Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese with a soft mozzarella shell that holds a creamy filling of shredded mozzarella and cream. When you cut it open, the rich center spills out, which is what sets it apart from regular mozzarella and makes it one of the most prized fresh cheeses in Italian cuisine.
How Burrata Is Made
Burrata starts the same way mozzarella does, using a technique called pasta filata, or “stretched curd.” Fresh cow’s milk is heated, acidified, and formed into curds. Those curds are then dipped into hot whey until they become pliable and stretchy. The cheesemaker pulls and folds the warm curd until it turns shiny and smooth, then shapes it into a flat disc about the size of a palm.
Here’s where burrata becomes its own thing. A spoonful of filling goes into the center of that disc. The cheesemaker gathers the edges upward like a drawstring purse, pinches the top closed into a characteristic little topknot, and briefly dips the whole pouch back into hot whey to seal the seams. The result is a round, sack-shaped cheese that looks unassuming from the outside but contains a surprise inside.
What’s Inside: Stracciatella
The creamy center has its own name: stracciatella. It’s a mix of hand-torn mozzarella strands and fresh cream with a pinch of salt. The word “stracciatella” translates roughly to “little shreds” or “little rags,” which describes the irregular, wispy texture of those mozzarella pieces floating in cream. Stracciatella is sold on its own in some Italian markets, but most people encounter it for the first time when they slice into a burrata and watch the filling pool across the plate.
This filling is what gives burrata its richness. While fresh mozzarella is mild and bouncy, burrata’s interior is almost sauce-like, with a buttery flavor that regular mozzarella can’t match.
Burrata vs. Mozzarella
The outer shell of burrata is essentially fresh mozzarella, so the two cheeses share DNA. But the similarities end at texture and richness. Fresh mozzarella is uniform throughout: springy, moist, and mildly tangy. Burrata has that same exterior, but it’s thinner and softer, designed as a vessel rather than the main attraction. The real difference is the cream-soaked filling, which pushes burrata’s fat content higher and gives it a luxurious quality that mozzarella doesn’t have.
Nutritionally, burrata runs about 330 calories per 100 grams, with 28 grams of fat and 18 grams of protein. That’s richer than standard fresh mozzarella, largely because of the cream in the stracciatella center. It’s not the kind of cheese you eat in large quantities, but a single ball split among a few people goes a long way.
Where Burrata Comes From
Burrata traces back to the 1920s in Andria, a town in the Puglia region of southeastern Italy. A cheesemaker named Lorenzo Bianchino is credited with the invention. He was inspired by manteca, a traditional Italian cheese that wraps a hard outer shell around a core of butter. Bianchino adapted the concept using fresh mozzarella for both the skin and the filling, creating something meant to be eaten right away rather than aged.
Today, burrata made in Puglia carries a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) label from the European Union. To qualify as “Burrata di Andria,” every step of production, from processing the raw milk to packaging the finished cheese, must happen within the Puglia region. The cheese must be shaped by hand, closed with the traditional topknot, and packaged on the same premises where it’s made. These rules exist because burrata is extremely perishable and deteriorates quickly once produced.
Shelf Life and Serving
Fresh burrata lasts about one to two weeks from the day it’s made, and its quality drops noticeably with each passing day. The best burrata is eaten within the first few days, when the shell is still supple and the filling is loose and creamy. As it ages, the outer pouch toughens and the interior loses its silky consistency. If you’re buying burrata at a grocery store, check the production or expiration date and plan to eat it soon.
Temperature matters. Burrata should come out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving so it can warm slightly toward room temperature. Cold dulls the flavor and firms up the filling. You want the center to flow freely when you cut into it.
How to Serve Burrata
The classic pairing is the simplest: ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, good olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and flaky salt. This is essentially a caprese salad with burrata swapped in for mozzarella, and the upgrade is dramatic. The creamy filling acts almost like a built-in dressing, coating the tomatoes as it spills out.
Beyond that, burrata works well with grilled bread, roasted vegetables, or torn into pieces over pasta. A common approach is to treat the shell and filling separately. Tear the outer mozzarella into strips and toss it through a salad or pasta, then drizzle the creamy stracciatella with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt as a spread or dip. Stone fruits like peaches and nectarines pair well in summer, as do peppery greens like arugula. The cheese itself is so rich that it benefits from something acidic, sweet, or slightly bitter alongside it to create contrast.
Burrata is best served as a centerpiece rather than a background ingredient. Heat destroys its texture, so it’s almost always added to dishes after cooking, right before eating.