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If you’re looking for an Italian appetizer recipe that’s fresh, tasty, and easy to make, this burrata with tomatoes and pesto might be perfect for you! It’s a delicious combination of fresh and juicy heirloom tomatoes, tangy olives, aromatic basil leaves, and fresh pesto. Serve it with crispy garlic toast on the side, and you have a gourmet dish that’s incredibly easy to put together. This dish is a rustic, luscious, and budget-friendly delight! Whether you’re hosting a party or simply craving a light and flavorful meal, burrata with tomatoes and pesto is sure to become a favorite.
Creamy burrata cheese, juicy tomatoes and Mediterranean flavors unite to make this spectacular pesto appetizer, which also works as a flavorful salad or lite dinner.
If you love recipes with tomatoes, you might also like heirloom burrata salad, sheet pan caprese pasta, or any of these mouthwatering fresh tomato recipes.
Why You’ll Love It
Fresh and tasty: The main ingredient in this tasty salad is the tomatoes and as well as those there’s fragrant fresh basil and a freshly made pesto too, so you can just imagine the wonderful flavors.
Quick and easy: Forget about complicated, time-consuming appetizer recipes. This one takes just 10 minutes to whip up from scratch, and that includes the homemade pesto.
Simple to tweak: You can make any changes you like, such as trying different types of large or cherry tomatoes, including fresh mozzarella cheese instead of the creamy burrata or adding more components to the platter.
Burrata Pesto Appetizer Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below
Heirloom tomatoes: Use any heirloom tomatoes you can find or any salad tomato you want to use. It’s nice to use a range of different colors for visual appeal and different flavors.
Grape or cherry tomatoes: These contrast with the heirloom tomatoes. Again, use any kind you want.
Fresh basil: This is part of the salad and it’s also used in the basil pesto that goes with it.
Burrata cheese: This pesto burrata recipe calls for burrata cheese which is a rich and creamy type of cheese. It shouldn’t be too hard to source because it’s so popular.
Olives: To add a salty flavor and contrasting texture.
Lemon juice: Adds a zesty tang to the pesto.
Garlic cloves: This adds a lovely flavor to the homemade pesto.
How to Make a Pesto Burrata Cheese Appetizer
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card
Assemble the salad: Arrange the tomatoes slices, basil, olives, and burrata on a platter or in a serving dish.
Make the pesto: Pulse basil, pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor to make the pesto, adding the oil slowly at the end. Add the parmesan cheese and pulse again briefly.
The finishing touches: Drizzle the pesto over the salad and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve right away.
Substitutions and Variations
Variety of tomatoes: You can use absolutely any tomatoes you want in this recipe. It’s fun to mix and match different colors, textures and sizes.
Mozzarella cheese: Caprese salad is typically made with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes. If you can’t find burrata cheese or you don’t want to use it in this tomatoes recipe, you can use fresh mozzarella instead (buffalo mozzarella is best!)
Make it a meal: Add your favorite protein to this salad, such as chicken, shrimp or sliced steak, and it becomes a main meal rather than an appetizer or side dish.
No pesto: If you aren’t keen on basil pesto, you could instead dress the dish with extra virgin olive oil and a balsamic glaze.
Serving Suggestions
Accompaniments: Offer toasted baguette slices with this burrata salad or perhaps some antipasto skewers to continue the Italian theme.
Main course: You might like to enjoy mushroom risotto, chicken Bolognese or spaghetti with mushroom ragu for your entree.
Dessert: Bombolini (Italian-style donuts) make a wonderful dessert.
How to Store This Burrata Appetizer
Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 2 to 3 days.
Freeze: This does not freeze well.
Top Tips
Adjust the seasonings: You can use different seasonings if you wish. I love using truffle salt (fave here) instead of regular salt. It adds a special umami flavor to the dish. Flaky sea salt works too.
Use the best tomatoes: Use fresh garden tomatoes or heirloom tomatoes if you can get them. It’s best to use a variety of fresh tomatoes including full-size ones and cherry or grape tomatoes too. You can get green, orange, red, and golden tomatoes, and a combination of different colors looks so pretty on the platter. Most grocery stores carry different varieties of tomatoes.
Experiment! Add some thinly sliced fresh figs to the serving plate, or some wafer thin ham slices. Either of those ingredients contrasts beautifully with the creamy cheese. You might like to substitute large capers or caperberries for the olives or try roasted tomatoes instead of raw ones. Mixed fresh herbs are good too.
Burrata Pesto Salad FAQs
These are basically tomatoes that are grown from heirloom seeds. They’re in season during the summer months and are passed down each season from the tomato plants that produced the best tomatoes the season prior. Farmers can choose size, shape, color, juiciness, and so on when farming heirloom tomatoes. Good heirloom tomatoes should smell good through the skin, unlike a lot of mass-market tomato varieties.
This Italian cheese variety is made from mozzarella and cream. It’s softer than mozzarella, richer because of the cream and it has a bolder flavor. You can substitute mozzarella in this recipe if you prefer.
You can. It won’t taste as fresh as homemade pesto but it will work.
Yes, use any kind. The bigger ones can be opened and spread over the tomato slices.
Burrata with Tomatoes and Pesto Recipe
Burrata with Tomatoes and Pesto
Ingredients
For the Appetizer or Salad:
- 3 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
- 1 Cup cherry tomatoes, or grape, halved
- ½ Cup fresh basil
- ¼ Cup olives, kalamata or green olives
- 3 to 4 burrata cheese, large
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
For the Basil Pesto:
- 2 Cups basil leaves
- ½ Cup pine nuts
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
- 3 Cloves garlic, small
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
- ¼ Teaspoon black pepper
- ⅓ Cup extra virgin olive oil, more if needed
- ⅓ Cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Instructions
- Layer the tomato slices basil, olives and burrata cheese on a large platter.
- Add the basil, pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic salt and pepper to a food processor.
- Pulse a few times until everything is very small.
- Turn on the food processor and slowly add the olive oil, then process to smooth.
- Add the parmesan and pulse a couple more times.
- Drizzle the salad with the pesto and add salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
Use the best tomatoes: Use fresh garden tomatoes or heirloom tomatoes if you can get them. It’s best to use a variety of fresh tomatoes including full-size ones and cherry or grape tomatoes too. You can get green, orange, red, and golden tomatoes, and a combination of different colors looks so pretty on the platter. Most grocery stores carry different varieties of tomatoes.
Experiment! Add some thinly sliced fresh figs to the serving plate, or some wafer thin ham slices. Either of those ingredients contrasts beautifully with the creamy cheese. You might like to sub large capers or caperberries for the olives or try roasted tomatoes instead of raw ones. Mixed fresh herbs are good too.
Nutrition
Burrata with pesto and tomatoes makes a lovely appetizer or side dish. It’s absolutely delicious with grilled bread or toasted bread, and the combination of creamy burrata cheese, juicy tomatoes and homemade basil pesto is truly magical. Make this during the summer months when the farmers’ market is full of summer tomatoes and the best heirloom varieties.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Nothing beats this combo. So perfect for summer!
Is there anything better than tomatoes and burrata? I would argue not!!