Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Roasted cherry tomatoes are garden candy! Roasting these little babies kicks the flavor up a couple of notches and brings a special deliciousness to so many of your summer dishes.

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*From our Roasting series of recipes. See our full listing here.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes are bursting with flavors and complement just about any summer dish. Nothing says summer quite like cherry tomatoes. When I was a kid growing up in rural Maine, my grandparents grew vegetables and sold them at a roadside farm stand. They always had snap peas for the 4th of July, and their tomatoes were sweet and juicy. My brother and I would help harvest at dawn. By mid-morning, we’d take our haul to the farm stand where my grandmother, Evelyn, would greet summer tourists with a smile. She weighed things out by the ounce or half a pound, or pound, and everything went in a brown paper bag – no plastic bags! I can still smell the fresh veggies now and see her face!

Tomato season is glorious yet fleeting. I load up on cooking with cherry tomatoes (salads, pizzas, pastas, etc) during harvest when the tomatoes are sweet and fresh. Try my cherry tomato pasta or cherry tomato couscous salad. Off-season tomatoes tend to be bland and/or bitter – a bit like cardboard. LOL! Slow-roasted tomatoes become juicier, sweeter, and more delicious (if that’s possible!) They are transformed! The flavors condense, and the spectacular result is sweet, yet tart cherry tomatoes.

How to Roast Cherry Tomatoes

Roasting cherry tomatoes is a simple process. Here are the three steps you’ll need to get to the wonderfulness of roasted cherry tomatoes.

- Preheat oven to 250 degrees: Roasted cherry tomatoes are best slow roasted. The low heat brings out the tart sweetness. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the tomatoes in half. You can choose between different varieties of small tomatoes. There are actually more than 100 varieties – I prefer Candyland Red and Sun Gold which is what I used for this recipe.
- Add olive oil and spices – Drizzle the olive oil over the cherry tomatoes. Try to hit every tomato. Add sprigs of fresh thyme, which has an earthy, minty, lemony flavor.

You’ll have to build in time to roast your cherry tomatoes. At 250 degrees you’ll need to roast them for 2-3 hours. You CAN turn up the heat and roast them faster – but, slow roasting is best to get those mouth-watering brown edges.

How to Use Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

The little babies are like candy and I could easily gobble them up straight from the baking sheet. But, here are some other ways to enjoy these delicious little golden stars.

- Cherry Tomato Pasta. This cherry tomato pasta recipe is so simple – cherry tomatoes, basil, and pasta are a natural combination. It’s filling, yet light and fresh
- Cherry Tomato Couscous I LOVE this recipe. The chilled, pearled couscous along with tomatoes, cukes, and other ingredients makes for a wonderful summer salad that’s light and definitely will help you cool off!
- In a grain bowl. They’d be excellent in my Buddha Bowl or Power Protein Bowl.
- On pizza. The sweet, yet tart flavor really adds. a lot to a cheesy pizza.
- In tacos. Your taco recipe will thank you for this! Roasted tomatoes bring a new dimension to any taco recipe.
- In salads. We’re used to raw veggies in salads – which is great, but adding roasted veggies is equally good and you can start with these roasted cherry tomatoes.
- On toast! Yes! On your morning / afternoon toast. Drizzle on a little more olive oil and add a little more salt and pepper and EUREKA!
- On nachos. Your roasted cherry tomatoes will add a new flavor to an old favorite.

For more roasted vegetable recipes follow the links.

Enjoy the simple pleasure of roasted cherry tomatoes! Leave a comment and let me know who they worked out for you!