This cherry tomato confit recipe is incredibly easy to prepare, rewarding and delicious. And best of all, it takes less than 10 minutes of active time! Your oven does the rest of the work! Enjoy with toast, on pasta, on grain bowls and charcuterie board.
If you’re looking for more cherry tomato recipes, check out my popular Burrata Caprese, Burrata Bruschetta, Cherry Tomato Salsa, Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce and Pickled Cherry Tomatoes.
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So you went a little overboard at the farmer’s market and purchased too many cherry tomatoes! Or maybe your garden is working overtime and you have cherry tomatoes coming out of your ears this tomato season!
Check out my essential Cherry Tomato Recipes post for more ideas on how to use whole cherry tomatoes.
What is Confit?
Confit is a traditional culinary technique that involves slowly cooking food in fat at a low temperature. The French term "confit" comes from the verb "confire," which means "to preserve." This method was originally used as a way to preserve meats before refrigeration was available.
The most famous confit dish is canard confit, or duck confit cooked in its own fat.
The same technique can be adapted and applied to other ingredients, namely garlic cloves and tomatoes. This recipe does just that! You will also find this recipe and cooking method applied to garlic confit in my book, Seed to Table.
Ingredients
When my garden is pumping out cherry tomatoes and I can’t keep up with enjoying them fresh, I make this recipe on repeat. It might just be my favorite way to extend their life and transform them into something magical.
- Fresh Tomatoes: This recipe calls for ripe cherry tomatoes. You can use any color or size, but they should be quite small (cherry or grape tomatoes). The recipe does not work with large tomatoes. The goal is here to cook these cherry tomatoes low and slow so that they don’t necessarily burst. If you were to use large tomatoes, you would have to cut them up, which would defeat the purpose. If you have larger plum tomatoes on hand, try my Roasted Tomato Sauce and Marinated Tomatoes recipes.
- Fresh Garlic: Tomatoes and garlic are a match made in heaven. I am using whole heads of garlic that I have cut horizontally. You can just scatter some peeled garlic cloves in the baking dish if you prefer.
- Lemon Peel: An optional ingredient, but I like the bitter flavor it imparts on the finished dish.
- Fresh Herbs: This cherry tomato confit will bake low and slow for a long time, so I recommend baking with woody herbs like fresh sage, fresh rosemary and fresh thyme. You can use dried herbs if that’s all you have.
- Olive oil: Use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil for this recipe. Yes, the recipe does call for a lot of oil, but think about what you can do with the oil. Add it to marinades, salad dressings and vinegarettes. Drizzle it over bread. Lots of possibilities!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Confit Cherry Tomatoes
This is a straightforward and simple recipe. And best of all, it’s mostly hands-off!
Step 1. Prepare. Preheat your oven to 250F/120C. To a roasting dish, add the cherry tomatoes, garlic heads, herbs, lemon peels, olive oil, a big pinch of salt and black pepper. Keep everything in a single layer. If you find that your ingredients are overlapping on top of each other, use a larger roasting dish.
Step 2. Roast. Place the baking dish in your preheated oven and slow roast for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Once the cherry tomatoes are soft, but not busting, cool to room temperature and transfer to a mason jar.
How to Use Confit Cherry Tomatoes
There are several ways to enjoy these delicious, busting-with-flavor cherry tomatoes:
- Add them to toast (try them with my no-knead whole wheat bread or no-knead white bread recipes)
- Add them to your favorite pasta
- Make crostini or bruschetta (use them in my Burrata Bruschetta, Bruschetta Pizza or Goat Cheese Bruschetta recipes)
- Bake them in focaccia, like in my tomato focaccia recipe
- Use them as a pizza topping
The leftover olive oil can be used in marinades, salad dressings, vinegarettes, as a dip for fresh bread.
Expert Tips
- Fresh is best! Use summer fresh cherry tomatoes that you have grown yourself or purchased at the farmer’s market. This recipe can be made any time during the year, but it’s truly spectacular in the summer harvest season. For more ideas and additional recipes on how to use cherry tomatoes, check out my Cherry Tomato Recipes post.
- Use a ceramic or glass baking dish. Don’t use a metal baking sheet or tray for this recipe. If you must use a metal tray, I recommend lining it with parchment paper.
- Do you have to submerge the cherry tomatoes? Some cooks will recommend that you submerge the cherry tomatoes entirely in olive oil. To that, I say: In this economy? You most definitely do not need to submerge them fully. But you should still use enough oil to help with the slow roasting process.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this is a great make-ahead recipe. Make it up to 3 days ahead of time. Make sure to store the cooled confit tomatoes in an airtight glass container (a mason jar works well) in the refrigerator.
In a glass airtight container (like a Mason or Weck jar) in the fridge. Use within 7 days.
Absolutely, freeze cherry tomato confit in freezer-save glass mason jars (wide-mouth jars are ideal for freezing). Use within 6 months.
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Recipe Card
Cherry Tomato Confit with Garlic Recipe
Equipment
- Rimmed baking dish
Ingredients
- 2 pints Ripe cherry tomatoes
- 1-2 Garlic bulbs - Cut in half or cloves separated
- A few sprigs of fresh herbs - Rosemary, thyme and/or sage
- Peel of one lemon
- ¾-1 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt, flakey salt or sea salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare. Preheat your oven to 250F/120C. To a roasting dish, add the cherry tomatoes, garlic heads, herbs, lemon peels, olive oil, a big pinch of flaky salt and black pepper. Keep everything in a single layer. If you find that your ingredients are overlapping on top of each other, use a larger roasting dish.
- Roast. Place the baking dish in your preheated oven and slow roast for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Once the cherry tomatoes are soft, but not busting, cool to room temperature and transfer to a mason jar.
Notes
- Fresh Tomatoes: This recipe calls for cherry tomatoes. You can use any color or size, but they should be quite small. The goal is here to cook these cherry tomatoes low and slow so that they don’t necessarily burst.
- Fresh Garlic: Tomatoes and garlic are a match made in heaven. I am using whole heads of garlic that I have cut horizontally. You can just scatter some peeled garlic cloves in the baking dish if you prefer.
- Lemon Peel: An optional ingredient, but I like the bitter flavor it imparts on the finished dish.
- Fresh Herbs: This cherry tomato confit will bake low and slow for a long time, so I recommend baking with woody herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme.
- Olive oil: Use good quality olive oil for this recipe. Yes, the recipe does call for a lot of oil, but think about what you can do with the oil. Add it to marinades, salad dressings and vinegarettes. Drizzle it over bread. Lots of possibilities!
Linda says
How long will these keep in the refrigerator?
Luay Ghafari says
The FAQ above covers this. Should keep for 7 days but you can freeze it too.