Marinated Tomatoes

Marinated tomatoes are a great way to use up this juicy seasonal produce! Refine the flavors with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and herbs.

Want a secret to making tomatoes look amazing in minutes? Attempt Marinated Tomatoes! Mix this succulent seasonal product with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and basil and let it sit for 30 minutes while you go about your craft. The infused flavor is unreal: spicy, garlicky, sweet and salty, with a hint of spiciness on the finish. These are pure gold: Use them as an appetizer for crostini, serve them in a salad, drizzle them over chicken or fish, or eat them on toast for an easy lunch!

Ingredients for marinated tomatoes

It’s tomato season here in the Midwest. What to do with an excess of fresh tomatoes? Make pickled tomatoes! They act as a side dish, appetizer or condiment. You can use any type of tomato you like or have on hand. We love the shape and flavor of cherry tomatoes, but you can use larger tomatoes depending on what you have on hand. Here’s what you need:

• Cherry tomatoes or ripe heirloom tomatoes: A mix of colors is nice, but not essential! Use either 2 pints of cherry tomatoes or 1½ pounds of whatever variety of tomato you have on hand. The only requirement: they must be ripe and juicy!
• basil or other herbs of your choice (see below)
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• Garlic
• salt and pepper
• Calabrian chili paste or red pepper flakes, optional

How long to marinate tomatoes?

How long to marinate tomatoes? Honestly, they taste great right away! So you can get away with mixing the ingredients above and eating right away. But for the best flavor, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. You can also go further to intensify the flavors: up to 2 hours of marinating will intensify the flavors.

One thing to avoid: Don’t put the tomatoes in the fridge! Chilling the tomatoes will dull the flavors. However, you can store leftover pickled tomatoes in the fridge: just let them come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving. Remember that olive oil solidifies in the refrigerator.

Other herbs to combine

Basil and tomatoes are an obvious pairing: but there are plenty of other great fresh herbs to use here! One downside to basil is that it darkens in the fridge, so it’s not as light green for leftovers. If you want herbs to stay green longer, here are some good fresh herb options:

• chives
• thyme
• Parsely
• oregano
• rosemary (but use a small amount, it can be overwhelming)

Ways to use pickled tomatoes

Once you’ve made a batch of pickled tomatoes, how do you use them? There are endless possibilities! Here are some service suggestions:

How do you plan to use it? Let us know in the comments below!

More fresh tomato recipes

When it’s tomato season, make all fresh tomato recipes! Here are a few more of our favorites that we make each season:

This pickled tomato recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.