How to Roast Tomatoes in the Oven for Sauce or Toppings
Learn how to roast tomatoes in the oven for use as toppings on focaccia, pasta or pizza or for saucey things like bolognese sauce, soup or chili.
Also Read: How to Safely Can Tomatoes, Roasted Tomato Soup, How to Can Salsa
Two styles of roasted tomatoes.
1. Saucy Tomatoes
Fill the pan for a combination of steaming and roasting that ends with a mash perfect for soups, stews and sauces.
2. Drier Roasted Tomatoes
A single layer of sliced tomatoes with lots of room for air circulation makes for slightly drier roasted tomatoes that are great for topping pasta, pizza or focaccia.
There is no one correct way to roast tomatoes. It really depends on what type of tomatoes you have and what your end goal is. Do you want drier tomatoes or do you want saucy tomatoes? Here’s a video that goes over all the questions you might have about how to roast tomatoes in the oven for both styles of roasted tomatoes.
- What kind of tomatoes are best?
- How to cut tomatoes?
- How to place tomatoes on the pan?
- What temperature to use?
- Whether or not to remove the stem end?
- What other ingredients/herbs to add?
- How to safely can roasted tomatoes?
For those of you who just want a a good recipe for all occasions here you go. If you prefer reading to watching, all the answers are after the recipe.
Recipe for How to Roast Tomatoes in the Oven
How to Make Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3-5 lb tomatoes (paste, slicing or cherry)
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 hot peppers, sliced (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed (optional)
- 1 tsp dried herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, Italian seasoning)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Wash tomatoes and pat dry.
- Cut into ½ inch thick pieces or cut into quarters or halves if small.
- Spread tomatoes in single layer on large, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and season all over with salt, pepper and choice of herbs.
- Tuck hot peppers and garlic among tomatoes.
- Roast at for 30-40min until as charred as you’d like. Time will vary depending on how much liquid is in tomatoes and how many tomatoes on the baking sheet.
- Roasted tomatoes will keep in fridge for up to 5 days or freezer for 6 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
What temperature should I use to roast tomatoes?
You could roast them at 425°F for 25-35 minutes. This will give you that caramelized almost charred look and taste in the quickest time possible. But be careful when adding garlic, onions and herbs as they are likely to char at this temperature.
You could slow roast them at 250°F for 2 to 4 hours. You’ll get curled, shriveled tomatoes with intense flavor similar to sundried tomatoes. But it takes time and heats up the house.
You could go middle of the road and roast them at 350-375°F for about 45 to 60 minutes for full pans and 20-30 minutes for well spaced sliced tomatoes. This provides great flavor and caramelization around the edge of the pan without too much charring. This is the method I use most often as it goes relatively quickly, allows me to add thick slivers of garlic and hot peppers without fear of charring and results in great flavor.
How full should I fill the pan?
This depends on how liquidy or saucy you want your tomatoes to be in the end. The more tomatoes you add, the more liquidy the final result – unless of course you roast for a really long time until all the liquid has evaporated. If you have several layers of tomatoes, especially slicing tomatoes, evaporating all the liquid could take 2 or more hours.
To get nice, caramelized, dry tomatoes, use a single layer of tomatoes with room for air to circulate between the tomatoes. This will truly roast them and allow for caramelization. Here’s a look at the before and after using this method.
For saucy tomatoes, go ahead and add a couple of layers of tomatoes. This will steam the tomatoes and leave more liquid for making saucy things.
What type of tomatoes make the best roasted tomatoes?
All shapes and size of tomatoes will work for roasting including grape or cherry tomatoes. Adjust roasting time based on the size of your tomatoes – small cherry tomatoes or thin slices will take less time than large field tomatoes. Paste tomatoes will take less time than slicing tomatoes.
Paste tomatoes like romas are less juicy than slicing tomatoes. As a result, you will have less juice when roasting these tomatoes and more caramelization. They will produce a thicker sauce. If that’s what you’re after, use mostly paste tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes will have less browning and more liquid. To create a thick sauce you’ll have to roast a little longer for the liquid to evaporate.
Underripe tomatoes can be used, but your final product will not be as sweet. Aim to have the majority of your tomatoes ripe to overripe for the best flavor. I would not recommend using green tomatoes.
