a nonstick cooking spray or olive oil.
- Roll out the pizza dough on your pizza pan.
- Brush the pizza dough generously with basil oil.
- Top the pizza with tomato and mozzarella slices.
- Bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes.
- Sprinkle some salt if need and drizzle with homemade balsamic glaze.
- Slice the pizza and serve immediately.
Whether you call it pizza caprese or tomato mozzarella basil pizza, this recipe is going to be your favorite weeknight dinner, easy peasy, and super tasty!
A little note: To make caprese naan pizza, use store-bought naan instead of the pizza dough. The cooking time will be about 12-14 minutes.
Additions to this pizza recipe
You can always add more ingredients to this pizza. Some of our favorite additions are:
- Grilled chicken: You can add some previously grilled chicken to this pizza to make it a complete meal.
- Veggies: Red bell pepper or red onion would be a great addition to this pizza.
- Pesto: Don't want to make basil oil? Swap it for pesto, it works out well.
- Sun dried tomatoes: Caprese pizza with sun dried tomatoes would be perfect especially in a season when tomatoes are not in peak.
- Heirloom tomatoes: If you're making this classic pizza in summer, visit your local farmers market and get some of those colorful heirloom tomatoes, they will make this pizza very pretty!
- Roasted tomatoes: For some intense and sweet flavor, roast the tomatoes beforehand and then use them to make this recipe. You can check out our tutorial on how to make the best roasted tomatoes.
How to store pizza
Wrap each leftover slice in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, place the pizza on the pizza pan and heat in the oven at 300ºF for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Looking for more recipes?
Best Caprese Pizza Recipe (Video)
Ingredients
- 1 lb pizza dough store bought or homemade (see notes)
- ¼ cup Basil oil see notes
- 2 large tomatoes sliced
- 8 oz mozzarella sliced or shredded
- 2 tbsp balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Coat the pizza pan with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray.
- Roll out the pizza dough and place it on the pizza pan. Brush the dough with basil oil.
- Top the dough with tomato and mozzarella slices.
- Bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes until the dough is cooked and the cheese is melted.
- Drizzle some balsamic glaze on the pizza, slice and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- If using refrigerated pizza dough, bring it to room temperature before rolling it out.
- Use this recipe to make homemade basil oil. You can also use pesto.
- You can add grilled chicken to this pizza to make it a complete meal.