Fresh Cherry Tomato Bruschetta
Easy, delicious, and fresh, this Cherry Tomato Bruschetta is the perfect condiment for topping toasts, salmon, chicken, eggs, and more! Made with fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, oil, and balsamic vinegar, it’s Paleo, Gluten Free, Whole30, and Vegan/Vegetarian!
This recipe was originally posted on July 11, 2018, and was updated 4/28/21 with new photos and video.
I want to run around singing, “It’s the mooooost wonderful tiiiiiiime of the year!” No, it’s not Christmas, it’s tomato season!
For just a few months every summer, tomatoes are perfectly sweet, juicy, and crisp, perfect for tomato salad, salsa, guacamole, and more! I look forward to this all year, because really, is there anything better than summer tomatoes? No, of course not!
When I visit my local farmer’s market on Saturdays, the tomatoes are the star of the show, and for good reason. They’re delicious! Today I grabbed some cherry tomatoes at and made this amazing Cherry Tomato Bruschetta for some friends stopping by later.
Bruschetta is one of my favorite recipes to make as an appetizer for guests. It can be made in advance then served whenever you’re ready with some toasts. It also works as a condiment for proteins like fish, steak, chicken, and more.
🇮🇹 Did you know? Italians use the word “bruschetta” to refer to the toasted bread served with toppings. Here in the US, we usually use bruschetta to describe the tomato, garlic, and basil mixture we use to top the bread. So of course, this is inauthentically named, but I’m only half Italian, so don’t hold it against me.
You may also like: Dairy free pesto, sugar free bbq sauce.
🍅 Bruschetta Ingredients
If you grew up in an Italian home like I did, most of the ingredients in bruschetta are household staples! But even if you don’t have these things on hand, they can be found year round at any grocery store.
Here’s what you need:
- Cherry tomatoes. You can substitute other tomatoes (Roma tomatoes work really well!). Cherry or grape tomatoes are my personal favorite because they’re tiny, crisp, and flavorful, without being too seedy.
- Fresh basil
- Garlic
- Red onion
- Extra Virgin Olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is rich and robust, perfect for bruschetta!
- Balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- Optional: Mozzarella pearls. Adding cheese of course means the dish is no longer Whole30 compatible, however mozzarella cheese is the perfect low carb addition to the flavors in this bruschetta!
🔪 Step by Step Instructions
First things first, you need to do the prep work. The beauty in the recipe is how all the ingredients are diced small and combined so you get a little of everything in every bite.
Dice the tomatoes and onions, slice the basil, and mince the garlic.
Optional: I like to lightly sauté the garlic, just until it’s fragrant, before adding it to the mixture. It brings out the flavor and takes a bit of the harshness of the garlic, but it’s completely optional. Many bruschetta recipes call for raw garlic, which works great too and would save you a step.
Then all you need to do is mix everything together in a dish, season to taste, and enjoy!
❓ Recipe FAQ
YES! In fact, it actually gets better when you let the flavors marinate overnight. Feel free to make it the day before or morning of. You’ll love it!
Abso-fruit-ly! I know, I know, that’s a horrible joke. But yes, go ahead and substitute any other kind of tomato you like. Roma tomatoes and grape tomatoes are wonderful substitutions. If you find your variety of tomato are especially wet or seedy, you can cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters, then use a spoon to remove some of that seedy part. You don’t want to have a bowl of tomato juice!
How to use bruschetta toppings
I love this question because I could literally ramble on and on and on about all the uses for this incredible condiment. There are SO many possibilities!
- Make Bruschetta Salmon (pictured above). This might be my favorite way to use bruschetta topping, because of the *wow* factor. I promise, this is the most deceivingly simple recipe I have. The presentation is so impressive, but it’s actually easy as pie!
- Make Grilled Bruschetta Chicken (also pictured above!) a super simple and fresh recipe featuring the tomato bruschetta topping served with marinated grilled chicken.
- A classic never goes out of style, so go ahead and serve it with classic crispy toasts and a bottle of wine for a relaxing happy hour. You can slice and toast a baguette or buy a package of crispy breads, whatever works better for you.
If you make this recipe, I would absolutely love to know!
Tag me on Instagram @cookathomemom or leave a comment below!
Cherry Tomato Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 1.5 pints cherry tomato
- 1 small bunch basil
- 1/4 red onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 cup mozzarella pearls, optional
Instructions
- Quarter the tomatoes, dice the red onion, and slice the basil chiffonade.
- Mince the garlic. Heat the oil over low-medium heat in a small pan and add the garlic. Sauté the garlic until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set it aside. ⠀
- Add all the ingredients to a medium bowl and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
