Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad

Why I Love This Recipe

We've been hitting up the local farm in Malibu weekly to stock up on produce, and the tomato situation is out of control these days! This time of year is my favorite because produce is at its peak, and all of my recipes are super easy and feature incredible produce that doesn't need a lot of work. Things that shine on their own. Tomatoes. Peaches. Peas. I need it all in my life!  Dinners are going to be pretty laid back and easy these next few months. Like super easy. This Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad is pretty much my latest obsession. It requires a vinaigrette that I make weekly and just keep on hand, a boatload of tomatoes, and the best cheese on earth... Burrata.

It's the perfect summer salad, especially because you can find the most amazing and flavorful tomatoes at the farmers market these days. Seriously, if you go to the farmers market for one thing, it's gotta be the tomatoes. They are infinitely better and brighter than a few months ago! And now is the time to eat ALL OF THEM. Keep this on repeat in summer, and rotate it with some stone fruit and burrata salad.

So, without further ado, here's the best salad on earth with my fav vinaigrette. With the best cheese ever created.

Ingredients

Substitutions & Swaps

🍅 Tomatoes

• Campari tomatoes - Slightly larger than cherry tomatoes but still incredibly sweet and low in acidity, they hold their shape beautifully after marinating and release just enough juice to meld with the vinaigrette.
• Sun Gold cherry tomatoes - These orange cherry tomatoes have an almost tropical sweetness that plays really well against the tangy red wine vinegar, and their thin skins soak up the marinade fast.
• Beefsteak tomatoes - When heirlooms are not available, a ripe beefsteak cut into thick wedges gives you that meaty, juicy bite. Go for ones that smell intensely like tomato at the stem end.
• Roasted grape tomatoes - If fresh tomatoes are not at peak season, a quick roast at 400 degrees concentrates their sugars and adds a jammy depth that actually makes the marinade cling better.

🧀 Burrata

• Fresh whole-milk mozzarella - The closest swap in flavor and texture. Tear it by hand, so you get those irregular edges that catch the vinaigrette the same way burrata does.
• Stracciatella - This is literally the creamy filling pulled straight from burrata, so if your store carries it separately, you get all the richness without the outer shell. Spoon it directly over the tomatoes.
• Whipped ricotta - Drain whole-milk ricotta overnight, then whip it with a little olive oil and flaky salt. It is not as luscious as burrata but gives a similar billowy, creamy contrast to the acidic tomatoes.
• Fresh goat cheese - Crumbled chevre adds a tangy lactic note that cuts through the richness of the olive oil vinaigrette. Works especially well if your tomatoes are on the sweeter side.

🫙 Red Wine Vinegar

• Champagne vinegar - More delicate acidity than red wine vinegar, it lets the tomato flavor stay front and center rather than competing with it. A great choice if your tomatoes are already quite tart.
• Sherry vinegar - Aged sherry vinegar has a nutty, complex depth that adds a savory backbone to the marinade, almost like a flavor amplifier for the parmesan in the dressing.
• White balsamic vinegar - Sweeter and milder than red wine vinegar, white balsamic softens the overall sharpness of the vinaigrette and pairs beautifully with the sweetest summer tomatoes.
• Fresh lemon juice - Bright, citrusy acidity that works well when you want the herbs to pop more. Use about two tablespoons and add a small strip of zest to the food processor for extra fragrance.

🌿 Dried Herbs (Oregano and Parsley)

• Fresh oregano - Use about two teaspoons of fresh leaves in place of dried. Fresh oregano has a more floral, less medicinal punch, and since the vinaigrette is blended in a food processor, it distributes perfectly.
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley - A small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley processed into the vinaigrette gives a grassy brightness that dried parsley simply cannot replicate. It also keeps the dressing a beautiful green color.
• Fresh basil - Classic pairing with tomatoes. Swap the parsley for fresh basil, and you shift the vinaigrette into a more Italian-summer direction that complements the burrata wonderfully.
• Herbes de Provence - If you want to lean into the Mediterranean character of this salad, herbes de Provence (which already contains oregano plus thyme, rosemary, and savory) adds aromatic complexity with one ingredient.

