Strawberry Basil Bruschetta Recipe Goat Cheese

Your guests will love this vegetarian party appetizer. Strawberry basil Bruschetta recipe with goat cheese will not last long on your party tray . A chocolate Balsamic reduction sauce brings the flavor off the charts!

Bruschetta is an easy appetizer to make. This appetizer can be put together in under 30 minutes. You can make large portions at one time. The toppings can easily be switched up to accommodate a variety of dietary needs and tastes.

In this post we have a printable recipe card for the Strawberry bruschetta. We also go over a few tips to help make your Bruschetta the best it can be!

A tray of these finger foods make a gorgeous and delicious summer appetizer with in season fresh strawberries and basil.

This Strawberry balsamic bruschetta recipe is an excellent 4th of July appetizer with fresh berries. Here’s your red on a flavorful white goat cheese spread.

How Should Bruschetta be Served?

Bruschetta can be served immediately after the toppings are added to it. The bread should be warm out of the oven and the toppings should be cold. Bruschetta makes a great display on a tray served with a drizzle of balsamic sauce over each slice.

Are you supposed to Heat Bruschetta?

Bruschetta bread is heated by being toasted in the oven. The toppings are not heated and should be added to the bread cold. The bread is topped with olive oil and salt and pepper before toasting in the oven. The goat cheese and toppings are added cold or at room temperature to the bread after toasting.

How do you Keep Bruschetta from Getting Soggy?

To avoid soggy bruschetta, make the toppings ahead of time. Prep all of the ingredients for the toppings and wait until you are ready to serve the bruschetta to finish it. Place the bread in the oven to toast 15 minutes before serving. Spread the cheese on the bread and add toppings and glaze drizzle right before serving.

Can you Put Bruschetta in the Fridge?

Bruschetta can be put in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Cover the bruschetta with a loose covering of plastic wrap. The bread may not be as soft and pliable when it comes out of the refrigerator. The freshness and quality of the bruschetta will not be as good as it was fresh. However, Bruschetta is fine to eat after being preserved in the fridge.

Ideas for Bruschetta Toppings:

Toppings	Cheese	Drizzle/Sauce
Diced Tomatoes	Brie	Marmalade
Chopped Strawberries	Mozzerella	Balsamic Glaze
Chutney	Smoked Gouda	Honey
Apple	Feta	Lime Juice
Camelized Onions	Goat Cheese	Balsamic Chocolate Sauce
Prosciutto	Ricotta	Berry Sauce

The Ingredients:

Strawberry Topping:

Fresh Strawberries are lovely and delicious in summer appetizers like this. And so good! We made this recipe with our fresh ripe Garden Strawberries.

Strawberry recipes are incredible when the berries are in season. Fresh ripe on the vine berries are in a class by themselves. Sun sweetened, firm and plump.

If you don’t grow your own berries find them at your grocer. Or better yet, your local food co op or Farmers Market.

TIP: For best results use only fresh perfectly ripe strawberries in this holiday appetizer. Frozen berries will give you a mushy topping. The fresh berry topping has a much better flavor and texture.

When you chop the berries with basil and add a touch of lime and maple syrup the topping is so fresh, bright and slightly sweet.

Looking for more appetizer ideas and finger foods for a party? Visit our appetizer section.

Your party guests will enjoy crunchy crusty bruschetta bread with the herbed goat cheese and our tangy sweet strawberry topping.

And then you drizzle it with the finishing touch. Read on.

This Hamburger Bean casserole and our Cauliflower pepper salad are some of the BEST Fourth of July side dishes to bring to a BBQ….Just sayin. 🙂

The Balsamic Reduction sauce:

Balsamic vinegar is astonishingly flavorful and NOT AT ALL related to either apple cider or the red or white wine vinegars. DO NOT substitute! You will be horribly disappointed in the flavors if you do.

Balsamic vinegar is an Italian vinegar made from grape ‘must’. It’s a unique and variable flavor profile that is often enhanced with other flavors in gourmet balsamic vinegars. It’s a wonderful world of flavor for foodies.

A balsamic glaze is NOT the same thing as a Vinaigrette balsamic. For this recipe choose a balsamic glaze or reduction sauce.

Use chocolate balsamic reduction sauce (or glaze). It’s so good over this strawberry basil topping. The chocolate adds a really nice touch to this recipe.

Any plain balsamic glaze will work in this Italian appetizer but the chocolate is VERY good with the strawberry topping.

Sourcing the Chocolate Balsamic Glaze:

Safeway has two different brands on the shelf. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble sourcing the chocolate flavored balsamic vinegar reduction sauce. I linked the brand I used in the recipe card ingredients if you want to take a closer look at it.

The Goat Cheese:

Any way you spread it, Goat cheese appetizers like this one are very popular. Because they are delicious. If you haven’t tried goat cheese. You are going to love this recipe.

We love Goat cheese recipes. I put that delicious soft cheese on crostinis too. And in salads and in lots of other recipes.

Fresh basil also adds a nice filip of freshness. We chose a herb blend goat cheese to go with the basil. And it really does add a nice extra bit of garlic herb flavor.

How to Make this Bruschetta Recipe:

For this recipe choose a rustic artisan sourdough baguette. Bruschetta are toasted. We chose the oven method.

TIPS:

• The best bread choice for bruschetta is a 26 inch long artisan bread baguette. It will make you 24 slices which is what you need.
• Discard the ends of the bread.
• I toasted the bread in my oven after it was brushed with olive oil. You might prefer to grill your bread. Either method of toasting is fine.

The Method:

1. Use a 26 inch long baguette for your bruschetta recipe
2. Cut the loaf on the diagonal to make your bruschetta bread less round shaped. That’s what I did.
3. Oil your slices top and bottom
4. lightly salt and pepper the oiled parts
5. bake 5 minutes a side and cool.
6. spread with goat cheese and the strawberry bruschetta topping
7. drizzle with the chocolate balsamic glaze.
8. serve immediately

Your Printable Recipe Card with Nutrition label:

More Delicious Appetizers:

Slightly Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings Recipe: