The Easy Way to Preserve Cherry Tomatoes

The easy way to turn your prolific cherry tomatoes into dried tomatoes. Never feel guilty again about tossing cherry tomatoes because you couldn’t eat them fast enough. Preserve cherry tomatoes with this simple method, and enjoy them all winter long in soups, stews, and more.

The easy way to preserve cherry tomatoes as dried tomatoes

Have you ever tossed cherry tomatoes in the compost bucket because they started going moldy before you could use them all up? I have, and more so when I grow my own.

Cherry tomatoes are abundant. If you are growing your own, by now you are overrun. How many cherry tomatoes can a family eat? While you could throw them into salads, sauces, and vegetable dishes, there are still too many to cope with. Those plants just keep producing until frost.

Did you know that cherry tomatoes were developed in Israel? That was news to me. I like them even more knowing that.

When I have the delicious problem of too many cherry tomatoes I dehydrate them. It couldn’t be easier. You can even add them to a tray that is drying other vegetables. I have chard drying in my dehydrator right now but there are 4 empty trays. I’m adding my extra cherry tomatoes to those trays.

You don’t even need to peel them. You don’t even need to remove the seeds.

Drying cherry tomatoes the easy way.

• Wash the cherry tomatoes and drain.
• Slice each one in half.
• Lay them on the dehydrator tray in a single layer.
• Dry overnight, in your dehydrator. They dry faster than regular tomatoes.
• In the morning turn the cherry tomatoes over, and rearrange the trays to help them dry evenly. Dry a few more hours until they are crisp and brittle.
• Cool.
• Package and store.

To use dried cherry tomatoes:

You can grind them in a spice grinder to make tomato powder.

You can reconstitute them with boiling water for 30 min. Drain and serve in a salad or as a side dish.

You can add them, as is, to stews and sauces.

Now that you’ve seen how easy it is to dry cherry tomatoes, I hope you never feel guilty again about tossing cherry tomatoes because you couldn’t eat them fast enough. Now you can dry them and save the guilt.

Your Turn:

What is your favorite way to preserve tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes, for winter use? Have you tried dehydrating them? If you want more ideas, check out these other posts to help you dry more fruits and vegetables for winter.