This Burrata Appetizer Board was made to impress! It’s perfect for entertaining — full of creamy, soft cheeses, with a topping for everyone! Guests will love to choose their favorite cheese: balsamic burrata, apricot and honey burrata, chimichurri burrata, or garlic bacon and herb burrata. The best part is it takes under an hour to make and can easily be made gluten free.
Why You’ll Love This Burrata Appetizer Board
You’ll love this burrata appetizer board as it’s unique, trendy, and has a little something for everyone’s taste preferences. It’s also completely customizable. Swap out a topping on one, drop down to only a couple burrata balls, sub crostinis for crackers – whatever you feel like – it’s your party!
This fun appetizer will be completely unique. This trendy board is a different way to combine the burrata cheese ball appetizers AND cheese board trends from social media. I could not find another like it anywhere else online – so you will likely be the first to make this crowd pleaser.
What Is Burrata?
Burrata is a creamy Italian cheese that has exploded in popularity over the last few years. Its outer layer is made of mozzarella cheese and the inside is a mixture of mozzarella curd and cheese. It is typically made from Italian cow’s milk and on occasion buffalo milk.
What Goes with Burrata?
Burrata pairs well with anything you’d pair a creamy white cheese with. Some favorites include crackers, toasted bread, tomatoes, peaches or apricots, roasted vegetables, olive oil and garlic.
Ingredients
This burrata board features a variety of crackers* (four boxes) served with four six-ounce fresh burrata cheese balls and four different toppings:
- Balsamic Tomatoes: olive oil, shallot, garlic cloves, cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil.
- Apricots & Honey: apricot jam, honey.
- Chimichurri: olive oil, garlic clove, vinegar, sea salt, dried oregano, parsley.
- Garlic, Herb, and Bacon: olive oil, sea salt & pepper, garlic powder, fresh chives, chopped bacon.
*If you or any of your guests are gluten free, this entire appetizer is gluten free already, when you choose to serve it with gluten free crackers (see below for some options).
How to Make
Begin by making each burrata cheese topping:
- with Balsamic Tomatoes: Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium frying pan. Add one chopped shallot and two cloves of garlic (minced) and sauté on medium heat for 4 minutes. Quarter 2 cups of cherry tomatoes and add them, salt, and pepper to the pan. Sauté 6-8 minutes or until somewhat soft. Add 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and continue to sauté until most of the liquid is gone. Remove from heat. Allow to cool. Slice 4-5 leaves of fresh basil into thin strips.
- with Apricots & Honey: Set aside 1/3 cup of apricot jam and 2 tablespoons of honey.
- with Chimichurri: In a small food processor blend together: 1/3 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons of white vinegar, 1 clove of garlic, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley. Blend until desired sauce-like consistency is reached.
- with Garlic, Herb, and Bacon: Mix together ¼ teaspoon of sea salt, a dash of pepper, and ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder. Chop fresh chives, set aside about two tablespoons. Pan fry 2-3 slices of bacon. Allow to cool and chop.
Burrata Board Assembly
Add crackers to a large charcuterie board.; surrounding four 8-ounce white ramekins. Drain and add one burrata cheese ball to each ramekin.
Top the first burrata ball with the balsamic tomatoes and sprinkle it with the fresh basil. Top the second burrata ball by spooning the apricot jam on top and then drizzling it with honey. Spoon chimichurri sauce over the third burrata cheese ball; you will likely not use all of it. Drizzle olive oil in a thick layer over the fourth burrata cheese ball and then sprinkle it with garlic salt mixture, chives, and bacon.
Substitutions
In order to make this app more summery, some people opt to swap balsamic tomatoes for balsamic peaches or cherries. For the other sweet burrata cheese ball you can also swap in a different type of jam or preserves (for example, blueberry is also delicious in summer or blackberry and cranberry do well in the winter).
If you love pesto, this can be swapped for the chimichurri sauce. Additionally, you can swap any spice blends in or fresh herbs out in the “bacon” burrata ball.
