This Caprese Tostada recipe takes the idea of a caprese salad and gives it a Mexican 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.
Jump to:
An easy snack recipe you'll love
I had a Mexican Tostada, done in this Caprese style on a recent 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.
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's a great recipe to serve at a Chicks and Salsa girl's night in or any other Mexican-inspired gathering.
Ingredient Notes
You could easily make your own tostada shells at home by frying your own tortillas. But I am clumsy and afraid of hot, angry oil so I bought them, ready-made, tostada shells from the store.
Mexican cheeses are pretty readily available in all of my markets so they shouldn't be too hard to find. 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 Mexican-Inspired Tostada Caprese
- Place a tostada shell on a plate.
- Place several slices of fresh tomato on the shell.
- Sprinkle with crumbled cotija cheese.
- Drizzle with crema.
- 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 Mexican 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
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
Mexican-Inspired Caprese Tostada Recipe
Ingredients
- Pre-made tostada shell or make your own with corn tortillas
- 1 Roma tomato sliced
- 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoon cotija cheese crumbled
- 1 teaspoon Mexican crema
Instructions
- Slice Roma tomatoes in to rounds.
- On top of the tostada shell, place tomato slices, cotija cheese and cilantro.
- Using a spoon, drizzle on some crema.
- Amounts listed above would make between 1-2 tostadas. Increase amounts to make more!
Notes
- red onion
- basil
- avocado
- jalapeno
- burrata
- make it more hearty with shredded chicken or even shrimp!
Tori @ Thoughtfully Simple says
That looks right up my alley! I am so going to try this!!
Sharon Garofalow says
Do it! You will not be disappointed!