How to Dry Cherry Tomatoes ~ we’re blessed with an abundance of amazingly sweet ripe tomatoes every summer, almost too many to eat! This easy method for preserving tomatoes will keep the love coming long after the season passes.
dry cherry tomatoes to preserve the best of summer
Cherry tomatoes are one of the joys of summer, whether you grow them yourself or load up at the supermarket. Their colors are gorgeous, and each one has a different flavor profile. While you can find cherry tomatoes all year round, nothing beats the real deal in summer. I’ll show you how to dry cherry tomatoes at the peak of summer, whether from your garden, the farmers market, or the supermarket ~ this method is fun and easy, and there’s no special equipment needed!
easy method for drying cherry tomatoes
This project is simple, but a good one for a day when you’ll be around for a while, since the drying process takes several hours in a low oven.
- I halved the tomatoes and gave them a little squeeze over a bowl to release some of the excess juices and pulp.
- They get a quick drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, and then get laid out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- I put my tomatoes cut side down, but next time I’ll set them cut side up, they will dry better that way. By the way, the parchment paper is important—don’t skip it—the long cooking process caramelizes the sugars in the tomatoes and leaves behind a mess.
- After about 4 hours in the 200 degree oven, they come out all shriveled and ugly. Now taste one. They’re chewy, super sweet, and amazing.
- At this point you can pack them into a clean jar with some sprigs of rosemary, and then fill the jar with olive oil to use later. You can stash them in a baggie in the refrigerator if you just want to snack on them, or you can freeze them. Just freeze them right on the tray, and then, when they are frozen, you can pop them into zip lock freezer bags. They’ll keep forever.
- My Kilner glass canning jars are perfect for storing dried cherry tomatoes, and they’re pretty enough to gift. I think any host would be thrilled to receive a jar of these sweet gems.
a low tech way to keep summer going all year long
This is just another way to make the most of summer’s bounty, and tomatoes are so cheap right now, they’re practically giving them away! I used multicolored cherry tomatoes from the farmer’s market. The small tomatoes dry easily, and they are super sweet, almost like candy, after they come out of the oven.
how to store dried cherry tomatoes
I recommend keeping these refrigerated, either as is, or in olive oil. If you use olive oil it will likely solidify in the refrigerator. Simply remove the tomatoes and let them come to temperature on the counter before using.
how to use dried cherry tomatoes
Of course you can snack on them as is, for a quick chewy burst of flavor. But I love to use them on cheese plates, or on salads. They make great additions to quick pasta recipes, too.
Don’t discard the oil after you’ve used the tomatoes, you can use that to make salad dressings.
more cherry tomato recipes
- Easy Whitefish with Burst Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
- Grilled Cherry Tomato Bruschetta
- Minimal Monday: Heirloom Cherry Tomato Tart
- Loaded Tabbouleh Salad
- Spaghetti Peperonata with Tuna and Olives
- Puttanesca Style Beans and Toast
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How to Dry Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed and dried
- olive oil
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Slice the tomatoes in half, and gently give them a squeeze to remove some of the excess liquid.
- Toss the tomatoes with a little olive oil, salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. Set them, cut side up, on the parchment paper.
- Put the tomatoes in the oven for 4 hours. They should be shriveled and ugly, but they taste amazing.
- You can put the cooled tomatoes in a jar with fresh rosemary and oil. That will keep in the refrigerator for about a month. You can also freeze them in a zip lock freezer bag, or just gobble them all down, which is what I recommend.
Nutrition
I love this and I can’t wait to make this with my garden tomatoes!!! I love sun-dried tomatoes too!
What a wonderful idea! They look so appetizing!
Best of luck to your daughter! and lived and worked there a few years before graduate school in Colorado. He loved the experience!
Thanks, Pat, everyone seems to have good things to say about the area.
Sue, I love oven roasted tomatoes and your photos are beautiful! Love the first one in the jar, it looks like a piece of art work!
It was a challenge to get appetizing photos of the finished tomatoes, for sure. I did notice, too, that the red ones kept their color the best.
THis looks so great and easy! Off to the farmer’s market!
absolutely summer in a jar… send me one too!!!! PURLEEEEEESE!!!!
🙂
I love that you and your daughter were cooking together. Isn’t Skype just so fantastic! I’m awaiting a big glut of tomatoes from my greenhouse and will be sun-drying a good bunch of them.
I think the inventor of Skype should have won some kind of medal, or at least been knighted by now!
I love this. I’ve oven dried large tomatoes once and the flavor was fabulous. Never thought to jar/oil and herb them. Thanks for this post.
Thanks Lee Ann, I thought of trying this with larger tomatoes, but I’m guessing it would take literally all day!
I welcome your daughter to our state! Madison is such a beautiful, fun university town and only a little over an hour drive from Milwaukee so we enjoy going there for an occasional Badger football game in the fall.
I have an abundance of cherry tomatoes this year so I can not wait to try this method to dry them.
Thanks, Susan—I’ve never been to Wisconsin, but we’re looking forward to visiting her…so far she loves it, and I’m jealous of her farmer’s market, which apparently is the largest farmer’s market in the country.
I am such a fan of dried tomatoes! They are perfect in/on just about anything. Love them in scrambled eggs. Yum 🙂
I think that’s just how I’m going to use them first!
I’m so glad you posted this recipe before I headed to the Saturday market! One vendor has such lovely and colorful cherry tomatoes and I’m anxious to preserve some of them for later enjoyment.
Best wishes to your daughter in grad school!
Best,
Bonnie
Thanks, Bonnie. We have one vendor, too, at our market that sells a great variety of cherry tomatoes. They separate them into different boxes and they look fantastic.