Marinated Tomatoes

At a glance

What stands out: Marinated tomatoes need to be in everyone’s kitchen at all times. Simply bursting with flavor, these tomatoes take everything to the top. Serve them as a side, or add them to pasta, sandwiches, grilled meats, avocado toast, or whatever you like

How long it takes: 15 minutes to make, a few hours to marinate
Equipment you’ll need: sharp knife, bowl
Servings: 8

Transformative Tomatoes

Recently one of our favorite local restaurants began serving a fantastic flank steak salad, featuring harvest greens, mushrooms, red onions, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinaigrette … and marinated tomatoes. We can’t get enough of this salad! It got us to thinking how we could make these succulent tomatoes myself.

What makes them special:

• Enhances the flavor of tomatoes. While a plain tomato is good for sandwiches, salad, or for pizza, it’s not exciting. Marinated tomatoes are enhanced with a tasty vinaigrette made with garlic, herbs, and shallots. The marinade bathes the tomatoes, soaking into and permeating every cell, turning the tomatoes into absolute flavor bombs!
• You won’t have to turn on the stove or oven. This is a straightforward no-cook recipe which makes it reliable for the hot summer months.
• Make it ahead! This tomato salad is best if it’s made ahead and it keeps for a week in the refrigerator. Make a batch and enjoy it with any meal that would benefit from a speedy salad or relish.

Ways To Enjoy Marinated Tomatoes

As an appetizer. Marinated tomatoes are reliable for a speedy appetizer. Serve them with toasted crostini or crackers. Add a creamy cheese spread, either store-bought or try our creamy whipped feta. From-scratch hummus or edamame spread work well, too.

For breakfast. Heap marinated tomatoes on your avocado toast (we like to add a fried egg!). Serve the juicy tomatoes alongside creamy cottage cheese eggs, eggs in a basket, or roasted broccoli quiche. Don’t forget air fryer bacon or air fryer breakfast sausages!

In a bowl or salad. Marinated tomatoes add so much colorful flavor to a simple house salad or your favorite meal bowl. For a speedy salad, simply toss fresh mozzarella balls with marinated tomatoes. Straightforward and rich!

For dinner. Top your Italian marinated grilled chicken. Spoon marinated tomatoes into fish tacos. Serve them alongside air fryer salmon or air fryer pork chops. Pile marinated tomatoes on this grilled chicken sandwich, turkey burgers, or on your grilled pizza.

Gabriela Said:

“This recipe is a game changer. We've made this twice and have been adding it to pizza, pasta, and even eggs! So rich – thank you!”

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What goes in

• Tomatoes: Almost any type of tomato can be marinated. If using grape or cherry tomatoes, halve them first so they can soak up all the great flavors.
• Shallots: Thinly sliced shallots add a more delicate flavor than onions but any type of onion can be used.
• Garlic: One clove of garlic imparts plenty of garlicky goodness to these marinated tomatoes. Add more if you like or omit the garlic if you’re not a fan.
• Fresh Parsley and Chives: Parsley has a mild herbal flavor and chives add more intensity to the garlic/onion profile. You can experiment with other fresh herbs, too!
• Vinaigrette/Marinade: This simple dressing is composed of extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper.

How it comes together

Prep the aromatics and herbs. Begin by finely mincing the shallot and garlic. We usually grate or press the garlic so there isn’t big pieces. Mince the chives and parsley. You only need a tablespoon of each.

Make the vinaigrette. Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, shallots, herbs, and season with salt and pepper in a medium size bowl. Add the shallots, garlic, and herbs; stir to combine.

Add tomatoes. If you’re using cherry or grape tomatoes, add them to the vinaigrette and gently stir. If you’re using larger sliced tomatoes, arrange the tomatoes in a shallow dish and pour the vinaigrette over the slices to preserve their shape.

Marinate. Let the tomatoes soak in all that lovely goodness for about three hours, at room temperature. They’re okay sooner than that if you don’t want to wait but really, the longer the better.

Serve as desired. Those three words say so much. You’ll find that you desire marinated tomatoes quite a lot.

Ways to change it

• Try different varieties of tomatoes. Larger tomatoes can be sliced or cut into wedges before bathing in the marinade. Peel them first if you like although it’s not necessary. Sometimes we peel them first if we're going to use them as a fresh pasta sauce.

Cooking Tip

To easily peel tomatoes, make a shallow X on the bottoms, place in boiling water about 30 seconds or until skin begins to crack, and then place in ice water. The skins should come off easily.

• Substitute balsamic vinegar. If you enjoy rich dark balsamic vinegar, use it instead of white wine vinegar but remember that balsamic vinegar will deepen the color of the marinated tomatoes. White balsamic vinegar is a good choice, too.
• Change up the herbs. Try fresh basil, thyme, oregano, sage, or lemon balm, just to name a few. Dried herbs are okay, too, but remember to use less (1 teaspoon dried = 1 tablespoon fresh).

Make-Ahead

Marinated tomatoes are best made ahead. They benefit from marinating a few hours on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. If the tomatoes are chilled, take them out an hour or so before serving. Sometimes the oil congeals a bit when the tomatoes are cold, plus the tomatoes just taste better at room temperature.

Keeping leftovers

Marinated tomatoes should be tightly covered and can be refrigerated for up to one week.

• Yield: 8
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Total: 3 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
• 1 clove garlic, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine shallots, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, parsley, chives, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine.
2. Stir in tomatoes. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours before serving, stirring 2 to 3 times so tomatoes get evenly marinated.
3. Serve or chill to use later.

Notes

Serving suggestions: Use the tomatoes to make bruschetta, pasta salad, steak salad, avocado toast, tacos, pizzas, salmon, grilled chicken, and so on. Stir them into hot pasta, and add parmesan cheese for a straightforward pasta side dish. Make a simple salad with tomatoes, greens, and fresh mozzarella – no need for dressing.

Make ahead: Marinated tomatoes can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated. Remove tomatoes from refrigerator about an hour before serving, if possible, so they come to room temperature.

Substitutions: Replace white wine vinegar with balsamic vinegar. Use sliced tomatoes instead of grape or cherry tomatoes (pour the marinade over sliced tomatoes arranged in a shallow dish). Substitute or add fresh herbs like oregano, tarragon, dill, or whatever you like. If using basil, add just before serving.