This easy caprese bruschetta recipe is fresh, healthy, and delicious! Your kids will eat these up! The balsamic glaze will get your kids hooked!
Does your child have a dairy allergy or is lactose intolerant? If so, simply leave the mozzarella out. They will still taste amazing!
Serve this as a refreshing afterschool snack or as a side with dinner!
For more after school snack ideas, try my lemon blueberry muffins, zucchini banana chocolate chip muffins, granola as part of fruit and yogurt parfaits and no-bake energy bites.
Why This Recipe is so Great
Made with fresh ingredients like basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella, this unique bruschetta recipe simply 'says' summer. And thankfully you can get a taste of summer all year with this recipe because these ingredients are available in grocery stores year round.
- Serve it to your kids as a snack or as a side with dinner.
- The mozzarella adds protein which will help your kids feel full longer.
- Adding the balsamic glaze is a must for getting kids to get love this.
- Let your kids drizzle the balsamic glaze on as the final step and allow them to be a little artsy with it. This will give them some ownership and help build confidence in the kitchen.
Ingredient Notes
- Mozzarella Provides protein and calcium. Buy a fresh mozzarella log and cut it up using a knife. It's easy!
- Tomato Cherry and grape tomatoes add a nice texture and are easy to quarter. Excellent source of lycopene, vitamin C, and potassium. Plus, ripe tomatoes are so pretty!
- Basil Basil is an herb. It adds beautiful color and a refreshing flavor. Basil or basil microgreens can be used in this recipe.
- Bread Baguette slices worked best. Bread contains carbohydrates. With very few exceptions, kids need carbohydrates! Serving them this Easy Caprese Bruschetta is one healthy way to get some in!
- Olive Oil Use extra virgin olive oil. It contains healthy fats.
- Garlic Salt Yummy flavor!
- Balsamic glaze Provides the perfect hint of sweetness that kids love.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's a quick overview of the steps to make this easy Caprese Bruschetta. For the full list of ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.
- Cut the tomatoes and mozzarella up in to small pieces.
- Cut fresh basil leaves into small strips and set aside.
- Carefully combine mozzarella, tomato, olive oil, and garlic salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Slice the loaf of baguette into one-inch pieces and toast.
- Once the baguette slices are cooled (this doesn't take long), top each baguette slice with 1-2 tablespoons of the mozzarella and tomato mixture.
- Top the mozzarella and tomato mixture with strips of fresh basil then drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- Devour!
Expert Tips
- Use a high-quality bread knife to slice bread.
- Either toast the slices of bread in a toaster oven or stick them in an oven set to 375-400 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes. I have used both strategies and they both work well!
- If you have a local bakery, I strongly encourage you to support them! Not only will you be supporting a local business, but local bakeries tend to use higher quality ingredients and avoid adding 'extra' ingredients like vital wheat gluten and dough conditioners.
- Regular sliced bread can be used in place of baguette slices. Just be sure the slices of bread are small enough and hearty enough so kids can pick them up without the bruschetta falling apart.
- Balsamic glaze can be found in most grocery stores. Look for it in the same aisle where you would find vinegar.
- When adding balsamic glaze, simply take the bottle of glaze and drizzle it over the Caprese Bruschetta so that each piece has at least two to three streaks of glaze on it. So good! I'm sure your kids would love to help with this step!
Recipe FAQs
Balsamic glaze is made by cooking balsamic vinegar and sugar together until the vinegar cooks down, making a sweet and delicious syrup. No wonder why kids love it! You can make it yourself or buy it in the store (usually found in the vinegar aisle).
Absolutely! You can either serve the mozzarella cheese on the side if someone in your family has a dairy allergy or just leave it out altogether.
More Side Dish Recipes That Kids Love
Did you make this and love it? Please leave a 5-star rating below or a review in the comments section!
And don't forget to snap a pic of your incredible caprese bruschetta creation and tag @carrots.and.cookies on Instagram. Enjoy!
Easy Caprese Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 1 baguette sliced and lightly toasted
- 4 ounce fresh mozzarella
- 1 cup grape tomatoes Can use cherry tomatoes instead. Washed and quartered.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil extra virgin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
- 10 leaves fresh basil
- Balsamic glaze to taste
Instructions
- Lightly toast baguette slices either in a toaster oven or in the oven (see note below)
- While the baguette slices are toasting, carefully cut the mozzarella up into ¼ inch cubes
- Mix mozzarella pieces, olive oil, quartered cherry tomatoes, and garlic salt together in a small bowl and set aside
- Slice or tear basil into small pieces and set aside
- When baguette slices are lightly toasted, remove from oven and let cool
- Once the bread is cooled, top each slice with about 1-2 tablespoons of the mozzarella and tomato mixture
- Top the mozzarella and tomato mixture with pieces of fresh basil
- Drizzle balsamic glaze over each piece of assembled Caprese Bruschetta
Amy R
So good and kid approved!
Kristi
So great!