Strawberry, Basil and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Drizzle
This strawberry salad recipe is an absolute showstopper! Bring this simple salad to all of your summer parties. It will be a big hit!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 12, 2024
I’ll be making this strawberry salad all summer long. It’s beautiful, easy to make, and beyond delicious. What more could we want?
This salad takes a few cues from classic Caprese salad but stars diced strawberries. I opted for crumbled goat cheese instead of mozzarella, and added a drizzle of thick balsamic vinegar.
To round it out, I added lots of fresh basil, plus a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. This salad straddles the line between sweet and savory, and it absolutely works.
The final result is a showstopper. Be sure to use red, ripe strawberries and quality ingredients, and you’ll be thrilled with the results. Hooray for easy summer salads!
Strawberry-Basil Salad Tips
Use thick balsamic vinegar.
In other words, use high quality balsamic vinegar or buy/make balsamic glaze. Both options offer intense flavor and look pretty (runny balsamic vinegars will travel straight to the bottom of the plate). See the recipe notes for my suggestions.
Double the recipe for a crowd.
The recipe as written calls for 1 pound strawberries and 1/2 log of goat cheese. To double the recipe, just grab another pound of strawberries and make sure you have plenty of basil.
Serve promptly.
This salad is beautiful and looks best when it’s served promptly. If you’re transporting this salad, you might want to wait and drizzle the olive oil and vinegar on top just before serving.
Change it up.
You can easily substitute sliced fresh peaches for some or all of the strawberries. Another idea? Serve this salad over fresh, leafy greens, with an extra little drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top.
Please let me know how you like this salad in the comments! I hope it’s a big hit at your summer parties.
Looking for more strawberry goodness? Here are a few of my favorite strawberry recipes:
- Colorful Strawberry Arugula Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Summertime Fruit Salad
- Strawberry, Basil and Balsamic Pizza
- Strawberry Salsa
- No-Bake Greek Yogurt Tart
Strawberry, Basil and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Drizzle
This strawberry salad recipe is simple enough to make on weeknights. It’s also the perfect salad to bring to all of your summer parties! Recipe yields 4 side servings; it is easily doubled.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, diced
- Optional: 1 to 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup, to taste
- 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese (about ½ cup)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil, plus a few small basil leaves for garnish
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon thick balsamic vinegar*
- ½ teaspoon Maldon flaky sea salt or a scant ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Spread the diced strawberries across a medium serving platter or shallow serving bowl. If the strawberries aren’t sweet enough to your liking, toss them with a bit of honey or maple syrup.
- Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese over the strawberries, followed by the chopped basil. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top.
- Finish off the salad with the salt, a few twists of freshly ground black pepper, and the reserved basil leaves. For the most beautiful presentation, serve the salad promptly. Leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator, though, for about 3 days.
Notes
Make it dairy free/vegan: You could potentially omit the goat cheese altogether, or substitute a few dollops of vegan sour cream. For a vegan salad, use maple syrup instead of honey, if using at all.
*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). You can use regular runny balsamic for less beautiful results, 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.
This is a beautiful salad and will go great at a BBQ, next to a Caprese salad.
That would be a great combination! Let me know what you think, Alexia.
My family loved it and it was with American strawberries–not even red right through–I can only imagine what it’s like with fresh ripe local Ontario strawberries, which will hopefully be in season soon. Thank you for the tasty memory. This is a keeper.
Cheers
Jane
Thank you for your feedback, Jane!
Sounds wonderful but I just wanted to say Best Wishes to you and Congratulations to the groom.
Thank you, Donna!
Congratulations!!! You looked absolutely lovely, and so does this salad.
Thank you! :)
This was a huge hit at my dinner party. Loved the flavor. I never would have thought strawberries for a salad. Main course was steak so this was very light and refreshing salad. Looking forward to more vegetarian recipes
I’m glad you were pleasantly surprised! Thanks, Nancy.