How should I prepare tomatoes?
Wash and dry tomatoes.
Slice or dice tomatoes as you prefer knowing that the thicker the tomato slices, the longer they will take to break down or caramelize. For drier tomatoes, I like to slice my tomatoes about 1/2 inch thick. When I’m making a big batch for sauce, I cut them in quarters or 1 to 2 inch pieces. Cherry tomatoes do not need to be cut at all, they will burst open all by themselves.
Coat the tomatoes with your favourite oil.
Add seasoning as desired. Typically, I add salt, pepper, and thickly cut slivers of garlic. I also had hot peppers sometimes, and if making a pan with a lot of tomatoes I add thyme, rosemary or oregano as well.
I never add fresh basil before roasting as it will burn and turn bitter even at low temperatures. Add basil just before serving roasted tomatoes.
Cut side up or down?
For best results, lay the cut side facing up with the skin side resting on the pan. This will allow the moisture from the tomatoes to escape much more quickly. This really isn’t an issue if doing multiple layers.
How can I use roasted tomatoes?
You can use your roasted tomatoes straight out of the oven as topping for just about anything you would normally use tomatoes on.
Use to top pizza or focaccia. This roasted tomato focaccia is AMAZING!
Puree them to make soup – check out my Roasted Tomato Soup recipe.
You can puree them or run them through a food mill for tomato sauce or tomato paste as an ingredient in other dishes.
You can also freeze your roasted tomatoes (whole or pureed). Simply cool completely, place in freezer bag or container and freeze for up to a year (it will be safe to eat much longer, but quality may deteriorate after that time).
Can I Freeze Roasted Tomatoes?
Yes you can. You can freeze them just as they are or you can puree or sauce them and then freeze them.
To freeze, cool completely. Put in freezer bag and squeeze out air. Seal tightly and freeze for up to 1 year. It’s best if you freeze in useable portions so you thaw only what you need.
Here’s a bag of frozen roasted tomatoes thawing. I used these for Roasted Tomato Focaccia. Use them for soups, casseroles, pasta or whatever! You may need to drain some of the excess liquid (use in soups or sauces) depending on what you’re using them for.
How do I can roasted tomatoes?
Canning roasted tomatoes requires a little more care and following a recipe that has been tested to be safe.
Tomatoes are a borderline acidic vegetable. That means in order to safely can tomatoes, you have to add acid. Usually this involves measuring lemon juice, vinegar or citric acid to each jar. If you’re following a tomato canning recipe that does not add any acid – it likely isn’t a safe recipe.
Roasted tomatoes add additional safety concerns because we coat tomatoes in oil, roast off a lot of the liquid and add extra vegetables like onions, garlic and peppers. All of those variables expose roasted tomatoes to higher risk and makes them unsafe for canning as is.
That is why, to reduce the risk and make canning roasted tomatoes safe, please follow a tested recipe. Here are some recipes to consider. They are tested recipes tried and curated by www.Healthy Canning. Enjoy and can safely!
- Hearty Pasta Sauce (HarvestPro Sauce Maker Manual, 2016)
- Oven-roasted marinara sauce (Ball All New) I’ve made this one and quite enjoy it.
- Roasted Roma Tomatoes (Ball Blue Book, 2014)
How do I clean the pan after roasting?
Your tomatoes will release juices that will get baked on to the sides and corners of your baking tray. That’s part of the roasting process and flavor making.
Luckily, it comes off fairly easily by just letting your pan soak with hot water in it. I add water to the pan and slide it back in the oven (it’s usually still hot from roasting the tomatoes) and let it rest for 15 minutes. If your oven has cooled, add boiling water to the pan and let it rest for 15 min.
Any baked on bits should just wipe off.
I hope that covers some of the various ways to make and enjoy roasted tomatoes. I’m off to check on my latest batch which we’ll be using as pizza topping. I can’t wait!
Do you roast tomatoes? Do you have any tips to add to this list? And, what’s your favourite way to use roasted tomatoes? I’d love to see your next batch, take a photo, post it on Instagram and tag #getgettys so I can see it and like it!
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.