4.34 from 9 votes

Here’s a fun and tasty way to preserve your tomato bounty. Pickled Cherry Tomatoes are delicious in salads, in a sandwich, on a cheese or charcuterie board or just for healthy snacking right out of the jar!

Photo of pint jars of Pickled Grape Tomatoes with fresh tomatoes and dill scattered around.

With the tomato season beginning to wind down, you may be like us and wondering what more you can do with the cherry or grape tomatoes that have been in overload status.

Pickling and canning cherry tomatoes is a very unique way to extend the harvest and enjoy them all winter long!

IN THIS ARTICLE / JUMP LINKS

The inspiration behind this recipe:

A personal chef client of mine who was getting ready to move gave me a jar of pickled red tomatoes from Eastern Europe last year that someone had given her. She’s allergic to tomatoes and I love anything tomatoes so of course, I accepted! I was excited to try them because along with loving anything tomato, I love anything pickled! I also had never heard of pickled ripe red tomatoes. Pickled green tomatoes–sure–but never pickled ripe tomatoes.

One bite and I was obsessed and had to make them!

In researching how to make pickled tomatoes, I was inspired by this recipe for Russian Grandma’s Pickled Tomatoes at Happy Kitchen Rocks. Pickling ripe tomatoes is somewhat of an old-world thing to do which fascinated me even more.

What are pickled tomatoes like?

I canned these in a water bath so these pickled cherry tomatoes are on the softer side like a cooked tomato, but they’re infused with a salty, vinegary brine and the flavors of dill, onion, garlic and the kick of cayenne pepper.

You can also do them without the hot water bath to store in your refrigerator so that will keep the texture more on the firm side. However, you’ll need to enjoy them within a month or two.

Close-up photo of pickled tomatoes in small white bowl garnished with dill/

How to Make Pickled Cherry Tomatoes:

Start with approximately 8 pints of large, ripe but FIRM cherry (or grape) tomatoes. Do not use overly ripe tomatoes! You can also use mini plum tomatoes or regular plum tomatoes. (Use wide-mouth quart jars if using regular plum tomatoes.)

Photo of multicolored grape tomatoes in white antique colander on white background.

Prep the other ingredients:
- Garlic
- Onion
- Cayenne Peppers
- Dill
- Oak Leaves (DO NOT EAT)

Photo of ingredients for pickled tomatoes.

Wait, what? Oak leaves?

Yes, oak leaves.

It’s common to add some leaves such as oak, grape, horseradish or black tea leaves to fermented pickles to keep them crisp. For tomatoes, it’s believed they help keep the tomatoes from splitting or bursting. I don’t know if that is true or not because my tomatoes still split a little bit but I love the “old-worldliness” of it. (The splitting didn’t affect the taste or texture at all.) Just make sure your leaves are fresh and no insect is setting up shop on them!

Oak leaves have the highest level of tannins of all the above leaves which can produce an off-taste, so only use part of the leaf in each jar. I cut small oak leaves into three pieces and large leaves into four. Please do not eat the oak leaves!

Then…

Using a small skewer, poke two holes in each tomato, one hole on each side of the stem end. This will also help to keep the tomatoes from bursting and it also helps to get the delicious pickled flavor inside the tomato.

Photo showing how to prick the tomatoes with wooden skewer before canning.

Pack clean, sterilized jars with all the ingredients.

Photo of grape tomatoes in glass pint jar before brine is added.

Top down close-up photo of tomatoes and other ingredients packed into glass pint jars.

Make a brine of:
- Two parts water
- One part white distilled vinegar
- Salt
- Sugar
Bring it to a boil then pour it over the tomatoes.

Photo of brine in saucepan being stirred with wire whisk.

Seal the jars and process covered in a hot water bath for 10 minutes for long-term storage -OR- let cool and refrigerate.

Photo of finished Pickled Grape Tomatoes in glass pint jars.

Photo of Pickled Grape Tomatoes in glass pint jar with fresh dill and tomatoes scattered about.

That’s it! Let the tomatoes “pickle” for a week or so before enjoying. You’ll love them on salads, on a cheese or charcuterie board, on or with sandwiches or just eating them right out of the jar! And the brine is good enough to drink! Evidently, heavy drinkers in the old world used it for a hangover cure!

Enjoy!

Close up photo of opened jar of Pickled Grape Tomatoes and some in small white bowl.

Be sure to try my other pickle and preserved tomato recipes:

4.34 from 9 votes (8 ratings without comment)

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