A great way to use up any leftover ripe tomatoes is with our delicious Fresh Classic Bruschetta Recipe! Not only is it appealing to the eye because of the beautiful colors, but it is wonderfully flavorful!
There is always a time and place for our classic bruschetta Recipe. You can serve it as an easy appetizer at your next party or even just as a dish to go with dinner.
I also love to have this classic bruschetta recipe as a snack in the afternoon. Let’s be honest, those midafternoon snacks aren’t always the healthiest, but when I have this fresh bruschetta made up it makes it a little easier to make a healthier choice since it is so delicious.
The nice thing about bruschetta is that you can start with this classic recipe, and then add what you like to it or even take away what you don’t like. Either way, it will taste amazing, and be loaded with tasty flavors.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make a fresh, classic bruschetta, you will need the following ingredients:
- Freshly diced tomatoes
- Minced garlic
- Olive oil
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Balsamic vinegar
- Salt
- Pepper
- Baguette bread
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Our Classic Bruschetta Recipe
- In a large bowl, mix together tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper as needed.
- Cover bowl and place in the fridge. Let the flavor meld together for 15-30 minutes (up to 3-4 hours) It tastes better the longer it marinates.
- Cut baguette bread into ½” – ¾” slices.
- Top with a scoop of tomato mixture and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Funny enough, bruschetta in its origin actually refers to the bread of this appetizer, the sliced Italian bread. But, often times people think of bruschetta to be the tomato topping itself when it is really just the accompaniment to the toasted Italian bread.
Since the topping used for bruschetta has quite a bit of liquid, it is ideal to use a firmer loaf of bread that has a nice and crispy crust so it does not get soggy. Busby’s Bakery has a great article that goes over the best bread for bruschetta that I think you will find very interesting and helpful! However, when in doubt, use a baguette loaf like we do in this recipe.
Recipe Tips
To make the most out of your bruschetta, we recommend these four tips:
- Use fresh ingredients when possible. When you use fresh ingredients the flavor of the dish is going to be so much more powerful and enjoyable!
- Give the Tomato Mixture Time. A lot of the flavor for the overall dish comes from letting the tomatoes stew in the other flavors. If you do not have extra time for the tomato mixture to chill in the fridge you probably won’t love the results near as much as if they had at least 30 minutes to an hour to sit and meld the flavors together.
- Choose Quality Bread. This is not the time to try cutout sandwich bread in hopes that it will work. It won’t, and you will be sorely disappointed. Take the time to grab a fresh loaf from the bakery (even the deli section of the grocery store should have what you need) or even make your own loaf of bread. But make sure that it is a loaf with a hearty crust.
- Use firmer bread. Since the topping used for bruschetta has quite a bit of liquid, it is ideal to use a firmer loaf of bread that has a nice and crispy crust so it does not get soggy.
Enjoy More Delicious Cold Appetizers
We love how cold appetizers can be made-ahead and require very little prep work. Browse our comprehensive list of time-saving cold appetizer recipes.
- Chicken Pinwheels
- Chicken Taco Roll Ups
- Classic Deviled Eggs
- Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs
- Kid-Friendly Charcuterie Board
- Loaded Deviled Eggs
- Mexican Tortilla Wrap Roll-Ups
- Mini BLT Bites
- Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray
- Zucchini Feta Bruschetta
Fresh Classic Bruschetta Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups tomatoes, diced, (I used a mix of roma and cherry tomatoes because that's what I had on hand)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic, I just used the kind in the jar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves, but fresh adds a lot more flavor)
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 loaf baguette bread
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper as needed.
- Cover bowl and place in the fridge. Let the flavor meld together for 15-30 minutes (up to 3-4 hours) It tastes better the longer it marinates.
- Cut baguette bread into ½" – ¾" slices.
- Top with a scoop of tomato mixture and serve.
Notes
- Use fresh ingredients when possible. When you use fresh ingredients the flavor of the dish is going to be so much more powerful and enjoyable!
- Give the Tomato Mixture Time. A lot of the flavor for the overall dish comes from letting the tomatoes stew in the other flavors. If you do not have extra time for the tomato mixture to chill in the fridge you probably won’t love the results near as much as if they had at least 30 minutes to an hour to sit and meld the flavors together.
- Choose Quality Bread. This is not the time to try cutout sandwich bread in hopes that it will work. It won’t, and you will be sorely disappointed. Take the time to grab a fresh loaf from the bakery (even the deli section of the grocery store should have what you need) or even make your own loaf of bread. But make sure that it is a loaf with a hearty crust.
- Use firmer bread. Since the topping used for bruschetta has quite a bit of liquid, it is ideal to use a firmer loaf of bread that has a nice and crispy crust so it does not get soggy.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Questions & Reviews