How to Cook Cherry Tomatoes

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Cherry tomatoes are perfect for snacking or roasting with veggies. Adding cherry tomatoes to a vegetable platter always adds nice color and vibrancy. I personally love pairing cherry tomatoes with a delicious soft cheese, like mozzarella in a Caprese salad, or burrata in the delicious Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Burrata and Basil Oil recipe at the end of this post.

And of course, any salad benefits from the addition of cherry tomatoes, either whole or halved. Try Tomato, Avocado, and Cucumber Salad, Tomato, Red Onion, and Watercress Salad, or go all-in and make Cherry Tomato Salad and let them be the stars!

What Are Cherry Tomatoes?

Cherry tomatoes got their name from being a similar shape to a cherry and also because they are considerably sweet (remember, tomatoes are a fruit!). They can come in sizes ranging anywhere from the size of a golf ball to the size of your thumbnail.

These darling little tomatoes were not a cultivated creation, as many assume — they can actually be traced back thousands of years. Cherry tomatoes are traditionally from South America, in the Peru/Ecuador area.

What Do Cherry Tomatoes Look Like?

Cherry tomatoes can vary widely in shape, color, or size. The color will typically range from red to green, but you can also find orange, yellow, deep purple, and even black, as well as tomatoes with striated coloring. The black tomatoes look the most similar to real cherries. The shape of cherry tomatoes is typically close to spherical, but oblong or pear-shaped cherry tomatoes are also common.

Substitutes

• The best substitute for cherry tomatoes is typically grape tomatoes. Grape tomatoes look very similar to cherry tomatoes, but they’re shaped more like grapes than cherries (unsurprisingly). Grape tomatoes tend to be crunchier and a little less sweet.
• In some instances, diced larger tomatoes are a better alternative, especially when you are looking for that level of juicy sweetness, in salads, for instance.
• If you are cooking tomatoes, you might also consider canned tomatoes. You can even find canned cherry tomatoes, usually from Italy, in upscale markets. These aren’t a good solution for uncooked dishes, but they are useful in cooked dishes, like pasta sauces, casseroles, and so on.

Where Do You Find Cherry Tomatoes?

Cherry tomatoes can be found in almost every grocery store in the produce section. They might be in the refrigerated section, though often they are just stacked on displays at room temperature. Cherry tomatoes will also be found at most farmers markets when they are in season, which depends on where you live, but they are abundant in the warm weather months. Buy a lot, and use them in all kinds of ways (see below for recipe ideas!).

And home gardeners often start with cherry tomato plants, which are easy to find, plant, and tend. They are some of the easiest plants to grow, especially for a rookie gardener, and are great container plants.

How to Choose Cherry Tomatoes

In a store, you want to look for the brightest-colored cherry tomatoes that are firm. Typically, you cannot touch them since they are encased in packaging, but you can usually tell the firmness by how taut the skin is. Ideally, the skin will be firm and a bright color. Avoid packages where any of the cherry tomatoes have burst or have wilted or wrinkled at all.

When picking cherry tomatoes right off of the plant, wait until the tomatoes are bright in color and have a firm texture. This usually means the cherry tomatoes are about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The tomatoes that are ready to be harvested will usually fall right off of the vine when you attempt to pick them.

How to Store Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes can be left at room temperature outside of direct sunlight to keep them from wilting. Moving cherry tomatoes into the fridge will slow down the ripening process but also change the consistency of your tomato over time — tomatoes can get mealy if left too long in the fridge.

How to Quickly Ripen Cherry Tomatoes

To speed up the ripening process, cherry tomatoes need to be trapped with ethene gas. To hasten your tomatoes’ ripening, you can put them in a dark, room-temperature place, like a paper lunch bag or box. If you want to speed up the process even further, you can add one of the fruits known to emit a lot of ethene gas. Add an apple or banana to the tomatoes for maximum speed-ripening results.

How to Cook Cherry Tomatoes: Everything you need to know about choosing, storing, preparing and cooking cherry tomatoes – plus recipes!

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Cooking With Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are commonly eaten raw, but cooking with them intensifies their flavor. This is handy if your tomatoes aren’t yet at full ripeness since the cooking process will accentuate the tomato flavor.

Cherry tomatoes are often roasted or sautéed. They are less likely to be used in a sauce as there is a lot of skin in relation to the meaty flesh inside. Unless you are putting the sauce through a food mill, you will end up with a bunch of skins in the sauce, which can be a little unpleasant in terms of texture and even taste. Learn more about How to Roast Cherry Tomatoes.

How to Freeze Cherry Tomatoes

Freezing is the easiest way to preserve cherry tomatoes. Once defrosted, these tomatoes are best used in cooked dishes — in the freezer, their texture will change, so they’re not that great to use simply defrosted and raw in salads and other uncooked dishes.

1. Pick the best ones: Pick through your cherry tomatoes and freeze only the ones that are firm and unblemished.
2. Wash and dry the tomatoes.
3. Freeze: Place the tomatoes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet so that they are not touching, and place in the freezer. Freeze for at least 2 hours until frozen.
4. Store: Transfer the cherry tomatoes to an air-tight freezer bag or container, leaving as little air in the container as possible. Label and freeze for up to 6 months.
5. Defrost at room temperature.

FAQs

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9 Recipes With Cherry Tomatoes

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Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Burrata and Basil Oil

Burrata is a semisoft white Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. Imagine the softest, creamiest fresh mozzarella you’ve ever had, but the inside is filled with buttery cream that runs out when you cut it open. If you’ve ever had a molten chocolate cake (a brownie-like cake with essentially thick, warm chocolate sauce in the middle), then imagine the cheese version of that. Burrata is what angel smiles would taste like if they were a cheese. 

This whole dish looks like an Italian flag, what with the red, white, and green colors! If you and a friend want to demolish this for lunch, as I did, then ignore the serving size.

Ingredients

• Cherry tomatoes – Roasting tomatoes caramelizes them and brings out even more of their natural sweetness. Use red, or think about an assortment of cherry tomatoes in different colors.
• Olive oil – For roasting those tomatoes and for the basil oil.
• Basil oil – You’re going to want to drink this combo of parsley, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. You can make the basil oil ahead of time and store it in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Burrata – A semisoft white Italian cheese made from a combo of mozzarella and cream.
• Crusty bread – The crustier, the better. You’re going to use this bread to soak up all the delicious tomato juices and drippy burrata — so make sure you have enough for the job.

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