Roasting tomatoes in the oven creates a savory sweetness that’s delicious when made into a simple tomato sauce for pasta, as a soup, or served as appetizers. Best of all, you need just 5 basic ingredients when making roasted tomatoes.
Even when they’re at their most flavorful, summertime prime, it’s highly likely that sweet cherry tomatoes, Italian plum roma tomatoes, and just about every other variety I pick, will at some point find their way into the oven for a quick roast to pull out their most jammy-sweet flavor.
But the real appeal of roasting tomatoes is when we’re eating those dead-of-winter, out of season red fruits. You know the ones. The tomatoes who left their taste at the door.
When it comes to quick and easy, no-fuss, oven roasted tomatoes, the big return on the little time invested in this recipe is totally worth it.
Heidiโs Tips for Recipe Success
- Use a baking sheet with a lip, or a baking dish. This will contain the liquid released from the tomatoes as they cook. However, don’t be alarmed if they don’t let off much liquid. Depending on the variety and ripeness will determine how much liquid they will yield as they cook.ย
- With this roasting method there’s no need to remove the skin from the tomatoes, nor remove all the seeds.
- Cherry and cocktail tomatoes can be left whole, but plum and Roma tomatoes should be sliced in half before roasting.ย
Whatโs in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Tomatoes โ The best tomatoes for roasting are those that don’t have a whole lot of seeds, a lot of juice (like your typical garden variety), and have a more tender skin.
- Oil โ Use avocado or olive oil for the best flavor.ย
- Garlic โ Leave the cloves whole in their papery skins or roughly chop, depending on how much time you have.ย
- Herbs โ Pretty much any fresh herb can be paired with the tomatoes.ย
- Salt and pepper โ I prefer using kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper for the best flavor.ย
How to Roast Tomatoes
- Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil. This step makes clean-up a cinch.
- Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil. This way they won’t stick to the foil. Go ahead and sprinkle them with salt and pepper to season as they cook.
- Add whole cloves of garlic or roughly chop them if you’re feeling ambitious. If you’re discarding the garlic afterward, you can totally skip removing their papery skins. However, I love adding the roasted garlic and tomatoes to a blender to make the base for this roasted tomato sauce.
- Add fresh herbs for flavor. Use basil, thyme, parsley, marjoram, rosemary, or a combination.ย
- Roast at 400ยบF until the skins soften and the tomatoes begin to burst. Youโll find the exact roasting times below.ย
Heidiโs Tip: The riper the tomato, the more liquid it will give off as it cooks. Underripe tomatoes won’t yield much, if any, liquid.
How Long Does It Take to Roast Tomatoes?
Cocktail, Italian plum, or roma tomatoes: I leave my cocktail tomatoes whole but for plum or romas, I stem the tomatoes and then slice them in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds by gently squeezing them out, or remove with a spoon. Roast cut side up at 400ยฐF for 40 minutes or until the skin softens and begins to burst.
Cherry or grape tomatoes: The skin on these small tomatoes is tender enough that there’s no need for skinning them. Roast these varieties whole at 400ยฐF for 20 minutes or until the skins begin to burst.
Storage Tips
Store roasted tomatoes in the fridge, in an air-tight container or mason jar with their juice, for 5-7 days.
Or, freeze the tomatoes in freezer-safe storage bags for 4-6 months. Freeze the bags flat so you can stack them upright to save room later.
Recipes to Make With Oven Roasted Tomatoes
I use roasted grape and cherry tomatoes in salads, on flatbreads or crostini, on cheese plates, and more. Roma and cocktail tomatoes are great for soups, stews, and pasta sauces.
