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:

1. Place the halves on a baking sheet, cut side up.
2. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, sugar, and herbs.
3. Dry in the oven at 100–110 °C (fan/convection) for 3–5 hours – the tomatoes should shrink but stay juicy.
4. Let cool, layer into sterilized jars, cover with olive oil.
5. Shelf life: about 4 weeks in the fridge – and that is where they belong.

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 chilled and use them up within a few weeks – or acidify the tomatoes properly beforehand. 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 pasta, pizza, and as a soup base.

Ingredients (makes about 4 jars):

• 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
• For acidifying: 1 tbsp lemon juice or ¼ tsp citric acid per litre of finished sauce

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add the tomatoes, simmer 30 min., stirring occasionally.
3. Roughly purée with an immersion blender (or leave whole for a rustic sauce).
4. Acidify: stir in 1 tbsp lemon juice or ¼ tsp citric acid per litre of sauce. This is not a refinement but the safety step – without added acid tomatoes sit right at the pH threshold, and onion and garlic push it up further. Only once acidified is the sauce safe from a water bath (see "Safe Canning: Avoiding Botulism").
5. Fill hot into jars, process 30 min. at 100 °C.
6. Shelf life: 1–2 years

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.