There’s really no limit, since there is a large variety of burrata cheese options on this platter, your guests are bound to love at least one of your many variations! Plus, burrata cheese pairs so great with just about anything.
FAQ
Once the toppings are on the cheese ball, you can cover the ramekins in tin foil or add to an airtight container. However, once assembled/removed from the liquid in the packaging they will still only last about one more day in the refrigerator before slightly hardening.
They are not. Mozzarella cheese is solid throughout and Burrata cheese has an outer layer of mozzarella and an inner layer of mozzarella curd and cream. This makes it softer and a more ideal cheese for this appetizer.
It depends on the purpose. If you are looking to entertain, this appetizer is the best way. If you are looking for something quick, you can slice it open and serve it as a quick snack with fresh tomatoes, basil, and olive oil with toasted bread. If you are looking for a meal, it is delicious on pizzas such as pear and prosciutto pizzas, or even on pasta (in place of ricotta).
Serve burrata at a party topped with your favorite topping alongside of crackers or crostini/toasted bread.
More Popular Appetizers
Looking to impress? Here are some of my other summer party favorites:
- Easy Mozzarella Melon Prosciutto Skewers
- Healthy Fruit Salsa and Gluten Free Cinnamon Chips
- Easy Gluten Free Canapes
- Individual Charcuterie Cones
Burrata Appetizer Board
Ingredients
Burrata Appetizer Board
- 4 six-ounce fresh burrata cheese balls
- Four boxes of crackers*
- About 1 cup olive oil
- For serving: four 8-ounce white ramekins, four cheese spreader
Balsamic Tomatoes Burrata
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4-5 leaves of fresh basil, sliced into thin strips
Apricots & Honey Burrata
- 1/3 cup apricot jam
- 2 tablespoons honey
Chimichurri Burrata
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Garlic, Herb, and Bacon Burrata
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Dash of pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 2-3 slices bacon
Instructions
- Balsamic Tomatoes Burrata: Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium frying pan. Add shallot and garlic and sauté on medium heat for 4 minutes. Quarter 2 cups of cherry tomatoes and add them, salt, and pepper to the pan. Sauté 6-8 minutes or until somewhat soft. Add 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and continue to sauté until most of the liquid is gone. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.
- Apricots & Honey Burrata: No prep required.
- Chimichurri Burrata: In a small food processor blend together: 1/3 cup olive oil and remaining ingredients. Blend until desired sauce-like consistency is reached.
- Garlic, Herb, and Bacon Burrata: Mix together sea salt, a dash of pepper, and garlic powder. Pan fry bacon. Allow to cool and chop.
Assembling the Burrata Appetizer Board
- Add crackers to a large charcuterie board.; surrounding four 8-ounce white ramekins. Drain and add one burrata cheese ball to each ramekin.
- Top the first burrata ball with the balsamic tomatoes and sprinkle with the fresh basil. Top the second burrata ball by spooning the apricot jam on top and then drizzling it with honey. Spoon chimichurri sauce over the third burrata cheese ball; you will likely not use all of it. Drizzle olive oil in a thick layer over the fourth burrata cheese ball. Sprinkle it with garlic salt mixture, chives, and bacon.
Notes
*Note this recipe was not photographed with burrata cheese, mozzarella was used. I tested it for a New Year’s party, but the burrata cheese was sold out for the holidays when I went to re-make it for a photo. Real burrata cheese looks better than the mozzarella in this appetizer – because of its softer consistency, the balls look much better rounded than those in the photo.
Yum! The garlic, herb, and bacon one is amazing! Such a delicious combination!
Really like the balsamic tomatoes
Thank you! Wish they were home grown, but they’ll do 😉
Thank you, glad you liked it! Anything with bacon is always my favorite too haha:)
This looks amazing! Sounds delicious, and what a beautiful presentation! I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you! Its definitely one of my favorite party presentations – I hope you enjoy it. 🙂