Preserving Cherry Tomatoes: Oven-Dried, Pickled & Canned
Preserving Cherry Tomatoes – Summer Sunshine in a Jar
In high summer, cherry tomatoes often produce more than you can eat fresh. Luckily, they can be preserved beautifully in several ways – and turn into real delicacies in the process.
Method 1: Oven-Dried Tomatoes in Oil
The highlight of tomato preserves – intense in flavor, endlessly versatile.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar
- Herbs: thyme, oregano, rosemary
- Olive oil for preserving (about 200 ml)
Steps:
- Place the halves on a baking sheet, cut side up.
- Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, sugar, and herbs.
- Dry in the oven at 100–110 °C (fan/convection) for 3–5 hours – the tomatoes should shrink but stay juicy.
- Let cool, layer into sterilized jars, cover with olive oil.
- Shelf life: keep them in the fridge and eat them no later than the day after making them (BfR).
Important: Do not can them and do not store them in the pantry. Oil excludes oxygen, and that is exactly the environment in which Clostridium botulinum thrives; the 100 °C of a water bath do not kill its spores. The BfR advises against storing vegetables and garlic in oil at room temperature. So: keep them in the fridge and eat them no later than the day after making them – that is the BfR's advice for vegetables in oil that are not heated before eating. More on this in "Safe Canning: Avoiding Botulism".
Method 2: Whole Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
Visually striking and perfect as an antipasto.
- Prick the cherry tomatoes several times with a toothpick (otherwise they burst)
- Layer into jars with garlic, basil, and chili
- Bring a brine of 200 ml white wine vinegar + 200 ml water + 2 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar to a boil
- Pour hot over the tomatoes, process 15 min. at 90 °C in a water bath
- Shelf life: 1 year
Method 3: Colorful Cherry Tomato Sauce (for the Freezer)
For pasta, pizza, and as a soup base.
Ingredients:
- 2 kg cherry tomatoes (mixed: red, yellow, orange)
- 4 garlic cloves, 1 onion
- 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, basil
- Optional: 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Sauté the onion and garlic in oil.
- Add the tomatoes, simmer 30 min., stirring occasionally.
- Roughly purée with an immersion blender (or leave whole for a rustic sauce).
- Let it cool, fill into freezer containers in portions and label with the date. Keep in the fridge (7 °C at most) and use within 2–3 days, otherwise freeze: at −18 °C cooked vegetables keep for up to 12 months (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, BfR, "Pre-cooking for several days").
- Do not can it: with onion, garlic and oil, tomato sauce counts as low-acid – tested times exist only for a pressure canner, not for a water bath (National Center for Home Food Preservation, NCHFP, "Spaghetti Sauce without Meat"). For jars in the pantry: can passata without onion and oil (article "Canning a Big Tomato Harvest") and add onion, garlic and oil only when you cook with it.
Tip: A Colorful Mix Makes It Special
For all three methods: mixed varieties (red, yellow, orange, dark) give you especially beautiful and aromatically complex results.
Sources
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR): Rare but avoidable: questions and answers about botulism, as of 12 Nov 2025, accessed 4 Oct 2026
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), University of Georgia: Spaghetti Sauce without Meat, accessed 5 Oct 2026
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR): Pre-cooking for several days: what should I bear in mind?, as of 8 Jul 2025, accessed 5 Oct 2026
The sources support individual statements in this article. The organisations named have neither reviewed nor endorsed it.