If you've never had burrata, you have to try this easy recipe! The rich cheese pairs perfectly with fresh tomatoes, peaches & a vibrant lemon-thyme oil.
Over the years, I’ve written a lot about how the best summer recipes are simple ones (see here, here, or here). Because summer fruits, veggies, and herbs are such powerhouse ingredients, it only takes a little something extra – maybe a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt – to make an insanely delicious dish. Lately, I’ve seen burrata popping up all over restaurant menus in Chicago. Because the creamy cheese is such a simple, rich accent for summer produce, I couldn’t resist making a burrata recipe of my own.
The final result is one of our new favorites around here. It’s sweet, herbaceous, and easy to make, with the perfect balance of fresh and rich components. It’ll be my go-to appetizer for the rest of the summer, and I hope you love it too!
What is burrata?
If you’ve never heard of burrata, you’re in for a treat. It’s a fresh Italian cheese made from cow’s milk. In the store, it looks a lot like fresh mozzarella, because it comes in balls. In fact, each ball is a pouch of fresh mozzarella filled with rich, fresh cream. You can find burrata in speciality cheese shops or most grocery stores with a good cheese section. It pairs well with both sweet and savory flavors, so I made this recipe with a jumble of stone fruit, tomatoes, and fresh herbs.
Burrata Salad Recipe Ingredients
Instead of whisking together a dressing, I make a simple infused oil for this recipe. It has a light, lemon-thyme flavor that lets the creamy burrata and fresh produce shine. It’s easy to make – just combine 1/2 cup olive oil with a smashed garlic clove, 4 sprigs of thyme, and the rind of 1 lemon, peeled into strips. Warm it over your stove, and then let it steep while you prep the other recipe components. Strain out the thyme, garlic, and lemon before you drizzle it over the salad.
Along with the infused oil, I pair the burrata with a market haul of summer produce. This recipe is all about the fruits & veggies, so use the best ones you can find! Here’s what you need:
- Burrata, of course! I use one ball, but feel free to scale this recipe up if you’re serving a crowd.
- Fresh tomatoes – A mix of colors and sizes makes this burrata salad extra fun.
- Peaches – Look for ripe, yet still firm fruits that will hold their shape when sliced.
- Cherries and/or currants – These guys aren’t totally necessary, but they’re a pretty, tart contrast to the sweet peaches and tomatoes.
- Fresh herbs – I garnished mine with basil and thyme, but mint or oregano would be nice additions too.
- Toasted crushed pistachios – They add a delightful, nutty crunch.
- Sea salt – Don’t skimp on this! The saltiness will really highlight the herbal, sweet, and savory notes of this dish.
Pile everything onto a platter with the burrata in the center, and drizzle generously with the lemon-thyme oil. Serve with good crusty bread – I like baguette or sourdough. Then, dig in, scooping up a little of the cheese with every bite!
What to Serve with Burrata Salad
This burrata recipe is one of my favorite summer appetizers. Set it out with lots of crostini for guests to pile with cheese and fruit!
It would also be a fantastic addition to a late summer dinner with Italian flavors. Serve it alongside your favorite protein or any of these recipes:
- Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Roasted Vegetable Pasta
- One-Pot Penne Pasta
- Homemade Pizza
- Herb Garden Zucchini Pizza
- Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
- Easy Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Orzo with Lemon, Herbs, and Summer Vegetables
If you love this burrata recipe…
Try my panzanella, Greek salad, watermelon salad, or couscous salad next!
Burrata
Ingredients
Lemon-Thyme Oil (makes extra)
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- Peel from 1 small lemon
- 4 thyme sprigs
For the burrata platter
- 4 heirloom tomatoes
- 1 ripe peach, sliced
- 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh burrata
- ½ cup fresh basil and/or mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon toasted pistachios, chopped
- Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A few cherries or fresh currants, optional
- Toasted bread, for serving
Instructions
- Combine the oil, garlic, lemon peel, and thyme in a small saucepan over low heat. Gently warm the mixture, then turn off the heat. Let steep for 20 minutes, then strain.
- Assemble the tomatoes, peach slices, and burrata on a platter. Sprinkle with salt, then drizzle with lemon-thyme oil. Top with the basil and mint and sprinkle with pistachios. Top with cherries and currants, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with toasted bread.
This is a beautiful dish! I’m going to try and re-create it for a dinner party I’m having next week. Thank you!
I hope you enjoy!
I made it. It was very good!!!! I was skeptical about warming up the olive oil with all the ingredients, but it was totally worthy. This salad tastes good and LOOKS GOOD!
The flavors of this recipe sound like an extraordinary combination. What really lured me in is the infused oil. We don’t do appetizers (and don’t entertain), so I think I would make this a side for some protein. Now all I have to do is hope that my grocery store carries burrata. If it doesn’t, it seems like fresh mozzarella would work, but would not be as richly flavored.
fresh mozzarella would work just fine. I hope you enjoy!
Made this for lunch today, and we both really enjoyed it. I had only mint for the herb, but it worked nicely, and I used little fresh mozzarella balls in place of the burrata. Served with (please forgive me) grilled pork chops. Amazingly, I had a perfectly ripe peach (difficult to find here). I love it when something sounds as good as this recipe did, and turns out to be that good. Thank you for a keeper recipe, which is perfect for our 100º+ weather.
Hi Susan, I’m so glad it hit the spot!!
burrata is wonderful, never thought of it in a salad, great idea, always better than mozzarella more flavor, thank you for this recipe
What a symphony of flavours! As long as the tomatoes and peaches are in season, this is quite a delight! Thanks for sharing!
Perfection.
This is my new favorite appetizer recipe! So fresh, and the blend of flavors and textures is spectacular.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Made this salad and everyone loved it! Question, should you refrigerate the leftover olive oil or can it be left out?
Hi Jen, I’m so happy to hear! It can be left out at room temp.
WHOA. This recipe is SO good. It tastes like something I once ate at a really good Italian restaurant. The thyme and lemon olive oil makes a huge difference.
I didn’t have peaches so used blueberries instead and it turned out really good and a nice contrast in palate compared to the tomato and cheese.
I’ll be making this many times more!
Please, tell me if this recipe for Burrata is in one of your cookbooks.
Hi Catherine, this recipe is just here on the blog. There’s a different burrata recipe, with broccoli rabe, in Love & Lemons Every Day.
Thank you for your speedy reply! My daughter made the Burrata recipe on this blog for my husband’s birthday and it not only looked spectacular, it was delicious!
Love this. Could not find fresh peaches so used ones in a jar. It made the salad a little messy but the flavor was spectacular. The Leon Tarragon olive oil made the dish.
Absolutely delicious. It’s a wonderful combination of flavors. Thank you!
This looks amazing! I want to make it so badly for an upcoming special dinner but peaches aren’t quite in season where I am. If I can’t find ripe ones, do you have any thoughts between using frozen peaches, canned peaches, or maybe just adding some low sugar peach preserves to the top of the salad? Or using another fruit? No worries if you don’t have any thoughts! Really appreciate the recipe!
Hi Elisa, I think this would be delicious with strawberries. Peaches are one of those special things that I only love to use while in season but strawberries would be a great sub.
Thanks so much for the reply! We will go with strawberries if we can’t find good peaches. All the best!