Roasted Tomatoes

Want to punch up the flavor in your next pizza or pasta? Try adding roasted tomatoes! They're deliciously chewy & tart with an irresistible umami flavor.

Have you ever tried roasted tomatoes? If you haven’t, I’m here to tell you that you have to make this roasted tomato recipe before summer ends. While I love using juicy fresh tomatoes in recipes like pico de gallo, Caprese salad, and panzanella, roasted tomatoes transform into something totally different. As they roast, they lose moisture, and their flavor intensifies. They come out of the oven chewy & tart, with a super-concentrated, intense umami flavor. These little guys are totally irresistible!

Make sure you roast a big batch – you’ll find endless ways to use them. Around here, we can’t get enough of them on pizza, in pasta, or on their own straight out of the oven!

How to Roast Tomatoes

Luckily, making oven-roasted tomatoes couldn’t be easier. All you need is olive oil, salt, and tomatoes. When you’re choosing tomato varieties, choose small to medium-sized ones. I especially like to roast cherry tomatoes, but grape tomatoes, or plum tomatoes work too. The hardest part is waiting for them to cook! Here’s how to roast them:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Slice the tomatoes in half, and place them with their cut sides up in a single layer on the baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, and transfer the baking dish to the oven. Roast the tomatoes until they’re shriveled and browned around the edges. That’s it!

At 250 degrees, my cherry tomatoes took 2 to 3 hours to get totally shriveled and brown around the edges. The time will vary depending on the size and juiciness of your tomatoes – roasted grape tomatoes can take as little as an hour, while larger tomatoes will need longer.

When I have time to let them cook, I love to do a really long, slow roast like this. But some days, I don’t have all afternoon to make roasted tomatoes. When I’m in a hurry, I roast them at 300 degrees to help them cook faster, or I’ll start at 250 and turn up the heat to 350 partway through, once the tomatoes have begun to wilt down. They come out great just the same! Just be sure not to start with too high a temperature – if the oven is too hot, the tomatoes will burst, not shrivel.

What To Do With Oven Roasted Tomatoes

With their concentrated umami flavor, roasted tomatoes are an excellent addition to pastas, salads, soups, tomato sauce, and more! Here are some of my favorite ways to use them:

• Load them onto a sandwich or toast with avocado, ricotta, or hummus.
• Blend them into tomato soup or pasta sauce.
• Bake them onto a loaf of homemade focaccia.
• Add them to a salad. This couscous salad and this eggplant salad are two of my favorites.
• Stir them into scrambled eggs.
• Toss them into pasta.
• Use them in a big veggie lasagna.
• Top them onto homemade pizza. I like to use them instead of the sun-dried tomatoes on my favorite vegan pizza!
• Eat them right off the pan. 🙂

How do you like to use roasted tomatoes? Let me know in the comments!

If you love these oven roasted tomatoes…

Try roasted red peppers, cauliflower, asparagus, beets, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, or delicata squash next!

Roasted Tomatoes

rate this recipe:

5 from 30 votes

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Serves 6

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Roasted tomatoes are the easiest way to add flavor to summer pizzas, pastas, and more! Note that your cooking time will depend on the size and juiciness of your tomatoes. Be sure to roast until they're shriveled and brown around the edges!

Ingredients

• 3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• fresh thyme, optional

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Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 250°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the cherry tomatoes cut side up on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, if using.
• Roast the tomatoes until they’re well shriveled around the edges, 2 to 3 hours. The time will vary depending on the size and water content of your tomatoes.

Notes

Note: to speed up the process, I often turn up my oven to 300 or 350 halfway through the roasting time. This allows the tomatoes to begin to dehydrate and then continue to roast. Too high of a temperature too early will cause them to burst instead of shrivel.