Avocado Salad with Tomatoes, Mozzarella, and Basil Pesto - healthy recipe packed with nutrients and lots of fresh ingredients! Perfect Spring and Summer salad! Small fresh Mozzarella cheese balls are delicious when combined with avocado in this easy salad that also features red and yellow cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. The dressing for this avocado salad couldn't be easier to make - just combine fresh basil pesto with lemon juice! Basil pesto makes a perfect salad dressing as it is packed with olive oil.
One of many reasons that I love Summer is that it's a perfect time of the year to make salads. I've been making all kinds of salads, including my favorite beet salad with spinach, goat cheese, and cashews and strawberry spinach salad. Well, now I've got another favorite! This recipe just screams Summer! I love using red and yellow cherry tomatoes (each sliced in half) in this avocado salad because they add natural color and look really good with the small fresh Mozzarella cheese balls and other diced ingredients. So easy to make! Just combine all the ingredients together, toss with a simple basil pesto dressing and the salad is ready!
Ingredients for Avocado Salad
½ pound red cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
½ pound yellow cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
2 avocados , diced
1 cucumber , sliced
⅓ cup red onion , diced
8 ounces small fresh mozzarella cheese balls
How to make easy basil pesto dressing for avocado salad
My favorite salad dressing for salads is just plain olive oil. Which is why basil pesto (which has olive oil as one of its ingredients) makes a perfect salad dressing for my avocado salad.
To make the dressing, just combine fresh basil pesto (I used ¼ cup) with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. After you add the dressing to the salad, season the salad with salt and pepper, to taste.
I used to make my own basil pesto all the time, but these days you can buy really good pre-made fresh basil pesto in the store, so I just used store-bought basil pesto for this avocado salad.
Main dishes that go great with Avocado Salad
Many grilled meats, such as grilled chicken, grilled pork, grilled or roasted lamb will go great with this salad. Also, since this avocado salad is very Mediterranean, any Mediterranean style main dishes will do. And don't forget about the fish. Such as salmon or trout. I cook fish a lot, and here are some of my favorite fish recipes go with this avocado and mozzarella salad:
Trout Recipe with Garlic Lemon Butter Herb Sauce
Steelhead Trout with Caper-Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
Cilantro Lime Honey Garlic Salmon baked in foil
The following Mediterranean chicken recipes will also be perfect to go with this avocado salad:
Pesto Chicken, Veggies, and Tortellini
Pesto Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms
My other favorite Avocado Salad recipes
- Balsamic dressing goes really well with avocados, tomatoes, and Mozzarella cheese. Try it for yourself in this recipe: Tomato Basil Avocado Mozzarella Salad with Balsamic Dressing
- Greek style ingredients, tortellini, and avocados? Why not: Greek tortellini salad with tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, feta cheese
- Berries and avocados are some of my favorite salad ingredients. Add mango and cashew nuts, and you will really enjoy this Summer salad: Strawberry Spinach Salad, with Blueberries, Mango, Avocado, and Cashew nuts
- For radish lovers, add avocados to your salad: Radish Avocado Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber, Green Onions
Avocado Salad with Tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil Pesto
Ingredients
Avocado Salad Ingredients:
- ½ pound red cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- ½ pound yellow cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 avocados , diced
- 1 cucumber , sliced
- ⅓ cup red onion , diced
- 8 ounces small fresh mozzarella cheese balls
Salad Dressing:
- ¼ cup basil pesto
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine halved red and yellow cherry or grape tomatoes, diced avocado, sliced cucumber, diced red onion, small fresh mozzarella cheese balls.
- Add basil pesto and lemon juice to the salad and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Use more basil pesto, if desired.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
What have I been cooking in my kitchen?
1 Year Ago: Pesto Shrimp with Mushrooms
2 Years Ago: Bacon and Garlic Roasted Asparagus with Asiago Cheese
3 Years Ago: Red Sangria with Mixed Berries
4 Years Ago: Banana Bread Muffins
5 Years Ago: Broiled Salmon with Mango Salsa
Delicious salad. Goes well with your mozzarella tomato basil pesto chicken bake.
Can't wait to try this. We have some many tomatoes coming out of the garden. Love the freshness of this recipe.
Enjoy! I hope you like it! 🙂
Hi,
May you put a "Print" button on your blog?
It will be more easier to us to save a recipe.
Thanks!
It's right below the photo in the recipe.
This sounds great with a Balsamic Glaze. Perfect for summer.
Yes, this is a great salad to use with Balsamic glaze. In fact, I have a similar salad recipe here: Tomato Basil Avocado Mozzarella Salad with Balsamic Dressing
I'm planning on making this tonight, but I was wondering how long it would last in the fridge? It looks amazing. Thank you!
Hi 🙂 I bought all the ingredients for this, but just wondering:
How far in advance can I make this?
How long does it keep in the fridge?
Thank you!
If you prepping in advance, don't put the avocado in until right before otherwise it'll brown up. It has lemon juice but I think it would still start to brown up.