Easy Tomato Salad
Extra tomatoes? Make this tomato salad recipe, made with basil, red onion, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Simple, versatile and delicious!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 3, 2024
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We have a surplus of tomatoes this summer, and it’s glorious. I dreamed up this simple tomato salad recipe to make use of the excess. I simply sliced ripe tomatoes into bite-sized pieces, then I added some crisp red onion, lots of fresh basil, and drizzled it all with olive oil and good balsamic vinegar.
The end result is so delicious! This salad really lets raw, peak-season tomatoes shine. The recipe is also quite versatile, so you’ll never tire of it. Try adding some cucumber, mozzarella, avocado, arugula or even peaches.
Serve this tomato salad as a fresh, healthy side salad to any summer meal. It’s best when it’s freshly made, so I recommend cutting the recipe in half if you’re not serving a crowd.
I grew heirloom tomatoes from seed for the first time this spring. It was a fun process that proved easier than expected. In fact, I underestimated how many of the seeds would sprout. I grew so many tomato plants that we filled our family’s three garden plots and passed along the extra to friends.
Strangely enough, our growing tomato plants have provided a sense of continuity and hope during a tumultuous year. I’ll do it all again next spring, but maybe leave some room for more peppers and cucumbers. Or maybe I need a bigger garden plot. I think I’m hooked!
Watch How to Make Easy Tomato Salad
Tomato Salad Ingredients
Tomatoes
Ripe tomatoes are absolutely key to making a great tomato salad. In other words, do not attempt to make tomato salad with subpar tomatoes. It’s just not worth it.
For this salad, I like to use a combination of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half, and small-to-medium tomatoes, sliced into bite-sized wedges. You can use any combination of tomatoes, though, as long as they’re good ones. You’ll need about 1 3/4 pounds total.
Red Onion
Raw onion can be intense, so we’re going to soak our onion in ice-cold water while we prepare the remaining ingredients. The colder your water, the more crisp your onions will become. Soaking the onion is a simple and quick way to improve the overall flavor and texture of your salad.
Fresh Basil
You can’t go wrong with the combination of fresh tomatoes and bail, ever. If you’re short on basil, this salad is also nice with parsley, dill and/or chives.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil & Thick Balsamic Vinegar
Now’s the perfect time to bust out your best olive oil and balsamic vinegar, because their flavors will really shine on this salad. If you’re curious, my go-to olive oils are California Olive Ranch Everyday and Trader Joe’s Kalamata.
By “thick” balsamic vinegar, I mean a high-quality aged balsamic that will drizzle nicely over the salad. I love Napa Valley Naturals’ Grand Reserve Vinegar (affiliate link)—make sure you get the bottle with “25 stars” on it. Or, use store-bought balsamic glaze/reduction by DeLallo or Alessi. You can even make your own balsamic glaze with runny balsamic—here’s my balsamic glaze tutorial.
Salt & Pepper
If possible, use Maldon flaky sea salt (affiliate link). Flaky salt is a “finishing salt” that offers a hint of crisp texture and enhances the flavor of anything underneath. It’s such an easy way to make a recipe seem gourmet! If you don’t have it, use kosher salt. If you don’t have kosher salt, use half as much table salt.
Lastly, use freshly ground black pepper, always. Pre-ground pepper is nearly flavorless and not worth the cost.
Tomato Cucumber Salad Variation
Easy! Layer some thinly sliced cucumber into this recipe. I prefer English cucumber or Persian cucumber for their crisp texture and less bitter skin. If you’re using a regular garden cucumber, taste a slice first—if the skin is bitter, peel it off before slicing the rest. Or try my Cucumber Tomato Salad with Greek Dressing for a delicious alternative.
Additional Variations
This tomato salad recipe is so versatile. For a more hearty salad, add some mozzarella or ripe avocado. If you have arugula, try adding a handful or two. You could even substitute ripe peaches for some of the tomatoes. The recipe (below) provides guidance on quantities and how to layer in these optional ingredients.
Craving more tomatoes before summer ends? Below are a few of my favorite recipes featuring juicy raw tomatoes, or you can browse all tomato recipes here.
- Caprese Salad with Burrata
- Classic Pico de Gallo
- Fresh Huevos Rancheros
- Layered Panzanella
- Tomato Basil Bruschetta with Balsamic Drizzle
- Vegetarian “BLT” Sandwich
Easy Tomato Salad
Extra tomatoes? Make this simple tomato salad recipe! It’s delicious, versatile and easy to make. This recipe features ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, soaked red onion, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Recipe yields 4 to 6 side salads using 1 ¾ pound tomatoes; you can cut the recipe in half by using either the cherry tomatoes or the pound of regular tomatoes.
Ingredients
Tomato Salad
- ½ cup chopped red onion (about ½ small red onion)
- 1 pint (12 ounces or 2 cups) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 pound additional tomatoes (about 1 large, 2 medium or 3 small), cut into bite-sized wedges
- ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil and/or small basil leaves (or substitute parsley, dill and/or chives)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons thick balsamic vinegar* or balsamic glaze
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional Additions
- ½ English cucumber or 1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 torn mozzarella ball or around 1 cup mini mozzarella balls or cubed part-skim mozzarella
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced or diced
- Handful of baby arugula
Instructions
- First, fill a small bowl with ice water and add the chopped red onion (soaking the onion will tame its intense flavor and make it more crisp). Set aside as you prep the remaining ingredients.
