If you’re anything like me, you are thinking of every way possible to hold on to summer’s bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Don’t get me wrong- I love fall weather and root vegetables, but nothing beats a perfectly juicy tomato.
This month’s Recipe Redux theme was all about dehydrating. If you’re planning on dehydrating often, then you probably own a dehydrator machine to make things like dried fruit, fruit leather, and chewy vegetable chips. Since I just purchased a bunch of other (much more necessary) kitchen gadgets, I’m not really in the market for a dehydrator. So, the oven it was!
12 hours later and I had oven-dried tomatoes! They were chewy and tangy and so much better than the store-bought stuff.
All I recommend for this recipe is do not, under any circumstances check on the tomatoes every hour like I did because it’s like watching water boil. I also recommend slicing your tomatoes in quarters if they are large so you don’t have to wait a year for the finished product. I actually wish I had used cherry tomatoes because I think the cook time would have been closer to 6-8 hours.
All the time and effort is so worth it, though, because these oven-dried tomatoes are a versatile ingredient that will never go bad! You heard me. Save them in a ziplock bag or airtight container and add them to dips and salads whenever you want. I have a great recipe coming soon that will use these babies, so get excited.
Have you ever dehydrated fruits or vegetables? What did you make?
- 5 lbs tomatoes, washed
- a handful of fresh thyme
- sea salt, to taste
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
- Slice tomatoes in fourths if they are large in half if they are the size of Roma tomatoes.
- Place on lined baking sheets and sprinkle with sea salt and thyme leaves.
- Bake in the oven for 12-14 hours or until they are chewy and do not have any liquid.
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I use a lot of sun-dried tomatoes I need to try oven roasted!
They have such a sweet and tangy flavor that is unmatched by the store-bought. I hope you get to give them a try, Cindy!
Nicely done! Sundried tomatoes are so expensive… and I have so many sitting on the sill… hmmmm…
Yes! This is a cheap and easy way to make them and I swear they taste even better!
Ahh, great minds think alike 🙂 I adore tomatoes w. thyme, too (pretty photos!)
Yes! I saw your awesome car dashboard method. Thanks, Deanna! P.S. I’ve been meaning to email you to see if we can get together and finally meet since I’m back in the Philly area.
I am making these puppies today (yes, go gas bill getting jacked up every minute that passes). This is a big feat for me since I hate (fresh) tomatoes. But I really, really want to make that fettucine with the tomato pesto, so I took one for the team and cut up A LOT of slimy tomatoes this morning. I really hope they turn into something sweet and tangy and delicious by the end of these 12 hours (9.5 to go). Thanks for making me leave my comfort zone, Katie!
Yay! The smaller you cut them the less time they need to be in the oven. I hope they turn out! I started eating the pesto plain with crackers. It’s addicting!