Easy Burrata Recipe

This burrata recipe is the best way to serve this rich and creamy cheese! Pair it with summer fruit or tomatoes, olive oil and sea salt.

Ready for one of the best taste treats on the planet? Burrata cheese. Burrata is a revelation: gooey, fresh mozzarella that’s hiding a secret: an even gooier, creamier interior. Once you taste this, you’ll be forever a burrata aficionado. Even better: you barely need to make a recipe to eat it. Here’s the best way to serve burrata: with fresh summer fruits or tomatoes, herbs, olive oil, and sea salt. The Italians are all about the perfection of simplicity: so it’s only fitting that they’re the ones behind this rockstar cheese.

What is burrata?

Burrata is an Italian fresh mozzarella cheese with a surprise inside: the center is filled with cream! The creamy interior also contains cheese shreds, called straciatella. When you cut into the ball, the creamy cheese comes spilling out: perfect for topping crackers or crostini.

The word burrata comes from the Italian word burro, which means butter: referring to the buttery texture and richness of this treat. Not surprisingly, burrata is higher in fat content than normal mozzarella and most other cheeses. This cheese originated in Southern Italy; now it’s served all over the country and world.

Where to buy burrata cheese

These days, you can find burrata in many grocery stores in the US! Look in the specialty cheeses section, next to the fresh mozzarella. It’s sold in a container with liquid, usually either one or two balls packaged together. You can sometimes find specialty cheeses at a farmers market or specialty grocery: we’re lucky enough to live near a creamery that makes burrata.

How to serve burrata: the easy way!

Alex and I first discovered burrata years ago on a trip to Italy, where we ate it with juicy tomatoes and basil. We were over the moon about this new treat we had discovered. Today, burrata has become much more popular in the US, and we’re thrilled that it’s easy to find. The best way we’ve found to serve the beautiful cheese on a plate with ripe summer fruits, cherry tomatoes, and herbs. Here are a few things to know about this burrata recipe:

It’s quick and easy! It just takes a few minutes to arrange on a plate.
Eat with a knife and fork, or you can use crostini to sop up the cheesy cream.
Make one large plate to share, or individual plates for each person. It’s easiest to tear off pieces of the burrata for each person if you’re making individual plates.
It’s very customizable. You can use lots of different ingredients. Keep reading!

Ingredients for this burrata recipe

The nice thing about working with burrata is that it’s laid back and easy. Because this fancy cheese is so good in itself, you barely need to dress it up. Here’s all you need to do for this burrata recipe:

Burrata: Place one ball on a plate. If you’d like, you can also tear off pieces of a second ball to add visual appeal (see the photo).
Fruit or tomatoes: Surround it with ripe summer fruit like peaches, tomatoes, melon (watermelon, cantaloupe or honeydew), strawberries, or blackberries.
Herbs: Add fresh summer herbs! Basil is our favorite (reminiscent of a Caprese salad), but oregano and thyme are also lovely.
Olive oil: Drizzle with a high quality extra virgin olive oil, which ties it all together.
Sea salt (we like Maldon): Top with chunky sea salt, which adds a nice crunch and pop of flavor. We like using Maldon, an English type of sea salt with a clean, pure flavor (it’s pretty easy to find at grocery stores).

Add your own flair to this recipe by adding whatever you like to the platter! It makes an absolutely stunning easy appetizer, first course, or salad side dish to go with a summer meal.

Other items to pair

You can eat burrata with a knife and fork, or you can scoop it up with bread. Here are a few ideas for other things to serve with this easy appetizer:

Sliced baguette or other bread
Crostini
Crackers

More burrata recipes

There are lots of other ways to serve burrata cheese: you can even add it to pasta! But our favorite way is to serve it pure and simple. Here are two more of our burrata recipes to try:

Perfect Burrata Salad Serve it simply with baby arugula and tomatoes. Perfection!
Burrata Caprese Salad Burrata meets Caprese salad! This one uses peaches, heirloom tomatoes, and a unique topping of crushed peanuts.