Some sandwiches are lunch. This one is an event.
Creamy burrata, spicy pan-fried sucuk, ripe tomatoes, fresh basil and a little pesto, all pressed between slices of crusty toasted bread. It takes maybe fifteen minutes to make, and it tastes like something you’d pay far too much for at a café with a one-hour queue. If you’ve never had burrata and sucuk together, I need you to trust me on this one — the combination sounds unusual and then makes complete sense the second you bite into it.
This is the sandwich I make when tomatoes are actually in season, when it’s too warm to cook anything serious, and when I want something that feels a bit special without any real effort. It’s become a summer staple in our kitchen, and once you’ve made it once, I’m fairly sure it will become one in yours too.
Why this combination works
On paper, burrata and sucuk come from two completely different worlds. Burrata is soft, milky and delicate — an Italian cheese that barely wants to be touched. Sucuk is loud: a spiced Turkish sausage full of garlic, paprika and heat, with fat that crisps beautifully in a hot pan.
And that’s exactly why they belong together. The burrata cools and softens the spice. The sucuk gives the creamy cheese something to push against. The tomatoes bring acidity and sweetness, the basil and pesto tie the whole thing into one flavor instead of five separate ones, and the toasted bread holds it all together with crunch.
Every bite has contrast: hot and cold, creamy and crisp, mild and spicy, rich and fresh. That’s what makes a sandwich memorable — not fancy ingredients, but ingredients that answer each other.
What is sucuk?
If you didn’t grow up with it: sucuk (sometimes spelled sujuk) is a dry, fermented beef sausage seasoned with garlic, cumin, paprika and red pepper. You’ll find it in every Turkish supermarket and in the international section of most larger grocery stores. It’s usually sold as a horseshoe-shaped ring.
The magic happens when you fry it. The fat renders, the edges crisp up, and the spices bloom — your kitchen will smell incredible. You don’t need any oil in the pan; sucuk brings its own. A minute per side is enough. Overcook it and it turns dry and hard, so keep an eye on it.
If you can’t find sucuk, spicy chorizo is the closest substitute. It’s not the same, but it plays a similar role: fatty, spicy, and happy in a hot pan.
Ingredient notes
The bread. This sandwich lives or dies with the bread. You want something with a real crust and an open, sturdy crumb — ciabatta or a good sourdough are perfect. Soft sandwich bread will collapse under the burrata and turn soggy within minutes. Toast it properly, until it’s golden and audibly crisp. The toasted surface acts as a barrier against the moisture from the cheese and tomatoes.
The burrata. Buy the best one you can find, and take it out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you make the sandwich. Cold burrata straight from the fridge is firmer and less creamy; at room temperature it becomes soft and spreadable, which is exactly what you want here. One ball is enough for one generous sandwich or two smaller ones.
The tomatoes. This is a summer sandwich for a reason. Use ripe, in-season tomatoes — the kind that actually smell like tomatoes. Out of season, cherry tomatoes are usually the safest bet, since they hold their sweetness better than the big watery ones. Salt them right before assembling, not earlier. The salt pulls out their juices and concentrates the flavor, but if you do it too far in advance, all that juice ends up in your bread instead of your mouth.
The pesto. A thin layer, nothing more. Pesto is intense, and burrata is delicate — if you use too much, the pesto wins and the burrata disappears. Think of it as a seasoning, not a filling. A good store-bought pesto is completely fine here; homemade is lovely if you have basil to use up.
The olive oil. The final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil isn’t decoration — it carries flavor and ties the creamy and fresh elements together. Use one you’d be happy to eat with just bread.
Arugula and balsamic glaze. Both optional, both worth it. Arugula adds a peppery freshness that cuts through the richness, and a very light drizzle of balsamic glaze adds a touch of sweetness that plays beautifully with the tomatoes. The key word is light — this sandwich doesn’t need much.
Tips for the best sandwich
Toast the bread well. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, because it’s the most common mistake. Under-toasted bread plus burrata equals a soggy sandwich. You want golden, crisp, and still warm.
Let the sucuk rest for a minute. Straight out of the pan it’s blazing hot, and if you put it directly onto the burrata it melts the cheese into a puddle. Sixty seconds of resting is enough. Warm sucuk on cool burrata is the goal — that temperature contrast is half the pleasure.
Season in layers. The tomatoes get their own flaky salt and black pepper. Don’t rely on the sucuk and pesto to season everything; tomatoes without salt taste flat, and flat tomatoes drag the whole sandwich down.
Press gently, slice, eat immediately. This is not a make-ahead sandwich. It’s at its absolute best in the first ten minutes, while the bread is still crisp and the sucuk still warm. Make it, cut it in half, and eat it standing at the counter if you have to. No judgment here.
Variations
Once you’ve made the original, there’s room to play:
- Extra heat: add a pinch of pul biber (Turkish chili flakes) over the burrata.
- Honey version: skip the balsamic and drizzle a little honey over the sucuk instead — spicy sausage and honey is an underrated pairing.
- Grilled version: assemble the sandwich without the basil and arugula, press it briefly in a hot pan or sandwich press until the outside crisps up, then open it and tuck the fresh herbs in at the end.
- Egg on top: a fried egg with a runny yolk turns this into a very serious weekend breakfast.
What to serve with it
Honestly? Nothing. This sandwich is a complete meal — creamy, spicy, fresh and filling all at once. But if you’re making it for guests or want to stretch it into a proper lunch, a simple green salad with a lemony dressing works well, or a few olives and a cold drink on the side. In summer, something sparkling and ice-cold is all it really needs.
Can I prepare anything in advance?
You can slice the tomatoes (unsalted), wash the basil and have the pesto ready. That’s it. The toasting, frying and assembling should happen right before eating — the whole point of this sandwich is the contrast of textures and temperatures, and that only exists fresh. The good news: the actual assembly takes about five minutes, so there’s not much to prepare anyway.
If you make this, I’d genuinely love to see it — tag me so I can admire your sandwich. And if you’re new to sucuk: welcome. Your fridge is never going to be without it again.
- 1 Ciabatta Bread
- 1 ball burrata
- 100 g turkish sucuk
- 1 ripe tomato
- 2 handful basil leaves
- 2 tbsp pesto sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 handful arugula
- 1 drizzle balsamic glaze
Drizzle the Ciabbata bread with olive oil. Toast the bread in the oven at 180 Celsius degrees until golden and crisp
Pan-fry the sucuk in olive oil for about 1 minute per side until the edges are lightly crisp. Let it rest for a minute.
Spread a thin layer of pesto on the bottom half of the bread.
Add in the tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add in the sucuk, basil leaves, burrata, arugula leave then the balsamic glaze.
Close the sandwich, press gently, slice in half, and enjoy!
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