🧄 Garlic and Shallots

• Roasted garlic - Swap raw minced garlic for an equal amount of roasted garlic. It loses the sharp bite and turns sweet and mellow, which makes the vinaigrette softer and less aggressive on the palate.
• Garlic scapes - Available at farmers markets in early summer at the same time as peak tomatoes. They have a gentle, grassy garlic flavor that works beautifully blended into a vinaigrette.
• Spring onions (white and light green parts) - A milder stand-in for shallots with a slightly fresher onion flavor. Finely mince and use the same quantity. Great when you want the dressing to feel a little lighter.
• Chives - Finely snipped chives bring a delicate onion note without the sharpness of raw shallot. Stir them in after blending rather than processing so they stay bright and grassy.

How to Make Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad

Step 1: For the Vinaigrette:

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor except the olive oil and whirl together for 1-2 minutes until everything is finely chopped. 

Step 2: While the food processor is still running, stream in the olive oil until fully incorporated. Transfer the vinaigrette to an airtight container and set aside until ready to use.

Step 3: For the Salad:

In a large bowl, combine the cherry tomatoes and ½ of the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Save the remaining vinaigrette for future use. 

Step 4: Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes and then serve at room temperature with burrata on top.

🍅🧀🌿 Tips & Tricks for the Best Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad

The ultimate summer salad with juicy marinated tomatoes and creamy burrata that basically sells itself.

• Use a food processor, not a whisk, for the vinaigrette. Blending the garlic, shallots, herbs, and vinegar together before streaming in the oil creates a more emulsified and cohesive dressing. Whisking by hand leaves the dried herbs gritty and the garlic unevenly distributed.
• Stream the olive oil in slowly while the processor runs. Adding the oil gradually while the motor is running creates a temporary emulsion that keeps the vinaigrette from separating too quickly. Dumping it in all at once breaks the dressing before it has a chance to come together.
• Make a double batch of the vinaigrette and store it for the week. This dressing keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. Having it on hand means you can throw this salad together in under five minutes on any given night.
• Only dress the tomatoes with half the vinaigrette. The recipe intentionally uses half so the tomatoes absorb flavor without drowning. Oversaucing a tomato salad makes it watery and masks the natural brightness of the fruit.
• Let the tomatoes marinate for the full 20 minutes before plating. Marinating draws out the tomato juices, which mingle with the vinaigrette to create a deeply flavored pooling liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Skipping this step means you lose the best part.
• Serve the tomatoes at room temperature, not cold. Cold dulls the volatile aromatic compounds in tomatoes that give them their peak summer flavor. Never refrigerate tomatoes before serving in a dish like this.
• Buy your tomatoes at the farmers market, not the grocery store. Peak-season farmers market tomatoes are picked ripe and have a sugar-to-acid ratio that grocery store tomatoes simply cannot match. The tomato is the star here, so its quality determines the entire dish.
• Use a mix of cherry tomatoes and larger heirloom varieties. Cherry tomatoes hold their shape and absorb the marinade quickly, while larger tomatoes break down slightly and release more juice into the dressing. The combination creates varied texture and depth of flavor.
• Tear the burrata; do not slice it. Tearing burrata creates jagged edges with more surface area, which allows the creamy interior to spill out and coat the tomatoes underneath. Slicing it gives you clean rounds that sit on top without integrating into the dish.
• Add the burrata only at the moment of serving. Burrata weeps its liquid center quickly once torn, and if it sits in the vinaigrette too long it becomes waterlogged and loses its lush, creamy texture. Plate the tomatoes first, then tear the burrata directly on top.
• Season the finished salad with flaky salt, not just kosher salt. A pinch of flaky salt added at the end provides bursts of salinity that contrast with the creamy burrata and sweet tomatoes in a way that evenly mixed kosher salt cannot replicate.
• Use the leftover vinaigrette pooled at the bottom of the bowl for bread dipping. After marinating, the tomato juices combine with the herb vinaigrette to create something deeply savory and sweet. A crusty piece of bread dragged through that liquid is not optional.

Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad FAQs

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