- Simple Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Kale Caesar Pasta Salad
- Caprese Crostiniย
- Tomato Basil Soup
- Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Bowls
- Roasted Tomato and Ricotta Crostini
- Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad
- Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Frittata
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Oven Roasted Tomatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 pounds tomatoes (cocktail, roma, plum, or cherry)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 6-8 cloves garlic (left whole or roughly chopped)
- ยฝ teaspoon kosher salt
- ยฝ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 10 sprigs fresh herbs (such as thyme, basil, parsley, or rosemary)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ยฐF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- If using cherry or cocktail tomatoes, you can leave the tomatoes whole. For plum or romas, I first stem the tomatoes, then slice them in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds by gently squeezing them out (if you feel like it), or remove with a spoon.
- Working on the baking sheet, toss the tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add the garlic and herbs.
- Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up if cut in half, in a single layer on the baking sheet. For cocktail, roma, or plum tomatoes, roast at 400ยฐF for 40-50 minutes or until the skin softens and begins to burst. For cherry tomatoes, roast for 15-20 minutes.
- Discard the herbs and slice, chop or add whole to salads, grains, or rice; mash and spread on toasted crostini; or add the garlic and tomatoes to a blender and whiz until smooth for an easy pasta sauce.
Nutrition
More Roasted Vegetable Recipes to Make Now
- Roasted Beets
- Roasted Asparagusย
- Parmesan Roasted Cauliflowerย
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Red Peppers
- Roasted Butternut Squashย
- Roasted Acorn Squash
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Chris
Super easy and super delicious!! Thank you for a great recipe.
Youโre welcome Chris, thanks for the comment.
Beverly
These tasted great! Now I’m going to make then into pasta sauce.
Sounds great Beverly!
Katherine
These were delish! Thank you so much for sharing this quick recipe. We served it with slices of feta cheese, a bouquet of garden herbs and roasted potatoes and it was a warm weather autumn dinner of lovely proportions.
Martha
Easy and delicious! Thank you. I used to make a roasted tomato tart!
Heidi, you do need to know your actual recipe at the end left off the “drizzle with olive oil” and herbs as mentioned in the article above. If one prints the recipe, they lose this step!
Andi Reis
Easy recipe that came out really delicious. I didn’t have ANY fresh herbs (womp, womp) so I just sprinkled dried basil and oregano on the cherry tomatoes. I added these to the top of my shrimp Alfredo and it was a hit!! Thank you!!
Marisa
We LOVED this recipe. The chicken marinade was delicious and easy to make. I definitely will make it again. I had all the ingredients in my fridge and pantry for the recipe, except for the broccoli, so I used kale instead. So good!!! It’s a keeper :-)
Paula
This recipe is AMAZING, easy and delicious!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thanks Paula!
Mary Kaye Gaffney
Can you send me the recipe for crostina roasted tomato can press appetizer and how to roast tomatoes.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Roasted tomatoes are one of my most favorite things – gorgeous!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
Thanks for the shout out, Heidi!! Have a great weekend!
Rachel Cooks
Thanks for sharing our event!
I love Julia’s tweet…lol! I totally agree with her.
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes
Roasted is the only way I really like tomatoes – thanks for the idea!
Cathy @ Noble Pig
The pictures of the roasted tomatoes are just so beautiful I can’t get over it.
Lauren Hall
You must have read my mind those morning. I have a bunch of tomatoes in the oven roasting getting ready to make Roasted Tomato Caprese Soup!
Jenny (VintageSugarcube)
Ohhh.. That’s my favorite way to make tomatoes for pasta, though I’ve never tried adding the thyme. That must really amp up the flavor. You have the best link love each Friday. I love the variety. Have a wonderful, wonderful time in AZ.
Kathryn
Roasted tomatoes are pretty much my favourite thing ever. Love your friday lists!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
I love tomatoes, especially roasted – and with the herbs, oh they look great!
Jill Mallory
Such a simple, tasty way to deal with the abundance of tomatoes when we harvest.
Had a large bag of Roma tomatoes and was worried about what to do with them before they went bad. Came upon this recipe this morning and now have a bowl filled with baked tomatoes with garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, and olive oil. The fragrance and flavor is outstanding. It will make a great sauce. Thank you.
Pedro Pardo
I’d love it if you could use metric measurements and temperatures instead. thanks!