70 Apps, Mains, & More That Make The Most Of Tomato Season
Their season is short, so we're eating ALL the fresh tomatoes we can.
There's nothing like a seasonal, ripe piece of fruit. A perfect peach, strawberry, or blueberry is pretty fantastic, but there's nothing that tastes more like summer than a perfectly ripe, bright red, juicy, and sweet tomato. We’re all about canned tomatoes and tomato paste year-round, but there’s truly nothing better than in-season fruit (yep, tomatoes are a fruit!). Check out these 70 tomato recipes for ideas—and get on it quick, the season is way too short.
When it comes to tomatoes, you really can’t go wrong, but there are a couple recipes here where one variety will work better than another. Baby grape or cherry tomatoes are great for threading onto grill skewers, like in our tomato gnocchi kebabs or Caprese bites; slicing in half for salads, like our tomato salad or our Greek salad; or pairing with noodles, like in our baked feta pasta or our cherry tomato pasta. You can also roast them all on their own, or turn them into sun-dried tomatoes. Bigger tomatoes like beefsteaks or even Romas are best for when a recipe needs whole tomatoes, like our taco tomatoes or breakfast tomatoes; good-sized slices, like for a BLT or our California grilled chicken; or for diced pieces that will hold together well, like in bruschetta or homemade salsa. Our favorite, heirloom tomatoes, are best for recipes where the beauty and variety of tomato slices will be on full display, like our burrata salad, our tomato galette, our Southern tomato pie, or our tomato tart. See if you can find some at your local farmer’s market or community garden for the best flavors and colors.
Looking for tomato ideas, but it’s not summertime? Don’t sweat! Canned tomatoes are picked at the height of ripeness and then canned, so they’ll work for a number of these recipes (particularly the ones that get baked or sautéed). Check out our Italian pasta recipes, our favorite casseroles, and our top winter soups too—a number of them utilize canned tomatoes, to great effect.
Bruschetta
Easy to throw together and made up of simple, classic ingredients, bruschetta was made for chill warm weather snacking. While you can make it all year round, the best time to enjoy this appetizer is summer, when fresh tomatoes are at their peak.
Get the Bruschetta recipe.
Tomato Gnocchi Kebabs
Sure gnocchi is amazing served in a bowl with a sauce, but have you ever had nicely browned gnocchi taken straight off the grill? We’re here to tell you that the crispy-chewy texture is something that you've GOT to try this summer.
Get the Tomato Gnocchi Kebabs recipe.
Caprese Chicken Saltimbocca
Glance at the ingredient list for this Caprese-inspired chicken saltimbocca recipe, and it reads like an all-star roster of deliciousness. Prosciutto and chicken? Present. Ciliegine (aka, tiny balls of mozzarella) and juicy cherry tomatoes? They're here too. Finally, the dynamic duo of basil leaves and balsamic vinegar take it OTT.
Get the Caprese Chicken Saltimbocca recipe.
Cucumber, Tomato & Onion Salad
Tomato Soup
Tomato soup is often a mediocre backup singer for a grilled cheese sandwich, but with this recipe, we’re pulling it in the spotlight and making it exceptional. Three types of tomatoes blended with a generous splash of heavy cream create a soup that’s rich and robust, with big flavor and a super-creamy finish.
Get the Tomato Soup recipe.
Creamy Tomato Pasta With Burrata
Here, classic tomato sauce is made even better with a bit of cream and a delicious topping of burrata. The cherry tomatoes add a bit of sweetness to the sauce and make it feel fresher too.
Homemade Salsa
Whether you’re searching for a last-minute party app or the finishing touch to a Mexican-inspired dinner, we highly recommend adding some homemade salsa to your spread. Making it homemade is not only worthwhile in the flavor department, but also couldn’t be easier to create and customize to your tastes.
Get the Homemade Salsa recipe.
