Try these capers recipes for new, exciting, flavorful meals that the entire family will enjoy!
Capers are such a versatile ingredient, and this list of winning recipes proves it.
If you aren’t familiar with or haven’t heard of capers, you aren’t alone! They’re rarely the main stars of any dish.
Before I started incorporating them into my recipes, I always imagined them as some kind of small fish, much like anchovies.
Imagine my surprise when I found out they’re plant buds!
So, I decided to compile this list of capers recipes so everyone else can reap the benefits of just how delicious they are. Let’s get caper-ing!
1. Garlic Caper Butter Baked Salmon
Just because capers aren’t fish doesn’t mean that you can’t use them when cooking fish. They add a delightful briny zest to this baked salmon dish.
The fish is buttery, flaky, and will practically fall apart in your mouth.
It’s delicious, and the capers, garlic, and fresh herbs accentuate the taste with ease.
2. Goat Cheese, Caper, and Red Pepper Crostini
If you’re a fan of flavorful, herby cheese spreads, then this is the recipe for you.
It combines goat cheese, roasted red peppers, capers, chives (or green onions), garlic, salt, pepper, and whatever fresh herbs you like best.
Mix it all up and spread it across your toasted baguette for a phenomenal appetizer or a light lunch.
3. 5-Minute Vegan Caesar Dressing
It takes only 5 minutes to whip up this hummus-based vegan Caesar dressing, and you’ll need fewer than 10 ingredients to make it.
It’s garlicky, zesty, and tastes just like the real thing, though it’s always a tiny bit thicker than the store-bought version when I make it.
4. Lemon Capellini Salad – Angel Hair Pasta
If you prefer pasta salad to Caesar salad, this 25-minute, nine-ingredient angel hair pasta salad might be more your style.
The pasta is tender, cheesy, and filling, and the garlic, capers, basil, and lemon give it an earthy tanginess that’s out of this world.
The red chilis are good for adding a bit of spice, but if you prefer a milder dish, you can use diced capsicum instead. Either way, it’s incredibly flavorful.
5. Radish Salad
If you’re looking for a side dish that’s refreshing and full of fresh, zingy flavor, radish salad is it.
It’s colorful and lovely, so it makes an excellent addition to any table.
Even better, it tastes fantastic. It’s light, bright, and a little tangy, and it’s ideal for a summer side dish.
6. Fried Capers
If you love crunchy food, then you’ll love fried capers! They’re so insanely crispy, and they’re so much fun to crunch on.
That’s not to say they don’t taste great! They’ll have a slightly nutty and briny flavor.
Just be sure you make a huge batch when you fry these because you will not want to stop eating them, let alone share them with anyone.
7. Eggplant Puttanesca
Eggplant puttanesca is just like the pasta puttanesca from Lemony Snicket, only this one substitutes eggplants for anchovies.
Everything else is pretty much the same, though – onions, pasta sauce, pitted olives, capers, and red pepper flakes on top of a bed of your favorite pasta.
It’s spicy, zesty, and exceptionally flavorful.
8. French Potato Salad
French potato salad isn’t like the backyard barbecue potato salad that you’re used to eating, but it’s phenomenal.
It features big chunks of baby red potatoes seasoned with shallots, white wine vinegar, salt, capers, parsley, olive oil, and pepper.
It’s a simple recipe that takes about 35 minutes to make, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t scrumptious.
Everything about it, from the tender potatoes to the earthy shallots, is yummy.
9. Eggplant Caponata
This Sicilian version of ratatouille is one you’ll want to try if you’re looking for something filling and with lots of flavor.
It features eggplant, of course, but also onions, garlic, green olives, pine nuts, capers, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, and more.
Every bite is like a flavor explosion on your tongue, and it’s so versatile!
You can use it as pasta sauce, on top of crackers, baguettes, or pita bread, or as a flavorful garnish on another dish.
10. Mediterranean Sardine Pasta with Lemon, Capers and Chili Flakes
If you’re in the mood for something a bit more Mediterranean – and with a ton of umami flavor – this 20-minute pasta dish might do the trick.
The sardines pack a considerable punch, but the lemon juice and zest and red pepper flakes help tone it down some, making it a little tangy and spicy, as well.
If you want a dish that’ll have you dreaming of seaside cafes in Monaco, this is it.
11. Green Goddess Dressing
It’s called green goddess dressing, but I prefer to use this creamy, mint green dressing as a dip instead.
It tastes so good on toasted pita bread, raw veggies, and even tortilla chips.
It’s also unbelievably simple to make, taking no more than 5 minutes. It’s bright and zesty but also features the richer flavors of garlic, dill, capers, and chives.
12. Lemon Caper Egg Salad
This recipe takes the classic egg salad and kicks it up a notch with red onions, Dijon mustard, capers, lemon juice, dill, and of course mayo, salt, and pepper.
It’s cool, creamy, and delectable, and you can enjoy it by itself, on crackers, or in an egg salad sandwich.
13. Easy Macaroni Salad
I love the contrasting textures in this quick, 25-minute macaroni salad.
The pasta is soft and tender, and the fresh veggies retain their crispness and crunch.
The dressing is creamy and zesty, the perfect bright complement to all those fresh summer veggie flavors.
You can adjust the recipe as you like, of course, but it’s pretty great as written.
It features celery, peas, capers, bell peppers, and onions, as well as the dressing and plenty of herbs and seasonings.
I usually add some diced tomatoes and cucumbers to mine, as well.
Sometimes I throw in olives, too, but be careful with that, as they can quickly make the salad mega salty on top of the capers.
14. Chicken Piccata (Lemon Chicken with Capers)
As long as you enjoy bright, lemony flavors, it doesn’t get much better than chicken piccata.
The meat is tender and succulent; the sauce is buttery and brilliant.
That may seem like an odd word to describe a sauce, but it’s the only one that fits.
You’ll make it with butter, dry white wine, lemon juice, capers in brine, and parsley.
Just imagine those capers and that lemon juice together, and you’ll understand why “brilliant” is the right word.
It’s vibrant, tangy, and just too good.
15. Easy Lemon Caper Sauce
Once you try the sauce on the chicken piccata, you’ll want to add it to everything. That’s truly how incredible it is.
This recipe for lemon caper sauce is a little different.
It calls for capers, lemon juice, and parsley, as well, but you’ll also use olive oil, garlic, chives, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
It’s just as light and zingy, but the garlic and chives tone it down and make it more fitting for certain other dishes, like steak or pork.
I’ve even been known to use it on my mashed potatoes.
16. Sea Bass with Lemon Butter Caper Sauce
With only eight ingredients, you can whip up this filling sea bass dinner in about 15 minutes.
The sea bass is light and not at all fishy, so it’s a good fish option if you’re not a fish person.
There’s a subtle sweetness to it, but mostly, you’ll taste the lemon butter caper sauce, which is – you guessed it – another variation on the lemon caper sauce above.
Because it incorporates butter into the recipe, it’s slightly thicker and creamier than the others, but the taste is relatively similar.
17. Classic Remoulade Sauce
If you’ve ever enjoyed remoulade sauce, then you already know precisely how incredible it is. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat.
It’s creamy and tangy, and if you add a bit of hot sauce and Cajun seasoning, it has a little bite to it, as well.
17 Best Ways to Use Capers
Instructions
- Select your favorite recipe.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prep a capers recipe in 30 minutes or less!
