Caprese Tostada Recipe

This Caprese Tostada recipe takes the idea of a caprese salad and gives it a south of the border twist. With a crunchy tostada shell topped with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, salty cotija and a drizzle of crema, this snack is quick, easy and totally craveable.

An easy snack recipe you’ll love

I had a Caprese Tostada on a summer vacation to Loreto (in Baja) and I brought the idea home as a souvenir.

While a typical Caprese salad has tomatoes paired with mozzarella and basil, this recipe gives them a Mexican-inspired twist.

Fresh tomatoes are excellent when paired with salty cheese and some crunch from a hard corn tortilla shell. And I can’t ever get enough of cilantro. YUM.

Related: Roasted Tomatoes and Burrata Appetizer

Whether served on its own or with other snacks, it’s an easy recipe to put together that your whole family will enjoy. It even makes a great tostada appetizer

It’s a great recipe to serve at a Chicks and Salsa girl’s night in or any other Mexican-inspired gathering.

Ingredients

You could easily make your own tostada shells at home by frying tortillas. But I am clumsy and afraid of hot, angry oil, so I bought ready-made tostada shells from the store.  

Mexican cheeses are pretty readily available in all of my markets so hopefully you won’t have any trouble locating them. Cotija is nice and salty while the crema is smooth and creamy like you’d expect. Queso Fresco also works.

You can probably substitute with feta if you don’t have cotija but it won’t be exactly the same. Cotija has a unique flavor that I prefer over feta, but they are both salty.

If you can’t find the crema, you can use sour cream. Or even heavy cream.

Then it’s just fresh cilantro and Roma tomatoes. You can also add fresh basil if you want to keep it similar to the classic recipe.

How to Make a Tostada Caprese

1. Place a tostada shell on a plate.
2. Place several slices of fresh tomato on the shell.
3. Sprinkle with crumbled cotija cheese.
4. Drizzle with crema.
5. Finish with roughly chopped cilantro.

What’s great about this is that you can just as easily make more than one by setting up a mini assembly line.

This tostada makes a tasty snack for one person or you can make a bunch as an easy and inexpensive appetizer for a party.

What to Serve it With

I eat this caprese tostada as a lunch or snack. It’s great with all kinds of drinks like Shaken Basil Iced Tea or Iced Tea Sangria.

And of course, it’s great with a classic margarita on the rocks or even a cucumber margarita.

These would also make a tasty party food idea. Pair them with Margarita Sangria which is perfect to serve a crowd.

Or you can make it as a side dish for Chiptole Lime Chicken.

I just know you are going to love these. This Caprese Tostada is a great light snack or accompaniment to tacos, etc. I bet you could even add some scrambled eggs to it and make it a breakfast treat.

Variations

This is a shot I took while on vacation. You can see that my recipe is a little bit different. But both are delicious!

They added basil and red onion to theirs along with the ingredients I shared above. You could even use the cream from Burrata in place of the crema. Get creative!

• red onion
• basil
• avocado
• jalapeno
• burrata
• make it more hearty with shredded chicken or even shrimp!

Like with a lot of my recipes, I like to leave them open to interpretation so you can add or take away flavors that you don’t love.

More Caprese Recipes

• White Bean Caprese salad
• Caprese Gnocchi Bake

More Easy Snack Recipes

• Dried Beef Cheese Ball
• Dried Beef Roll-Ups
• Baked Salami Chips
• DIY Popcorn Seasonings
• How to Make a Family Snack Board

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