- To assemble the salad, spread the tomato wedges over a large serving platter. Drain the onions well, and layer about one-third of the onions on top. Add half of the cherry tomatoes, followed by a layer of any optional additions, followed by another one-third of the onions. Finish with the remaining cherry tomatoes, followed by the remaining onions, and sprinkle the basil all over.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the salad, followed by the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the salt and several twists of black pepper on top. Serve promptly. This salad is best consumed within a couple of hours, but leftover salad will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for 3 days.
Notes
Change it up: Add any of the optional additions. Use any combination of tomatoes (you’ll need about 1 ¾ pounds total), cut into wedges or even large slices. You could also substitute ripe sliced peaches for some of the tomatoes.
*Balsamic vinegar note: For a beautiful drizzle, use high-quality, thick balsamic vinegar (I love Napa Valley Naturals’ Grand Reserve Vinegar—it’s about $10 at Natural Grocers or other well-stocked grocery stores—make sure you get the bottle with “25 stars” on it) or store-bought balsamic glaze/reduction (DeLallo and Alessi make them). Or, make your own balsamic reduction.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Delicious. The red onion gave it the snap it needed to make it feel like dinner! Thanks.
I’m glad you loved it, Leslie! Thank you for your review.
Made this tonight with garden tomatoes and loved it! Simple, beautiful, and delicious.
We used a yellow onion because that’s what we had, skipped the avocado because it was too bruised, and omitted the cheese because not everyone does dairy. Still turned out fantastic and didn’t feel like we were missing anything.
So flexible, I’m glad it was a hit! Thank you for sharing, Megan.
I made this and added the cucumber and peaches thinking it was going to rock. It was good, but could have been better. Clearly needed more salt and maybe more onions? It was bland, but pretty to look at. I do love your other recipes.
Hi Rita, I’m sorry you didn’t love this one.
Made this tonight. Loved it! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for letting me know you loved it, Caley!
Lovely salad! I added some leftover cooked black lentils, feta, and cucumber. Made it a nice lunch. Thanks for this tip of soaking red onion. I normally don’t like it raw, but this method mellowed it perfectly for me!
!
I made this beautiful recipe this past weekend for my family cookout. I made it with colorful tomatoes and some tomatoes from my garden. I also have some cucumber from my garden and added those. What a wonderful flavorful recipe. I Love the Balsamic recommended. I have not tried it before and just love the flavor! This is a keeper recipe for sure!! My family loved it too! I will be trying peaches in it too soon. It is a very versatile recipe and so very easy!
That’s great to hear! I’m glad you loved it, Mary.
This is a traditional european recipe which is superb & a firm favourite. We also like sliced cucumbers on a mandolin or finely with a knife, sliced red or white onions, dill & Yoghurt.Fresh dill is best but we chop it & freeze it for scattering on new potatoes with butter, salads or soups. Husband loves parsley so we chop & freeze that as well.
Thank you for your review and feedback, Theresa!
Thank you for the comment about chopping and freezing parsley. I am new to many herbs and don’t understand how to store effectively. Most appreciated!
I made the recipe per directions with the addition of sharp mozzarella.
Big Hit.
Sounds delicious, LuAnn! Thank you for sharing.
Yummy and healthy! Easy to make, huge payoff in taste. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Varsha!
Kate can I keep adding to this dish
I made it with home grown tomatoes and cucumbers absolutely delicious
I’m excited you enjoyed it, David! I appreciate your review.
So easy and so delicious, made it twice this week for company, no leftovers either time! Thanks
You’re welcome, Colleen!
We loved the salad. Forgot to add the parsley but it was still delicious. Especially enjoyed the balsamic vinegar reduction.
Wonderful, Barbara!
I made this with a yellow onion since I had it on hand and added some Parmesan/Reggiano grated cheese. I used tomatoes from our garden and the salad was delicious. My family loved it!
Wonderful to hear, Christine!
Thank you for this fabulous Tomato recipe! My tomatoes are turning red now, and I’m ready for this Salad!
Such a tasty easy salad which adds a burst of colour to the table too! Loved it!!
Hooray! That’s great, Amanda.
Hi Kate, I love your recipes but have to convert them to metric each time. Would it be possible to include a ‘convert to metric’ option for users like me? I have seen other food bloggers do this (and metric to imperial measures) and it makes such a difference especially if I am in a hurry. Thanks again for your wonderful recipes
This was really good. I don’t like raw onions but added a few and the ice water method mellowed them nicely. I think this would be great with bulgar, quinoa or lentils to up the protein for a main dish salad. I will definable making this again
Made this recipe this evening for our dinner with a pork chop. Had fresh tomatoes from our garden. Big and cherry, red and yellow ones. It was sooooo good & pretty. I added black olives, feta cheese and a very small amount of green onion (about 1/2 tbsp) to the recipe. It turned out so good. I used your balsamic reduction recipe as well. So easy. Never knew how easy it was to make. Both recipes have been added to my meal plans for the month. Thanks for sharing and caring!
You’er welcome, Kelly! I appreciate your review.
my mom taught this recipe to me. its always been a summertime favorite, it reminds me of her. is there any way to freeze this salad?
This won’t hold-up frozen. Sorry!