If you love caprese salad, then you need to try my strawberry burrata salad! Juicy, ripe strawberries, creamy burrata, fresh herbs, and toasted nuts all come together with a balsamic glaze for a spring salad which will bring you right into summer.
As promised, here is my third strawberry recipe of the week! And I totally couldn’t resist using my Strawberry Fair plates to serve it up. These plates are from an old Johnson Brothers set that was my Noni’s (my mom’s mom) many years ago and which show up here from time to time. They just looked so pretty with the strawberry salad, I couldn’t resist!
If you missed the other strawberry recipes, they were:
Both are amazing and excellent uses of your strawberry bounty. The soup is totally easy and the cobbler is a special treat for those who like to putter in the kitchen.
While I do have other strawberry recipes in the works, I think now it’s time to move on and share some other great summer flavors. Like a garlic scape vichyssoise and a blackberry mojito and a bunch of great grilling recipes.
First though, you need to try this strawberry salad. Unless you have some thick, fancy balsamic and aren’t afraid to use it, you will need to make a glaze. After that the living is easy as you chop a few strawberries and slice some herbs and *boom* salad all done!
How to Make Strawberry Burrata Salad
First things first, you need to make a balsamic glaze. This will take a few minutes and it needs a little time to cool, but it will last for weeks or even months in the fridge. So you can make a batch and have it on hand for all your balsamic drizzling needs.
As with the rest of the salad, the balsamic glaze is super simple. Just mix together balsamic vinegar and honey along with a few good grinds of black pepper. Black pepper is the secret weapon which brings out the sweetness and flavor of summer fruits. Don’t skip it!
Then bring the saucepan to a simmer and let it bubble for about 10 minutes, or until it coats your spoon and is nice and thick. Set it aside to cool.
Once your glaze is made, it’s time to make the salad!
Slice up your strawberries into bite-sized pieces (I usually halve and quarter as needed), and arrange them around your burrata in a large, low serving bowl or platter. Next, slice up your herbs, chop the toasted pecans and scatter them about over the strawberries.
To serve the strawberry salad, drizzle over some of the balsamic glaze and set out the salad for people to scoop out a portion, leaving out the bowl of glaze for people to add to their plates as needed.
Is Balsamic Vinegar Gluten-Free?
The answer is … maybe. Helpful, yes? 🙂
Actual traditional balsamic only contains grape must and it is indeed gluten-free. But expensive!
So there are many other, cheaper balsamics out there on supermarket shelves which can contain caramel color, other vinegars, and any number of additions manufacturers add to make that ‘balsamic’ more balsamic-ish to your taste buds and eyes. These range from very cheap vinegars (which I would stay away from anyway) to more expensive, aged (usually Italian made) products.
All I can say is check your labels, look up brands as needed, and know that the cheaper the balsamic the more likely it is to contain gluten-y additives since it won’t have any grape must or be aged to develop flavor.
If you try my recipe for Strawberry Burrata Salad, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! You can connect with me by subscribing to my emails (see the form in the sidebar or below the recipe card), liking my FACEBOOK page, or by following me on PINTEREST.
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
Strawberry Burrata Salad with Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
Balsamic Glaze
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- several grinds of black pepper
Strawberry Burrata Salad
- 8 oz burrata cheese
- 3 cups strawberries, halved or quartered as needed
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced mint leaves
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced basil leaves
- 3 tbsp chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
Balsamic Glaze
- Combine the balsamic vinegar with the honey and black pepper in a small saucepan. Bring the balsamic to a gentle simmer and let it reduce until thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature before using.
- Balsamic glaze can be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a month or more.
Strawberry Burrata Salad
- Place the burrata in the center of a large, low serving bowl. Arrange the strawberries around the burrata. Then sprinkle the sliced mint, sliced basil, and toasted pecans over it all.
- Drizzle with the balsamic syrup and serve.
Notes
- Toasting Pecans: To toast the pecans spread them out on a baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes at 350F.
- Other Nuts: You can substitute toasted walnuts or toasted pine nuts for the pecans. If making toasted pine nuts reduce the cooking time to 2 minutes.
- Balsamic Glaze: If you find the glaze to be a little too acidic you can add a tiny pinch of baking soda. This will smooth out the acid and give the syrup a jammier flavor. Just the littlest bit though! You can always add more, but you can't take it out.
- Have Aged Balsamic? If you have sprung for a tiny, expensive bottle of traditional balsamic (which will run you $50+), you can use that instead of making the syrup. In this case, arrange some burrata along with the strawberries and the rest of the salad ingredients into small bowls. Then drizzle over aged balsamic right onto each person's portion and skip the balsamic glaze. Grind a bit of black pepper over each bowl to finish things off.
Thao @ In Good Flavor says
The plate is beautiful and just perfect for this salad, Annemarie! The strawberry, burrata, balsamic combo is right on. I had a big dinner but am wishing I had a bowl of this in front of me right now!