Stracciatella Cheese substitute

Best substitute

Burrata, torn open

Use the same amount as the stracciatella cheese you are replacing

Best for pizza after baking

Close match

The best substitute for stracciatella is burrata, cut open with the creamy filling scooped out, because that filling literally is stracciatella. Failing that, tear fresh mozzarella into strands and stir in heavy cream at roughly three parts cheese to one part cream with a pinch of salt. Whole-milk ricotta loosened with cream and olive oil is the easy pantry version. What the cheese is doing in a dish is supplying fresh dairy fat, a mild lactic tang and a silky, stringy texture, which is why it goes on at the end and is never cooked.

Other stracciatella cheese substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Fresh mozzarella torn and mixed with cream
Close match
3 parts torn mozzarella to 1 part heavy cream by weight, used 1:1 for the stracciatella
The homemade version, and very close.
What changes
Tear the mozzarella into thin strands with your fingers rather than cutting it, stir through cream and a good pinch of salt, and let it sit 10 minutes. It is very slightly less silky than the real thing and the strands are a bit thicker, but it is unmistakably right.
Best for
pizza, crostini, salads, pasta, when there is mozzarella but no burrata
Buffalo mozzarella gives the closest flavour, tangier and richer than cow's milk. Drain the mozzarella well first or the mixture goes watery on the plate.
3Whole-milk ricotta loosened with cream and olive oil
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Reads creamy and fresh on the plate, so it does the same job visually and richness-wise.
What changes
The texture is granular rather than stringy, which is the real difference, and the flavour is milder and slightly sweeter with less lactic tang. Beat in a tablespoon of cream and a tablespoon of olive oil per 200 g plus flaky salt to close most of the gap.
Best for
crostini, pizza, spooning under roasted vegetables, supermarket shopping
Drain watery supermarket ricotta in a sieve for 30 minutes first, and beat it hard with a spoon or a whisk for a minute to smooth out the grain. Sheep's milk ricotta is closer in richness.
4Stracchino, crescenza or robiola
Different texture
Use the same amount
Soft, spreadable, mildly tangy northern Italian fresh cheeses, and the closest match in flavour among cheeses you might find at a good counter.
What changes
They are smooth and spoonable rather than shredded, so the dish loses the pull-apart strands, and they are slightly more acidic and salty.
Best for
crostini, pizza, filling for stuffed vegetables, cheese boards
These are richer than stracciatella, so a slightly smaller amount goes further. Loosen with a splash of cream or milk if you want a spoonable consistency.
5Mascarpone thinned with milk
Taste and texture differ
About 3 parts of the amount called for, thinned with milk to a spoonable consistency
Much richer and noticeably sweeter, with no lactic sourness and no strands at all.
What changes
It works where the dish wants creaminess and a bit of luxury rather than freshness, but on a tomato salad the sweetness fights the fruit. Use about three quarters of the weight because it is far heavier.
Best for
pizza with sweet toppings, dessert-leaning dishes, pasta sauces where richness is the goal
Add lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice, plus salt, to give it some of the tang it is missing. Do not use it where the point is a clean, milky freshness.
6Full-fat cottage cheese, drained and briefly blended
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
The budget option.
What changes
Drain off the liquid, then pulse briefly with a spoonful of cream, so it is loosened but still has some curd left. It is tangier and saltier than stracciatella and the curds stay firmer and squeakier, so the mouthfeel is bumpier rather than silky, but on a hot pizza with good olive oil it does the job.
Best for
pizza, toast and crostini, cheap weeknight cooking
Do not blend it completely smooth or it turns into a paste. Season with flaky salt and a lot of black pepper and finish with plenty of olive oil.

What is Stracciatella Cheese?

Stracciatella Cheese is Stracciatella cheese is fresh mozzarella curd torn into soft shreds and steeped in cream, usually made from buffalo milk in Puglia, and it is the same thing that is spooned inside burrata.

Cooking tips

Never bake stracciatella. Add it after the pizza comes out of the oven or the pasta is plated, because heat splits the cream out of the shreds and leaves you with a greasy puddle. This is the single most common mistake.
Take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving. Cold blunts the delicate milky flavour and stiffens the fat, so fridge-cold stracciatella tastes of almost nothing.
Season it at the last second, on the plate: flaky salt, a hard grind of black pepper and a generous pour of good olive oil. The cheese itself is barely salted, and unseasoned stracciatella is the reason people find it bland.
If the dish must not go watery, tip the cheese into a sieve for a few minutes and let the loose cream drain, then use it. Keep that cream for scrambled eggs.
Buy it fresh and eat it the same day. Stracciatella has a shelf life measured in a couple of days, and it goes sour and grainy quickly; it does not freeze in any usable way.

Frequently asked questions

Is stracciatella the same as burrata?

Stracciatella is what is inside burrata. Burrata is a pouch of mozzarella filled with stracciatella, which is torn mozzarella curd bathed in cream. So if you cut a burrata open and spoon out the middle, you have stracciatella. That makes burrata the most reliable substitute there is, and it is much more widely sold.

Why do stracciatella gelato and stracciatella soup have the same name?

The word means little shreds or rags, from stracciare, to tear, and Italian applies it to three unrelated things. Stracciatella the cheese is torn mozzarella curd in cream. Stracciatella alla romana is a broth with egg beaten in so it forms ribbons. Stracciatella gelato is vanilla ice cream streaked with shattered chocolate. If a recipe means the cheese, it will usually say stracciatella di bufala or stracciatella cream.

Can I use ricotta instead of stracciatella?

Yes, and it is the most practical everyday swap, but manage your expectations. Ricotta is grainy where stracciatella is stringy and silky, and it is milder. Drain it, whip it with a tablespoon of cream and one of olive oil per 200 g, and season it well with salt; it will look right on a crostino or a pizza and taste good, just less distinctive.

Can I just leave stracciatella out?

If it is a finishing touch on a pizza or a plate of roasted vegetables, yes, and a spoonful of good ricotta or a scatter of torn mozzarella covers the gap. If the dish is built around it, such as stracciatella on grilled bread or as the entire topping for a tomato salad, leaving it out removes the point of the dish, and even plain torn mozzarella with cream is a much better answer than omitting it.

Can I make stracciatella at home?

You can make something very close in five minutes. Tear a ball of good fresh mozzarella, ideally buffalo, into thin strands with your fingers, stir in heavy cream at about one part cream to three parts cheese, add a good pinch of salt, and leave it for 10 minutes for the strands to soften. Real stracciatella is made by shredding curd while it is still warm and stretchy, which is why the commercial version is silkier.

Related substitutes

More cheese substitutes

Stracciatella Cheese substitute

Other stracciatella cheese substitutes

2Fresh mozzarella torn and mixed with cream

3Whole-milk ricotta loosened with cream and olive oil

4Stracchino, crescenza or robiola

5Mascarpone thinned with milk

6Full-fat cottage cheese, drained and briefly blended