Cherry tomatoes are a staple ingredient for summer meals, especially if you have a prolific plant in your garden. But as Ann Taylor Pittman points out in her recipe for Warm Puttanesca Pasta Salad , these little flavor bombs are delicious year-round, so they’re a great choice during the months of the year when full-size tomatoes are lackluster. Plus, since they’re already bite-sized, they often don’t need to be chopped to be recipe-ready. And while cherry tomatoes are certainly delicious in all sorts of raw applications, cooking them is a surefire way to concentrate their flavors for a next-level dish. Toss them on the grill for a Chicken Caprese Salad, burst them in a skillet on the stovetop for a stew to top polenta, or roast them in the oven for weeknight favorites like our Easy Sheet Pan Salmon . Celebrate the versatility of sweet cherry tomatoes all year long with this selection of tasty recipes.
Grilled Chicken Caprese Salad with Basil Oil
Victor Protasio / Food styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Props styling by Shell Royster
A combination of vine-roasted cherry tomatoes and quick-marinated yellow grape tomatoes adds double the tomato flavor to this signature summer main course salad.
Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes melted in garlic butter
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Props Styling by Christina Daley
Cherry tomatoes are a great shortcut to a delicious pasta sauce, especially in the summer when they’re plentiful. Naturally sweet, they’re quick to blister and burst, and their juices create a succulent sauce when mixed with a little garlic butter and pasta water.
Raspberry, Orange and Tomato Salad with Honey Mirin Dressing
Greg Dupree / Food styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Accessories styling by Thom Driver
Almost too pretty to eat, this sophisticated salad combines tart raspberries, juicy mandarin orange slices, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and peppery, crunchy radishes with a tangy mirin vinaigrette that gets an umami boost from fish sauce.
Grilled corn and tomato toast with tofu aioli
Greg Dupree / Food styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Accessories styling by Christine Keely
Spiked with smoked paprika, our eggless tofu aioli has the bold garlic flavor and creamy texture you expect from the condiment. Here, it’s generously topped with rustic sourdough slices filled with toasted corn, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes.
Creamy Polenta with Cherry Tomato and Red Wine Ragout
Photo by Greg DuPree / Food styling by Torie Cox / Prop styling by Claire Spollen
F&W 2018 Best New Chef Julia Sullivan’s savory tomato stew is a modern classic, bursting with bright colors and flavors. It’s made with a multi-colored blend of cherry tomatoes accented with ribbons of nourishing greens. Garlic and basil enhance the taste.
Pan-fried salmon with gin-soaked tomatoes
Greg Dupree / Food styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Props styling by Thom Driver
For this hands-off dinner, salmon fillets are slow-cooked for a melt-in-the-mouth, tender result. Cherry tomatoes and tender roasted shallots blend beautifully with the botanical notes of gin and briny capers.
Green bean, butter bean and tomato salad
Greg Dupree / Food styling by Julian Hensarling / Accessories styling by Christina Daley
This fun take on a classic three-bean summer salad combines green beans and butter beans with cherry tomatoes and olives, dressed simply with rice vinegar and olive oil and served over a layer of flavorful romesco dressing.
Pan-fried chicken thighs with lemon and cherry tomatoes
Photography by Victor Protasio / Food styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Props styling by Lydia Pursell
Tender cherry tomatoes add a touch of sweetness when cooked with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, lemon slices and garlic.
Spicy pasta with sausage, tomatoes and squash
Photo by David Malosh / Props styling by Amy Wilson / Food styling by Maggie Ruggiero
Here, tender orecchiette cooks with cherry tomatoes, spicy sausage, harissa and dry white wine until a creamy sauce forms and coats the pasta.
Warm puttanesca pasta salad
Victor Protasio
Ann Taylor Pittman’s vibrant pasta salad features crisp prosciutto, fragrant herbs, anchovies and hints of garlic, but the cherry tomatoes are the real star of the dish. She seasons them, then uses their juice to coat the just-cooked casarecce before mixing them with the remaining ingredients.
Ouzo Snapper with Fennel and Tomatoes
Greg Dupree / Food styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Accessories styling by Thom Driver
Mild whole snapper is rubbed with licorice-scented ouzo and roasted on a bed of cherry tomatoes, fennel, and sweet onions in this simple but satisfying recipe. The product also gets a little ouzo before roasting, for a sweet and slightly acidic complement to the flaky fish.
Burst cherry tomatoes and pancetta
Greg DuPree
This dish, which was voted F&W Best New Chef 2018, is a simple stir-fry with the sweet acidity of tomatoes, the tang of pancetta and the aromas of garlic and onion. It’s a divine topping for ricotta toast and equally delicious tossed with pasta.
Buffalo Mozzarella with Neat and Messy Roasted Tomatoes
Cookbook author Rachel Roddy serves roasted tomatoes two ways, first at 300°F and then at 350°F, for a range of delicious tomato flavors as well as a beautiful presentation accompanied by a rich buffalo mozzarella.
Eggs cooked with zaatar
John Kernick
In this must-have dish for breakfast and brunch Excellent chef Judge Gail Simmons says the eggs are cooked in a cherry tomato and pepper mixture seasoned with a Mediterranean za’atar spice blend, then served with a cucumber yogurt sauce.
Fregola with grilled onions and roasted cherry tomatoes
Chef Jeff Banker roasts cherry tomatoes in the oven to intensify their sweetness in this summer salad with soft, pearl-shaped fregola pasta.
Tomato Pie Bars
Photography by Linda Xiao / Food styling by Kate Buckens / Props styling by Maeve Sheridan
Josh Miller’s Tomato Pie starts with crushed saltine crackers and Parmesan cheese to give these bars a crispy crust. The rich, savory filling is enhanced with lightly spiced curry powder and chipotle pepper. A topping of juicy tomato slices provides the perfect balance to the finished bars.
Excellent chef winner and host Kristen Kish keeps things simple by roasting halibut, corn, tomatoes and green beans in one package, allowing the flavors to meld in one fresh, light and delicious summer meal.
