Chili Crisp Whipped Burrata & Off-Dry Riesling

Sweet, salty, spicy, creamy, and EASY. With a beyond perfect wine pairing. What more could you want?

Jan 10, 2025

Hear me out: January doesn’t have to suck! It doesn’t have to be a month of restriction, holiday guilt, and longing for a different version of yourself.

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Absolutely no judgement if you’re partaking in dry January or trying to cut out cheese for a month - I apologize for this pairing if that’s the case! But I personally believe that you should always make space for the things you love—even if those things are wine and dip (when the world is telling you to cut out alcohol and eat a salad instead of a bowl full of cheese). So, in full defiance of the January reform, here is an ultra-creamy, easy, and absolutely insanely delicious wine & dip pairing!

I’ve already received this question, so I want to address it: Why whip the burrata? It’s so good as is! And I TOTALLY agree. It was actually very hard for me to put that beautiful, gooey ball of cheese in my food processor. BUT I really wanted to try this out, and I absolutely loved the outcome! Do you have to whip the burrata? Absolutely not. Put that chili crisp directly on the burrata with a drizzle of honey, and you have yourself an appetizer that you will be sad to share! (Check out my Hot Honey Whipped Burrata for something similar.) But—if you’re willing to experiment and try something new, you’re in the right place.

Ingredient Highlights

This dip is SIMPLE, and its beauty really lies in the quality of the ingredients.

The Burrata
I cannot say this enough—COSTCO is where you get burrata! Especially if you’re in Canada. Burrata is a beautiful thing, but she’s expensive (usually $15 CAD for one). I picked up a two-pack of Bella Casara Burrata from Costco, and they were maaaassive, great quality, and $20 CAD for two! NOT BAD.

The Chili Crisp Oil
I have been a die-hard fan of Seven Spice Chili Oil for years and just learned last year that they are a local Calgary business! (I know, how in the world did I not know this?) It’s a uniquely flavoured garlic chili oil that comes in mild, hot, and extra hot, and it is just SO GOOD. This stuff is pretty widely available in Alberta, with some distribution in BC and Saskatchewan. If you can get your hands on a jar (or 10), I highly recommend it! The flavour is next-level delicious.

The Honey
Recently, I’ve been buying Peace River Honey—another local business with an incredible selection of products! I used their classic honey for this recipe, but I’ve also tried their Pineapple Jalapeño Hot Honey, and it is so good!! I need to try their Hot Honey and Bourbon Hot Honey next because they sound incredible. I’ll report back when I do!

The Wine Pairing

Two of the hardest things to pair with wine: chili spice and honey. Alcohol amps up chili heat pretty aggressively, so it’s ideal to choose a lower-alcohol wine when there’s a lot of chili heat involved. Honey is sweet, and sweet things basically only pair well with sweet wine. If you pair something sweet with a dry (not sweet) wine, it tends to make the wine taste more acidic, bitter, and just worse in general.

When pairing wine with sweeter foods, you want to try to match the sweetness if possible, but that’s easier said than done! Enter the perfect pairing for this dip: an off-dry Riesling! Specifically, one from the Mosel wine region in Germany, because they’re awesome.

To clarify, a dry wine would have less than 10 g/L of residual sugar (or sugar left over after fermentation), whereas an off-dry wine can have anywhere from 11–49 g/L. How can you tell? Look at the alcohol percentage on the bottle! Lower-alcohol wines (under 11% ABV) will likely have more residual sugar since sugar is turned into alcohol during fermentation. Science is fun!

So why does this work?

The wine’s sweetness matches the sweetness from the honey.
The wine’s alcohol is low enough that it won’t amp up the chili heat.
The wine’s acidity is super high, which perfectly contrasts the creamy burrata. And contrast is good!

I highly recommend the Nik Weis St. Urbans Hof Estate Riesling. It has just the right amount of sweetness for this dip, balanced by crisp acidity and zesty flavours that complement the creamy texture of the cheese and umami flavors in the chili oil. Perfection.

Pairing Alternatives

If alcohol isn’t for you, try this with a non-alcoholic Riesling or sparkling wine! I’m not the hugest non-alcoholic wine fan, but the Leitz Ein Zwei Zero Sparkling Riesling is actually pretty darn good.

If you’re a beer fan, pair this one with an amber ale or a cream ale. Luckily, there are some awesome non-alcoholic beer options out there as well! If you’re in Alberta, I LOVE the Tool Shed Zero People Skills cream ale! (And the name cracks me up.)

Recipe: Chili Crisp Whipped Burrata

Servings: 2-4
Prep time: 5 minutes

Tools

Food Processor

Ingredients

In case you missed it, check out my Ingredients Highlights section above, and see below for ingredient substitutions if needed.

1 large ball of Burrata
1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tbsp of cream
Sea salt to taste
1-2 tbsp chili crisp (plus approximately 1 tbsp of the chili oil)
Drizzle of honey

Directions

Add burrata to your food processor and blend. The texture will likely be a bit dry and granular at this point.
Add in approximately 1–2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp of cream (I used 10%, but higher or lower—even milk—would work!) and blend again until smooth and creamy. Add more cream 1 tbsp at a time until you reach your desired consistency, then season with sea salt to taste.
Transfer whipped burrata to your serving dish of choice, top with chili crisp/chili oil, and finish it off with a drizzle of honey.
Enjoy with original-flavoured chips, plain salted crackers, or crispy sourdough!

Ingredient Substitutions

Burrata: Swap out the burrata for buffalo mozzarella or fresh mozzarella if that’s all you have available! You’ll just need to add in a bit more olive oil and/or cream to reach a smooth and creamy consistency. You can also use feta for a totally different but equally awesome taste experience! If you’re using creamy feta, you can follow the same approach in this recipe. For classic crumbly feta, add about 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese, sour cream, or mascarpone.

Cream: You can use any percentage of cream you have available, or even regular ol’ milk if you’d prefer!

Chili Crisp: Any brand should work, but you can also improvise and make your own. Here’s a fun recipe you could try.

That’s it! Give it a try and let me know what you think!