burrata

noun

bur·​ra·​ta bu̇-ˈrä-tə 

variants or less commonly burrata cheese

plural burratas also burrata cheeses

: mozzarella formed into a ball-shaped casing that contains curds and cream

… give us a single ball of burrata with some olive oil and crackers, and we'll be more than happy.

—Olivia Harvey

It was not one of those petite, tennis-ball-size burratas. … Nearly as big as a cantaloupe, the wobbly burrata … was bursting on the plate, the oozing cream pooled around it.

—Melissa Clark

Roughly spread some creamy burrata … on the bread, then add some cherry tomatoes …

—Geoff Last

… Perry plates a dollop of soft, delicately flavored burrata cheese and dusts it in black pepper.

—Brenna Houck

Examples of burrata in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The specials ranged from $9 for a margherita pizza to $14 for one topped with prosciutto and gobs of burrata cheese, pictured above. —Miguel Otárola, Denver Post, 27 Feb. 2026

Customer favorites include the Margherita pizza, Brussels sprouts and burrata. —Tanasia Kenney, Charlotte Observer, 26 Feb. 2026

There are turkey-Caesar wraps and burrata-avocado toast, homemade chocolate-chip cookies and baklava, and one strange thing that everyone seems to order – a Korean Cream Cheese Bun that went viral after a food influencer blew it up online. —Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026

As part of the move, SDDG has expanded the Romanissimo menu with dishes that include burrata caprese salad, spaghetti carbonara and pinza la mortazza. —Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026

Sharp basil gives life to the perfectly creamy burrata and the tomatoes add a warm acidity. —Eddie Fontanez, AZCentral.com, 18 Feb. 2026

Store soft varieties with a high moisture content, like mozzarella or burrata, in their original liquid in an airtight container. —Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2026

The family-style menu includes burrata cannoli with caviar and smoked brisket malfadine. —Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 5 Feb. 2026

Up in the sundeck, all hell breaks loose after the burrata. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Italian, originally southern regional, noun derivative from feminine of burrato "flavored or spread with butter," from burra "butter" (borrowed from Old French bure, going back to Late Latin būtrum, by syncope from Latin būtyrum, variant of būtȳrum, būtūrum butter entry 1) + -ato -ate entry 3

Note: An early occurrence of burrata and description of the product is in Guida gastronomica d'Italia (Milan: Touring Club Italiano, 1931), p. 395, in a list of dishes typical of the city of Andria in Puglia: "Oltre i communi latticini, è prodotto tipico locale la burrata, sfera di pasta di caciocavallo contenente del latte di bufala con panna i filacci di pasta di provola o di mozzarella" ("Beside the common dairy items, a typical local product is burrata, a ball of caciocavallo [a cheese made from stretching fresh curds in hot water] containing buffalo milk with cream and strands of provola [another cheese made from stretched curds] or mozzarella"). The first maker of the cheese was allegedly one Lorenzo Bianchino Chieppa, who, perhaps in the 1920's, worked at the Piana Padula farm near Castel del Monte, a medieval castle in the Andria commune. The farm already produced balls of stretched-curd cheese stuffed with butter—as an innovation it was decided to fill the balls instead with strands of leftover mozzarella and cream. The innovation met with unexpected success, first in Andria, and eventually far beyond it. The traditional name for the butter-filled cheese containers was manteca. (An illustration of the product can be found at the Italian Wikepedia entry for manteca.) Presumably burrata was another name for this or a similar product, and it was transferred to the mozzarella-and-cream filled containers, despite their lack of butter. For references see the article "La burrata. Un prodotto made in Puglia" by Debora di Fazio in Peccati di lingua: le 100 parole italiane del Gusto (Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2015), pp. 51-53. See also Lessico etimologico italiano, vol. 8, column 499.

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for burrata

• agata
• bharata
• cantata
• costata
• ephrata
• errata
• falcata
• mahratta
• regatta
• serrata
• sonata
• stigmata