Taco Tomatoes
We're all for a genius low-carb hack—and these tomatoes totally deliver. We had never thought to stuff them with taco meat, cheese, and sour cream, but we'll do anything in the name of ditching a tortilla for a low-carb meal. You can change up the fillings for cheeseburger tomatoes too.
Get the Taco Tomatoes recipe.
Tomato-Butter Roast Chicken
Tomato butter works wonders on a whole chicken. Not only does it keep the bird moist, but the healthy dose of tomato paste brings a slightly sweet, umami acidity, which chicken could often use.
Get the Tomato-Butter Roast Chicken recipe.
Gnocchi Foil Packets
These foil packets trap in steam from the wine and juices from the tomato and corn as everything grills, which in turn cooks the gnocchi to perfectly tender while infusing the pasta with all the flavors of the dish. Bonus: Some of the meal browns a bit on the bottom right before it finishes cooking, adding extra flavor.
Get the Gnocchi Foil Packets recipe.
Baked Feta Pasta
This is the story about another viral TikTok trend that we kinda sorted wanted to hate... but didn't. Obviously roasting a block of feta with bursting tomatoes is going to be amazing. But is it good enough to break the internet? Our answer, begrudgingly, is yes. It's genius.
Get the Baked Feta Pasta recipe.
Whipped Mozzarella Dip With Burst Cherry Tomatoes
This dip is not just mozzarella: Ricotta and heavy cream join in to make an epic base for the juicy cherry tomatoes and dollops of pesto too. Bonus: This summery dip goes with all your favorite summer mains too (try it on top of a burger, mmm).
Get the Whipped Mozzarella Dip With Burst Cherry Tomatoes recipe.
Grilled Tomatoes
The char from the grill add a slight bitterness that balances a tomato’s acidity and sweetness really well here. You can season simply with salt, black pepper, and oregano and eat as is, but we love topping this with a flavor-packed tahini-Caesar dressing.
Get the Grilled Tomatoes recipe.
Greek Salad
When you’re looking for simple, refreshing, and reliable, you’d be hard pressed to find a dish better than classic Greek salad. Filled with fresh veggies, tangy feta, and a simple dressing made of ingredients you might already have in your fridge, this bright salad also only takes 15 minutes to prepare!
Get the Greek Salad recipe.
Cherry Tomato Pasta
This recipe is proof that a killer tomato sauce doesn’t need a long simmer on the stovetop. Tomato paste intensifies the tomato flavor while also adding umami, which boosts the dish's savory qualities. Yum!
Get the Cherry Tomato Pasta recipe.
Bruschetta Grilled Chicken
While we've got plenty of weeknight chicken dinners in our arsenal, this bruschetta grilled chicken is one of our favorite ways to celebrate fresh summer flavors all season long. It turns classic bruschetta into something worthy of a main course, thanks to a little char from the grill and lots of mozzarella cheese.
Get the Bruschetta Grilled Chicken recipe.
Tomato Galette
This tomato galette uses an herb-speckled, savory pie crust and is topped with ripe heirloom tomatoes and fresh ricotta for an extremely easy, yet impressive looking dish. Serve it for a light summer dinner or as an appetizer at your next outdoor party.
Get the Tomato Galette recipe.
Chicken-Avocado Caprese Salad
To make this salad, we stuck with the simplicity of a Caprese, just adding grilled balsamic chicken, creamy avocado, and a little romaine for crunch. The result is a simple salad that's still refreshing and light, but also satisfying enough to be dinner all summer long.
Get the Chicken-Avocado Caprese Salad recipe.
Fresh Tomato Sauce
When summer tomatoes start popping up, we often find ourselves with too many than we know what to do with. One of our absolute favorite ways to us them is to turn all our bright red and plump tomatoes into a super fresh tomato sauce. Try this recipe, and you'll see why—you may never go back to the jarred stuff.
Get the Fresh Tomato Sauce recipe.
Caprese Salad
This is one of our favorite ways to show off those juicy, in-season farmer’s market tomatoes by complementing them with fresh basil and creamy mozzarella.
Get the Perfect Caprese Salad recipe.
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