I loooved this! I had half over greens with a sliced avocado and it was dreamy. I had the other half with some sliced cucumber stirred in. Very yummy.
I’m so glad you loved it! I really like the greens and avocado pairing idea.
I made this on Sunday. It was amazing!!!!!
Thank you
You’re welcome, Leslie!
I made the strawberry salad dish and it was lovely. I made a few changes and used chopped red onion and smoked balsamic glaze and substitued greek feta cheese for the goats cheese. I used 100% organic strawberries which I cut only in half and I left the basil as whole leaves. I’d post a picture but I do not use instagram.
Thank you for taking to time to provide feedback Lilly!
This is what summer tastes like on a plate. Simple, easy, yet divine. Plan on making this very often. Thanks!
I agree with you! Thank you for your review, Latoya.
So fresh, beautiful, delicious, and easy. I LOVE a classic caprese and this was a lovely twist. I’ll keep this in my back pocket all summer. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Brittany!
This was fantastic! Even my 4 year old loved it! I served it with artichokes & avocado toast, which made for an amazing summertime meal. Thanks!
Thanks for your review, Laura!
This is a fabulous salad! Took it took a potluck and received rave reviews. Used Trader Joe’s balsamic glaze and their goat cheese with honey–yum!
Sounds great, Teri!
This recipe is so damn good! Thanks so much. I feel good just thinking about it! I did put in a full 3.5 oz carton of goat cheese and wouldn’t do any less.
Thank you for sharing, Lee!
Kate, this is delicious!! I served it over greens, but tomorrow I’ll serve it without the greens. Simple, quick, but amazing! Thanks for another keeper recipe.
You’re welcome, Connie!
Loved the strawberry salad. Had a little extra balsamic reduction and added pineapple to the left over this morning. It was still fantastic. Used feta cheese.
Just wondering what isn’t good with feta and balsamic reduction?
Jean
I have a hard time thinking something isn’t good with it! :)
Oooh, I can’t wait to give this a try! I just got a fresh batch of California Strawberries!
I hope you love it, Alexa!
I’ve never eaten strawberries in a salad before but this looked so pretty that I had to try it. YUM! It was beautiful, fresh and delicious! :) Even my husband, who wasn’t excited at the prospect, ended up loving it.
Can I add some kind of lettuce to beef up this salad? What would be good, spinach?
Hi, Sure you cold try spinach.
Just made this with vegan feta and added some watermelon too. Perfect lunch On a sunny day ☀️
Shazam. I did not have goat cheese, I had horseradish hard cheddar. And the malden salt is my favorite. I need to try the caprese salad. My keto is buzzing. Thank you sooo much.
Cannot wait to try this! I’m growing basil and the farmers market strawberries are amazing this year!
If I wanted to add a vegetarian protein to this dish, what would you recommend?
Hi! This salad pairs well Caprese Sandwich or a pasta!
Made this salad the night before last. Oh. My. Goodness!!! It was a gorgeous salad (wish I had taken a picture before my husband and I dug in). It looked pretty much like your picture of it, Kate! And it tasted even better than it looked!! My husband and I ate all 4 servings, but that was our dinner. I think this may be my new favorite way to enjoy in season strawberries. I will be making this again real soon, as strawberries are in season here in Ohio. Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe! I wish it had been included in Love Real Food.
That’s great to hear, Sherrie!
Wonderful for brunch! TY!
This was really good!! I sliced the berries after I removed the hulls. I used a good quality EVOO and took reduced/thickened a 10 year balsamic vinegar. I did drizzle a bit of honey over the berries as well. Next time I’ll use a vegan goat cheese recipe that I found that is the bomb, so the whole dish is vegan instead of vegetarian. This will be a great recipe to take and easily assemble for a family gathering. Thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks Kate!!
We made this salad & it’s delicious! Every bite so flavorful from strawberries, basil & creamy goat cheese. We will definitely be making all summer.