Food Ingredients Vegetables Tomato 18 Cherry Tomato Recipes With Pops of Color and Flavor Put these little flavor bombs to work in all kinds of recipes throughout the year. By Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann is an editor, baker, and confectioner with more than 15 years of experience in content creation, recipe development, and pastry production. She's obsessed with the fine details and ingredients that take dishes from tasty to outright otherworldly. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on June 27, 2024 Close Photo: Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Cherry tomatoes are an obvious go-to ingredient for summertime meals, especially if you've got 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 reliably delicious all year round, so they're an excellent choice during those months of the year when full-size tomatoes are lackluster. Plus, since they're already bite-sized, they often don't require any chopping to be recipe-ready. And while cherry tomatoes are certainly delicious in all kinds of raw applications, cooking them is a surefire way to concentrate their flavors for a next-level dish. Throw them on the grill for a chicken Caprese salad, burst them in a pan on the stove for a ragout 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 with this roundup of tasty recipes. 01 of 18 Grilled Chicken Caprese Salad with Basil Oil Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Shell Royster A combo of grilled cherry tomatoes on the vine and quick-pickled yellow grape tomatoes adds double tomato flavor to this iconic main course summer salad. Get the Recipe 02 of 18 Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes Melted in Garlic Butter Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Cherry tomatoes are a great shortcut to a delicious sauce for pasta, especially in the summer when they’re abundant. Naturally sweet, they don’t take long to blister and burst, and their juices create a luscious sauce when mixed with a little bit of garlicky butter and pasta water. Get the Recipe 03 of 18 Raspberry, Orange, and Tomato Salad with Honey-Mirin Vinaigrette Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Almost too pretty to eat, this sophisticated salad pairs tart raspberries, juicy mandarin orange slices, both red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and peppery, crunchy radishes with a tangy mirin vinaigrette that gets an umami boost from fish sauce. Get the Recipe 04 of 18 Charred Corn and Tomato Tartines with Tofu Aïoli Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Enhanced by smoked paprika, our eggless, tofu-based aïoli has the assertive garlic flavor and creamy texture you expect from the condiment. Here, it’s generously slathered on rustic sourdough slices piled high with grilled corn, peppers, and cherry tomatoes. Get the Recipe 05 of 18 Creamy Polenta with Burst Cherry Tomato–and–Red Wine Ragout Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen 2018 F&W Best New Chef Julia Sullivan's savory tomato ragout is a modern classic, popping with bright color and flavor. It's made with a multi-hued mix of cherry tomatoes laced with ribbons of hearty greens. Garlic and basil punch up the delicious factor. Get the Recipe 06 of 18 Sheet-Pan Salmon with Gin-Soaked Tomatoes Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver For this hands-off dinner, salmon fillets are baked slowly for meltingly tender results. Tender roasted cherry tomatoes and shallots mingle beautifully with the botanical notes of gin and briny capers. Get the Recipe 07 of 18 Green Bean, Butter Bean, and Tomato Salad Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley This fun play on a classic summer three bean salad combines green beans and butter beans with cherry tomatoes and olives, simply dressed in rice vinegar and olive oil and served over a layer of flavor-packed romesco sauce. Get the Recipe 08 of 18 Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Cherry Tomatoes Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Tender cherry tomatoes provide pops of sweetness when baked with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, lemon slices, and garlic. Get the Recipe 09 of 18 Spicy Sausage Pasta with Tomatoes and Squash Photo by David Malosh / Prop 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. Get the Recipe 10 of 18 Warm Puttanesca Pasta Salad Victor Protasio Ann Taylor Pittman's vibrant pasta salad includes crispy prosciutto, fragrant herbs, anchovies, and punches of garlic, but cherry tomatoes are the real star of the dish. She seasons them, then uses their juices to coat just-cooked casarecce before tossing it with the remaining ingredients. Get the Recipe 11 of 18 Ouzo Snapper with Fennel and Tomatoes Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Mild whole snapper is rubbed with licorice-scented ouzo and roasted over a bed of cherry tomatoes, fennel, and sweet onions in this simple yet satisfying recipe. The produce also gets a splash of ouzo before roasting, for a sweet and slightly acidic complement to the flaky fish. Get the Recipe 12 of 18 Burst Cherry Tomatoes and Pancetta Greg DuPree This dish from 2018 F&W Best New Chef Michael Gallina is a simple sauté with sweet acidity from tomatoes, savoriness from pancetta, and aromatics from garlic and onion. It's a divine topping for ricotta toast and just as delicious tossed with pasta. Get the Recipe 13 of 18 Buffalo Mozzarella with Neat and Messy Roasted Tomatoes © Con Poulos Cookbook author Rachel Roddy serves tomatoes roasted two ways, first at 300°F and then at 350°F, for a range of delicious tomato flavor as well as a beautiful presentation paired with rich buffalo mozzarella. Get the Recipe 14 of 18 Za'atar Baked Eggs John Kernick In this go-to breakfast and brunch dish from Top Chef judge Gail Simmons, eggs are baked in a cherry tomato–pepper mix seasoned with the Mediterranean spice blend za'atar, then served with a cucumber yogurt sauce. Get the Recipe 15 of 18 Fregola with Charred Onions and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes © Peden + Munk Chef Jeff Banker roasts cherry tomatoes in the oven to intensify their sweetness in this summer salad with chewy, bead-shaped fregola pasta. Get the Recipe 16 of 18 Tomato Pie Bars Photo by Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Kate Buckens / Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan Josh Miller's take on tomato pie starts with crushed saltine crackers and Parmesan cheese to give these bars a crispy crust. The rich, savory filling is enhanced with mildly spicy curry powder and chipotle chile. A topping of juicy tomato slices brings the finished bars into perfect balance. Get the Recipe 17 of 18 Halibut in Parchment with Corn and Tomatoes © Nicole Franzen Top Chef winner and host Kristen Kish keeps it simple by roasting halibut, corn, tomatoes, and green beans all in a single packet, allowing the flavors to merge into one fresh, light, and delicious summer meal. Get the Recipe 18 of 18 Squid with Burst Cherry Tomatoes © Michael Turek Chef Tom Colicchio cooks cherry tomatoes low and slow for extravagant juiciness and amped-up flavor. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit