How to Make Roasted Vine Tomatoes

No matter the season, roasted vine tomatoes are a picnic champion. 

Let’s face it, even though summer is the season for gorgeous homegrown tomatoes, vine tomatoes are available all year round.

Using Roasted Vine Tomatoes

While these sweet little gems make a lovely addition to salads and sandwiches as they are, roasting them takes them to a whole different level. 

Much like grilled or roasted peppers, I love having roasted vine tomatoes on hand in the fridge. They are so easy to make, are bursting with concentrated flavour and have so many uses, especially when it comes to picnic food. 

Toss them through pasta or pasta salad, whip them up into a soup or a sauce, or pop them on a pizza, they are a quick and flavourful way to bring a meal together. But let’s look at the myriad of ways roasted vine tomatoes will jazz up your picnic food. 

Ways to Use Roasted Tomatoes

Add them to salads for a delicious flavour boost. They are especially great in make-ahead salads that do well from a soak in acidic juices. Think any salad made with kale. The tomatoes are already soft and the juices will impart wonderful flavour through your picnic salad acting a little like a dressing.

They also make a great addition to pasta salads as the juices impart loads of flavour into the pasta when allowed to sit.

Roasted tomatoes make a great addition to mezze, charcuterie, and antipasto platters. Think Mediterranean style picnic platters of roasted vine tomatoes paired with grilled peppers, dips like baba ganoush and hummus, cheese, olives and flatbread. 

I love them in a sandwich – roast beef sandwiches with roasted tomatoes or in a grilled halloumi wrap. Or simply spread them on fresh slices of bread and top with cheese. You can also use them to make a Mexican Salsa Roja sauce instead of blackening Roma tomatoes on a griddle, the flavour will be just as good. The possibilities are endless. 

Try simple tartine style open sandwiches which can be made big or small – much like the Goat Cheese Delicata Squash Tartine we featured in our Fall Sandwich Ideas.

Top slices of baguette or crostini with goats cheese and roast tomatoes and serve them large as a main or small as an appetiser. The ingredients are easy to transport and bring together at the picnic.

They also make a big statement when added to frittatas, quiches, and tarts. Roast tomatoes and feta are a perfect frittata or tart combination.

I also love them as a side to bbq meats. They look fantastic laid out, still on the vine next to some perfectly grilled meats and make a great accompaniment to chicken, fish, and especially, spiced meats liked marinated kebabs.

How Long Will Cooked Tomatoes Keep in the Fridge

Stored in an airtight container, I would recommend using your roasted tomatoes within around 5 days. If you want to keep them longer preserve style – covered in oil in a sterilised jar, they should last up to around two weeks in the fridge.

If you choose to preserve them and have added garlic as per the recipe, remove the garlic before preserving them. It may contaminate them and lessen their shelf life.

Freezing Roasted Tomatoes

If you have made a big batch, you can freeze them. They won’t retain the same texture but will hold all their flavour. Great for adding to dips, sauces, frittatas etc.

Simply remove them from the vine and spread them out on a cookie sheet and freeze them so they don’t stick together. Once frozen, you can transfer them to a zip lock bag or store them in a container with baking paper separating the layers. 

How to Make Roasted Vine Tomatoes

Roasted tomatoes are so simple to make, you’d be crazy to not keep some handy as a quick addition to so many at-home meals let alone on hand for an impromptu picnic. 

While we have used vine tomatoes, this recipe applies to any kind of tomatoes. Cooking times will vary for the larger tomatoes. 

I prefer to use a slightly larger vine tomato to the tiny sweet cherry tomatoes if possible. Something like a vine plum tomato. I find they roast better and hold on the vine better after cooking. They also have a more robust flavour. 

Optional Addition of Garlic

I have included whole garlic cloves to be roasted with the tomatoes. You don’t have to add it, or you can choose to add a herb of your choice such as fresh thyme during the roasting process. 

I find this imparts great flavour during the cooking and the roasted garlic makes a great addition to salad dressings, squeezed and spread over bread or bbq meats, or even peeled and tossed through a salad.