Garden fresh tomato bruschetta is an Italian appetizer, a favorite finger food and needs 10 minutes of prep work. It’s comprised of grilled bread, and a very rustic kind of appetizer. Its light, fresh, and packs big flavors. Ideal for a summer gathering with friends, this easy Italian starter is fresh, tasty and full of flavor . Can be serves as light lunch or snack!
This is garden fresh tomato bruschetta – it has toasted French/Italian bread rubbed with generous garlic for flavor, juicy chopped tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. It’s a wonderful way to use all the fresh tomatoes and herbs you get at farmers market.
Garden fresh ripe tomatoes (cherry tomatoes from the garden), fresh basil and good quality olive oil along with salt & pepper seasoning is all you need to make tomato basil bruschetta. This is probably the most EASIEST and SIMPLEST tomato bruschetta recipe out there. Roasted tomatoes for bruschetta are great, when extremely fresh beautiful tomatoes are flooded in market, you got to make these fresh tomato bruschetta. Roasting tomatoes needs to be done only when you get mediocre tomatoes. No doubt tomatoes are great eat them raw, roast them – either way. To get vibrant rainbow colors here double tomatoes i.e yellow cherry tomatoes and red tomatoes went in making these light snack.
If you have the tomatoes prepped and ready (chopped) you can serve tomato bruschetta in literally minutes. Don’t even bother removing the seeds (unless the seeds are super huge or you really really hate the bite of tomato seeds). And we are flavor enhancing these bruschetta with generous rub of garlic onto the French loaf bread. There are 2 ways of adding flavor of garlic to these amazing tomato bruschetta.
One – you could mince garlic and add it to the tomato filling. You will end up eating raw garlic.
Two – you rub generous amount of garlic to the French bread , drizzle with olive oil and grill them. The kick of garlic in the bread is heaven. No more raw garlic smell or taste.
So what are we drizzling on top you may ask? It’s a secret drizzling sauce that you won’t believe how delicious and simple it is. Balsamic glaze drizzled over tomato bruschetta may be the best kind of drizzle you might think, but the aim is to keep it low fresh and healthy as possible, so balsamic glaze – be gone!
The left over juices from the tomato basil mix in the bowl which is usually thrown away is what we drizzle over our healthy bruschetta. Tomato bruschetta recipe is remarkably simple. The left over juices in the bowl dresses the bruschetta taking it to a whole new level!
Best tomato for bruschetta
The secret to a great tomato bruschetta is …. TOMATOES! You need insanely FRESH and RIPE tomatoes to make tomato bruschetta that is incredible in taste. And when tomatoes are in season they are freshest to their best. Use mix of tomatoes to make fun rainbow colored bruschetta. A mix of heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes works best.
How to prepare tomatoes for bruschetta
Diced tomatoes makes great bruschetta. We are talking fresh tomato bruschetta and not the roasted types. Also you can leave the seeds on really. Some folks wont agree with me. They believe tomato seeds in bruschetta is a BIG NO. But trust me on this. The seeds really did not bother me in the bruschetta, I hardly got to bite the seeds while eating. Unless the tomatoes that you use has HUGE seeds(that can be annoying to bite into), don’t bother removing. And make use to have cut tomatoes into even dices.
How to drain tomatoes for bruschetta
Mix diced tomatoes, basil chopped into thin strips, sea salt, cracked pepper and good quality olive oil. Cover and rest it for atleast 1 hour. Tomatoes will absorb all the flavors and release some liquid into the bowl.
Toast French baguette slices and rub garlic on top. Drizzle olive oil. Olive oil helps the bruschetta from turning soggy too fast. You want tomato bruschetta that has crunch from the bread and fresh bite from tomato-basil. Just before serving scoop out from top tomato-basil mix and spread it over the grilled French baguette slices. You should be serving this immediately.
Can I make ahead the tomato-basil filling?
Yes absolutely. Mix all the fresh ingredients and seasoning in a bowl. Cover and refrigerator the mix in fridge over night (not longer than a night). You can also grill the bread slices rub with garlic, drizzle olive oil the previous day. Allow the grilled bread slices to cool completely and then store in air tight container.
Bring the tomato mixture to room temperature before serving. Then scoop out and spread on toasted/grilled bread.
Watch this quick video on how I make Garden Fresh Tomato Bruschetta
Let’s get grilling more this summer with these other favorite grilling recipes –
Grilled pineapple
Mexican Grilled Chicken Fajitas
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- 1 loaf crusty French baguette
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 8-9 fresh basil leaves
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 80 ml good quality olive oil
- Sea salt – to taste
- Crushed pepper – to taste
Dice tomatoes. Chop fresh basil leaves into thin strips or chop them fine. Slice the baguette loaf diagonally into 12 thick slices. Keep peeled garlic ready.
In a large bowl, mix tomatoes and basil, taking care not to mash or break up the tomatoes too much. Add salt, crushed pepper to taste. Mix gently. Cover and let tomatoes drink in all the flavors and seasoning.
Brush olive oil on both sides and lightly grill them until they are get nice golden grill marks on both sides. Rub garlic over the grilled bread. You can rub garlic before grilling and then drizzle olive oil. Works just fine wither ways.
Scoop out the tomato basil mix and spread on the grilled or toasted bread. Place these tomato bruschetta on rustic wooden serving platters and serve immediately.
To glaze or not to glaze-
Balsamic glaze drizzled over tomato bruschetta may be the best kind of drizzle you might think, but we are keeping it low carb, balsamic glaze – be gone!
We are simply taking the flavors up of this tomato bruschetta by drizzling the juices from the bowl of the tomato-basil filling.
But if you think you need a hint of acidity to your bruschetta for flavor balancing, add a splash of red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar – just a splash.
Pin this phenomenal fresh tomato bruschetta for later
Emily
I Absolutely LOVE tomato bruschetta and during the summertime with fresh ripe tomatoes I don’t think it gets much better. Love all your tips too!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Emily, glad you liked it
Kristine
Bruschetta is one of my all-time favorite things to eat! I’ve been known to eat it as a main dish, in fact. I can’t wait to try this recipe – thanks!
jyothirajesh
I wouldn’t mind eating this as a main too Kristine. Thank you
Shanika
I’ve been meaning to try a Bruschetta recipe and this one looks so good! Definitely giving it a try! Pinned!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Shanika
Pam Greer
I wish my tomatoes would hurry up and ripen!! I love this and the sound of that drizzle!!
jyothirajesh
Thank you
Britt | Sweet Tea and Thyme
Yummy! The perfect way to use up all those summer tomatoes!
jyothirajesh
Thanks Britt