How to Roast Cherry Tomatoes

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 15, 2022 Tested

Roasted cherry tomatoes are delicious, very tasty, and very easy to prepare. How often do you find you have a bunch of little tomatoes left over in the fridge and you’re not sure what to do with them? By simply roasting them with some herbs and olive oil, you can bring out all their fantastic flavor and transform a humble cherry tomato into a sweet and delicious side dish that is perfect with pasta, omelets, or just some nice bread, mozzarella and basil. By roasting them you will also and also preserve them longer. So, if you think they are about to go bad, roast them up to give them a few extra days.

Part 1

Part 1 of 5:

Cleaning and Storing your Cherry Tomatoes

1
Clean your cherry tomatoes. First of all you should quickly rinse the tomatoes in cool water to make sure they are clean and ready to eat. Before you prepare food and cook always remember to wash your hands too.
2
Place them in a bowl. Do not rub or pat the tomatoes dry, but place them in a bowl with paper towels at the bottom. The paper towels will collect the excess water, so you don’t get a little p0ol at the bottom of the bowl.

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3
Put the bowl in the refrigerator with no cover to prevent condensation. You don’t want water and dampness to be trapped in the bowl. The resulting condensation can turn your tomatoes bad, even moldy, relatively quickly. You can leave them in the fridge until you are ready to roast them.

Part 2

Part 2 of 5:

Preparing to Roast

1
Grab an aluminum pan to roast in. When you are ready to roast the tomatoes, find an aluminum pan that is suitable for roasting. A good pan to use would be a relatively shallow roasting pan, such as a ‘sheet pan’, or ‘jelly roll pan’, which are typically around 1 inch (3 cm) deep.^{[1]
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2
Oil the pan. Place about 1/3 cup (or four or five tablespoons) of good olive oil in the bottom of the pan. The nicer the olive oil, the nicer the roasted tomatoes, so ideally you would use only virgin, and only cold pressed olive oil. Spread out the oil with your fingers so that it covers the bottom of the pan.
3
Place the tomatoes in the pan. Get out your tomatoes, and with the olive oil still on your fingers, place them into the oiled pan. Move them around a little in the pan so that they get nicely coated with oil. This will add to the taste but also protect the skin of the tomatoes a bit from burning in the oven, helping them to brown without drying out.

Part 3

Part 3 of 5:

Seasoning your Tomatoes

1
Prepare your spices. Once your tomatoes are in the pan, wash your hands to get the oil off your fingers before you move onto the spices and seasoning. You can experiment with spices, but good ones to start with are: rosemary, oregano, black cracked pepper (not whole), sea salt, and basil.
- These all go great with roasted tomatoes for a Mediterranean-style meal, but maybe another time you could try some chilli for a different flavor.
2
Season your tomatoes. Take out a teaspoon, or a teaspoon measuring device. Shake one teaspoon of each of the rosemary, oregano, black pepper, salt and basil over the tomatoes. Try to get as even a distribution of spices as possible. You don’t want one really salty tomato and the rest to go without.
- If you have fresh herbs that is even better than the dried ones. A sprinkling of chopped fresh rosemary, oregano and basil leaves will lead to more flavorful roasted tomatoes than a teaspoon of dried herbs.
3
Mix your tomatoes in the oil and herbs. Get a spatula and gently mix-up your tomatoes in pan to ensure that the herbs and oil and well spread out over them. Take a little care with this as you don’t want to break the skins of any of the tomatoes. Also make sure that the tomatoes are evenly laid out in the pan, so you don’t have a big pile in one corner.
4
Add some garlic. When you're happy with the oil and herbs coating the tomatoes, you can add some garlic for the final kick of flavor. Grab some fresh garlic, and chop up two small cloves very finely. You can grate the garlic if you find it hard or awkward to chop it up. Take your garlic, distribute in the pan, and blend it all together one more time.

Part 4

Part 4 of 5:

Roasting the Cherry Tomatoes

1
Cover the pan. If you want to seal in some of the extra moistness of the tomatoes, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil. If you do this, be sure to poke some holes into the foil on top of the pan so that the steam can escape. Covering the pan is optional, but it can help stop the tomatoes from drying out as you roast them.
2
Roast them for 15 minutes. When you have pre-heated your oven to around 400 degrees (200 degrees Celsius), place the pan in the middle of the oven. They roast relatively quickly, and they shouldn’t need more than 15 minutes.
3
Remove the foil from the top of the pan and add 1/4 cup (four tablespoons) of Marsala wine. Adding the wine late in the roasting process will really add some flavor. Marsala wine is often used in Italian cuisine, and will really take your roasted tomatoes to the next level. Mix the tomatoes again, and then cook for 3 minutes more uncovered.

Part 5

Part 5 of 5:

Plating up your Tomatoes

1
Remove the tomatoes. Now they are roasted you should take them out of the oven and carefully remove them from the juices that will be swilling around the pan. You can pick them out carefully, perhaps using some kitchen tongs, or a slotted spoon. Place them into a new container like a bowl or dish.
2
Add some balsamic vinegar. Toss around a 1/4 teaspoon of a good balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes and carefully blend it all together. By now, you're tomatoes should be glistening, juicy and smelling great. You can add any extra seasoning, or perhaps grate a little parmesan cheese over the top.
3
Eat them! Now can enjoy some delicious roasted cherry tomatoes as a side, tossed in a salad, with some pasta or however you like! They can make a great appetizer with some freshly baked bread, cheese, and a glass of wine.
- Now they are roasted you can also keep them in a sealed container in the fridge, and they should be good for another five or so days.