Name: Roasted Tomatoes & Burrata Appetizer
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 3 cups cherry tomatoes ((2 packages tricolored cherry tomatoes)); 1/2 cup olive oil; 2 tbsp garlic (fresh copped (can sub jarred minced)); salt and pepper to taste; 14 oz pizza sauce (Don Pepino pizza sauce preferred ); 2 tsp red pepper (crushed); 8 oz Burrata cheese (one package of 4 balls); 3 basil leaves; baguettes (1 loaf )

If you’re looking for a super simple recipe to kick off your next dinner party or ladies’ night gathering, this Roasted Tomato and Burrata Appetizer is for you. Made with just 9 ingredients and only about 10 minutes of active prep time, these sinfully delicious slow-roasted tomatoes with burrata cheese couldn’t be easier to whip up.

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overhead shot of roasted tomatoes and burrata cheese with sliced baguette for serving.

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What Is Burrata?

If you are not yet familiar with burrata cheese, prepare to have your mind (and tastebuds) blown. 🤯

This deliciously soft Italian cheese is composed of fresh mozzarella stuffed with a literal cream center. From the outside, it looks just like a ball of mozz, but when you cut into it, the cream oozes out in the most spectacular way.

In terms of flavor, it’s super mild, ooey-gooey, and absolutely crave-worthy. When served alongside sweet roasted tomatoes with garlic and a perfectly crusty baguette, it’s truly a thing of beauty.

vertical side-on hero shot of roasted tomatoes and burrata cheese on a grey plate with a ring of baguette slices and a small glass jar filled with pizza sauce for serving.

Why We Love This Recipe

We’re not gonna lie: we Southern belles love to impress our nearest and dearest, especially when it comes to food. That said, as full-time working mamas with multiple children and a blog on the side, we don’t always have as much time in the kitchen as we’d like.

Luckily, this recipe for burrata with roasted tomatoes has the kind of flavor that tastes like it took hours to build, but is sneakily one of the most effortless recipes in our combined arsenal. Aside from being lick-the-plate delicious, this flawless first course is:

Made With Fewer Than 10 Ingredients – Don’t you just love simplicity?
Quick & Easy – You only need about 5 minutes of prep time to make this simple tomato and cheese appetizer.
Crowd-Pleasing – When it comes down to it, this is basically a build-your-own Margherita pizza, so even the kiddos go nuts for it.

piece of baguette smeared with some burrata cheese and topped with roasted cherry tomatoes.

Ingredients & Substitutions

As promised, you don’t need much to make this deliciously cheesy roasted cherry tomatoes recipe. Here’s what to grab:

Tricolored Cherry Tomatoes – Feel free to use any type of cherry or grape tomatoes you like. We just love the dazzling appeal of all those colors on the plate.
Olive Oil – Just your regular cooking oil is perfect.
Garlic – If possible, use fresh garlic for the best flavor. In a pinch you can swap in an equal amount of jarred minced garlic or about 2 teaspoons of garlic powder instead.
Salt & Pepper – We use kosher salt in our kitchen. If you’re using a different type (e.g. Himalayan pink salt, fine sea salt, or table salt) please refer to this conversion chart. Also, please do yourself a favor and invest in a pepper grinder if you don’t have one yet; freshly cracked pepper has so much more flavor than the tinned, pre-ground kind!
Don Pepino Canned Pizza Sauce – This cheerful yellow can has been a pantry staple in our families since we were in pigtails. Feel free to swap in your favorite store-bought pizza sauce instead. (That said, you should totally give the Don a try — it’s life-changing!)
Crushed Red Pepper – For a touch of heat. Feel free to dial it up or down depending on your preference for spicy foods.
Burrata Cheese – If possible, reach for a container that has smaller balls (there are usually about 3 in each) for better presentation and more even distribution of the cheesy goodness.
Fresh Basil – For bright color and an herby finish.
Baguette – While we’d happily lap up the whole plate of burrata and roasted tomatoes with a spoon, serving it alongside some crusty bread makes it a little more sharing-friendly.

overhead shot of ingredients needed for making roasted tomatoes with burrata cheese.

How To Make Roasted Tomatoes and Burrata

Burrata and tomatoes are a classic pairing. By roasting the tomatoes first, you’ll add sweet, umami richness that is tough to beat. Luckily, the process is quite easy. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Prep. Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove the cheese from the fridge. Wash & dry tomatoes.

Step 2: Toss Tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place in an oven-proof baking dish.

Step 3: Roast Tomatoes in the preheated oven until they start to split, about 30 minutes. Toss at every 10-minute interval to ensure even cooking. Turn the oven off.

multicolored cherry tomatoes in an oval glass bowl after roasting.

Step 4: Mix the pizza sauce and crushed red pepper in with the tomatoes. Top with burrata cheese. Place the baking dish back in the turned-off oven for a few minutes to let the cheese soften slightly. Remove from the oven.

Step 5: Garnish the roasted tomatoes and burrata with fresh basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and a fresh crack of pepper. Serve warm with toasted or grilled baguette slices. Enjoy!

baguette slices and a small bowl filled with pats of butter on a round wooden cutting board.

Optional Variations

roasted cherry tomatoes on a grey plate with a round of burrata topped with basil leaves in the center.

Expert Tips

This tasty roasted tomato burrata recipe is simple enough for even our husbands to make. That said, we’ve learned a few things during our combined decades in the kitchen. Here are our best tips:

Don’t overbake the cheese or it will split on you. Place it in the turned-off oven for just a few minutes to warm through. Seriously, it only takes about 4-5 minutes.
To refresh an old baguette, rinse it with cold water and then bake it. If it’s good enough for the folks over at America’s Test Kitchen, you know it’s gonna work.

vertical hero shot of roasted tomatoes and burrata on a grey plate on top of a round wooden cutting board surrounded with a ring of sliced baguette pieces and a small milk jug of pizza sauce for serving.

FAQs

Where to buy burrata cheese?

Can you freeze burrata?

How is burrata traditionally served?

serving shot of roasted tomatoes and burrata with two pieces of baguette topped with the good stuff, the clear bottle of pizza sauce half empty in the background, and 2 pieces of unsliced baguette stacked behind.

More Easy Appetizer Recipes

If y’all tried this sumptuous appetizer recipe for Roasted Tomatoes and Burrata Cheese, holler and let us know how it turned out for you by giving us a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and commenting below. You can also always feel free to tag us (@creamcheeseandlemonsqueeze) in your social media posts so we can cheer you on.

Alright, y’all. Thanks so much for stopping by! For even more down-home Mississippi Coast cooking inspiration, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok. You can also get all of our newest content delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our weekly newsletter. We can’t wait to see you again soon!

XO,

Anna & Ashley