Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Olive Oil and Thyme – the easy way to enjoy peak summer tomatoes all winter long – just roast and freeze. (No canning required – like these Refrigerator Pickles, Quick Pickled Red Onions, Pickled Radishes, Pickled Asparagus, and Easy Pickled Beets)!
Maybe, like me, you’ve seen something like this at your farmer’s market lately: crates of plump and glistening red, perfectly ripe, tomatoes. And let’s say that, like me, you don’t want to take the time to can them. But to turn and walk away? Just leave them there? It’s out of the question. Because soon, the farmer’s market will close for the season and tomatoes will be of the too firm, phony red, flavorless, grocery store variety.
If this resonates with you, then I have very good news.
You can slow roast pounds of these beauties – at least 10 pounds at once – pack them in jars, stack them in the freezer, and resurrect the flavor of summer whenever you like, all winter long.
I can’t take credit for this idea – I read about it here and here. And it was David Lebovitz’ recipe note that saved me from a day of canning:
The tomatoes will keep for about five days in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to six months.
Great idea!
And there’s more. When you slow roast tomatoes, their flavor deepens and intensifies. Imagine the flavor of an oil packed, sun-dried tomato in the form of a tender, cooked tomato.
How to Make Slow Roasted Tomatoes:
Step 1: Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange on 3 baking sheets. Drizzle with oil, fresh thyme and salt.
Step 2: Bake in a 225°F oven 4 hours, rotating the pans among the racks every 45 minutes. Remove from oven to cool.
Step 3: Fill clean, freezer safe glass jars almost to the top with with slow roasted tomatoes and freeze them.
Maybe you’ll even share. And this winter your soups, stews, pastas, sauces, toasts, and risottos will whisper of summer.
Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Olive Oil and Thyme
Ingredients
- 10 pounds small plum tomatoes stems removed
- 1 cup olive oil for drizzling
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme or chopped fresh rosemary
- fine sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225°F
- Arrange 3 oven racks to the top, middle and bottom positions of your oven. Line 3 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Rinse tomatoes and cut them in half crosswise (equator, instead of top to bottom) and arrange, cut side up, on prepared baking sheets.
- Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Sprinkle with salt to taste (I recommend a light sprinkle as the flavor will intensify).
- Roast for 3 hours, until tomatoes are soft and shriveled. Rotate the sheets among the racks every 45 minutes or so, to cook the tomatoes evenly.
- Cool tomatoes until they're comfortable to handle. Then fill your clean, lidded jars almost to the top and freeze.
Just made these from the remaining tomatoes in the garden. Yum! So good I’ll make another pass at the garden to see if I can make more. Thank you!
That’s wonderful, Marla! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
I don’t have freezer space can I can them
Hi there, Mona! I haven’t canned the tomatoes myself, but I don’t see why not. Here is a link to the best canning safety guide I know – I recommend having a look before you begin. Thanks!
Yep! I’m doing this! I just want to take a spoon and eat those tomatoes now! Such gorgeous photography! ❤️
Wonderful! And thanks so much for your kind words, Prudy!
So lovely and smart. I’m with the commenter who uses bags, however. They just take up less room and I can use my jars for my pesto!
Makes sense! Thanks, Mimi!
Do you just put the cooled tomatoes in to freezer bags?? How long do you keep them?? Thanks
Hi Emma! I layer them into lidded glass canning jars and freeze them. They’ll last for several months – we enjoy them all winter long. 🙂
I have done this for years and frozen them in double baggies. Forgot a few bags until cleaning out freezer, by which time they were well over 6 months old. Put them into a spaghetti sauce and we ate it with great joy and no problems. Also put them in meat loaf (turkey loaf needs the zing). Obviously if they get very old you’ll want to cook them 10 minutes before eating (but simmering them in sauce or baking them in another recipe counts!) rather than fresh out of the bag. No tomato need go to waste!
Wonderful! And I agree, no tomato need go to waste. 🙂
Thanks, I roast my end of year tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and rosemary slowly at 275 degrees for 2-3 hours, turning once. One question: if I freeze the jars, I have no problem with tomato spoilage or concerns like when canning tomatoes, right?
Hi, Richard. Here’s a great guide on food safety – http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fch/sites/default/files/documents/sp_50_701_herbsandvegetablesinoil.pdf I try to use mine within about 6 months.
Love your photos! I find that slow roasted tomatoes are my favorite, but I still can’t get down with them raw, maybe someday!
This is such a great idea! I wish I’d thought of it before I just chopped all my tomatoes and hurriedly shoved them into the freezer last week. But maybe another batch will ripen before the plants die…
It doesn’t get much better than this with tomatoes in winter! Absolutely the best way to eat them! I roast everything, it makes such a difference.
We do this every summer because there’s nothing quite as sweet as summer tomatoes! 😀
A nice recipe … Usually I cook the tomatoes but roasted they look so delicious, I’ll try the recipe!
I love sun dried tomatoes and imagine these would be even better!