Make your own "sun dried" tomatoes at home with a dehydrator and enjoy them any time of year in so many recipes.
Right next to our gorgeous chili peppers we grew in the garden this year, we also grew a SLEW of just-as-gorgeous tomatoes. We grow them every year, but this year we picked up some fabulous heirloom tomato plants during a visit to Asheville, NC, and gave them a try. Talk about flavor.
Heirlooms are BY FAR my favorite types of tomatoes, and luckily there is a large variety to choose from. Weirdly, they produced quite late in our season, so we had to pick a number of green tomatoes off the plants just before frost struck us. We had a large batch, but let them sit on the kitchen counter with apples to help them ripen. And ripen they did! Neat trick, the apples.
If you bury an apple in your tomato bowl, it will speed along the process. And you want to cut the tomatoes off the plant so you are not severing the stem from the tomato. This helps them last longer which is needed for the ripening process.
So, the question remains. What to do with all these tomatoes? We've made plenty of sauces and froze a lot, but another way to consider preserving your outstanding tomato harvest is to make sun dried tomatoes at home. But wait? It isn't very sunny! And it's cold outside! How can we do this?
You do this, my friends, with a dehydrator. I've posted information on how to dehydrate chili peppers, and the same principal works for tomatoes. The process is simple. First, you need a dehydrator.
Here is a link to the one I own - It's an affiliate link, FYI: Nesco Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator FD-75A
. I LOVE this dehydrator. AND! You need some tomatoes, olive oil, and a few other ingredients. The recipe is listed below, but here are some photos to help you out.
How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes (in a Dehydrator)
First things first. Clean and dry your tomatoes, then slice them into fairly thin slices, about a quarter inch thick or less. Some recipes call for coring them out, even peeling them, blanching them first, but we don't think so. We're making it easy, and to be honest, the resulting tomatoes come out great this way. Try it. You'll see.
Lay out your tomatoes like so. Give them room to dry. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a bit of salt, pepper, dried basil and/or dried oregano. Cover, and turn on the dehydrator. You'll want a temperature of 140 degrees, the same for dehydrating chili peppers.
A difference here, though, is that you don't necessarily want your tomatoes to dry out completely. You want them to be somewhat pliable, so keep your dehydrating time at about 6-8 hours. You'll need to check on them to make sure they are dried out enough, but not TOO dry.
Ours were done at the 6 hour mark, but again, be sure to keep an eye on them after about 6 hours or so. If you flip them half way through it will help prevent them from sticking to the dehydrator tray. Plus it allows you to season the other side if you'd like more seasoning.
Once dried, remove them and layer them in a jar with fresh basil leaves, rosemary sprigs, and a bit more salt, pepper, dried basil and dried oregano. Like so.
Once you've got your tomatoes nicely layered, cover them in olive oil. You can press down on the tomatoes and contents of the jar to compress them, making room for more tomatoes. Just be sure the ingredients are all submerged in oil.
Just like this...
Doesn't it look delicious? Oh yes! Cover tightly with a lid and refrigerate. They should last 4 days this way in the refrigerator, or several months in the freezer. Perfect for so many recipes!
How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes - with a Dehydrator - Recipe Steps
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds fresh tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Basil leaves - 10-12 should do
- 2-3 rosemary sprigs
- 2 cups olive oil - as needed
Instructions
- Clean and dry the tomatoes. Slice them into fairly thin slices, about a quarter inch thick or less.
- Lay out your tomatoes on dehydrator racks. Do not overlap.
- Sprinkle the tomatoes with a bit of salt, pepper, dried basil and/or dried oregano. Cover, and turn on the dehydrator at 140 degrees.
- Dry for 6-8 hours, but check them after 6 hours to ensure they do not over dry. You want them to be slightly pliable. Flip them once about half way through the process.
- Remove the tomatoes and layer them in a jar with fresh basil leaves, rosemary sprigs, and a bit more salt, pepper, dried basil and dried oregano.
- Cover them in oil and store in the refrigerator in tightly capped jars. Should last 4 days.
Nutrition Information
Here is a link to the one I own - It's an affiliate link, FYI: Nesco Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator FD-75A
Charity says
Do you store them in the freezer just like you would in the fridge, submerged in oil?
Mike Hultquist says
Charity, you can freeze this. Also, the dehydrated tomatoes will keep indefinitely, so you can keep those in a baggie in the pantry, then make this recipe in small batches any time you want.
Erin says
Thanks! Gonna give this a try. I'm going to infuse my olive oil with fresh garlic and fresh basil before storing with the sun dried tomatoes. The oil shouldn't go bad if it's topped with cheesecloth to collect moisture and kept somewhere dark while infusing.
Mike Hultquist says
Enjoy, Erin.
Jenn says
Can't I just use garlic powder with the dried herbs in olive oil so won't go bad quickly??
Mike Hultquist says
Yes, you can use dried seasonings. Enjoy.
Melanie says
Ok, I went through the other comments and your replies and I just wanted to clarify. I want to make batches of these to last a long time and have on hand so I am looking to freeze them. If I want to do that you said to omit the garlic the oil in the fresh herbs only put dried herbs in there? Is that the right way?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
You can omit the garlic and use only dried herbs, yes.
Andrew Moorehead says
It all went well until I opened it the next day to eat it and the oil was solidified. Is that normal? I used Tupperware instead of a glass jar, and I tossed it to be safe, since it hadn't turned out as well as I liked anyway due to not using firm enough tomatoes.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Andrew, yes, the oil hardens up in the fridge because of temperature. If you remove, it melts again at room temp. FYI.
Tyler says
mmmm got some mini san marzanos and decided to dry some, followed the recipe pretty much as written but just cut the minis in half. My dehydrator didn't have a temperature so I just kept an eye on them and checked and pulled individual tomatos as they were ready. The difference between the smaller ones being done and the larger ones was about two hours, total time start to finish dehydrating was about 7 hours. Each bite is like eating a little pizza, so savoury and flavourful. great recipe, thanks
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Tyler. Glad you are enjoying them!
Kelli says
The sun dried tomatoes only last 4 days in the fridge? Shouldn't the tomatoes and other beautiful ingredients sit together for awhile and get happy? I would like to know how to keep them for a couple of months.
Thanks for your time
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Kelli, if you omit the garlic, it should last longer for you. Garlic in oil can run a risk of botulism.
Mindy Hancq says
I am just wondering if I can freeze them in oil?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Mindy, yes, you can freeze it. Be sure to freeze in airtight containers or baggies.
Karen Ludmerer Schultz says
Do I have to use Heirloom Tomatoes? It is the end of the season. I have green cherry tomatoes. Do I have to ripen them first?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Karen, you can use other tomatoes, no problem. I ripen my green ones on the windowsill in the sun, though paper bags work well most times.
Ashley says
Thank you for this recipe, may I ask what the best method for freezing would be? Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Ashley! You can easily store them in a sealed plastic bag or a container. Don't place them in oil first. Just freeze them as-is. Should last well over a year that way, or longer.
Michelle says
Can you use frozen tomatoes? I have lots in the freezer, but no fresh ones?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Michelle, yes, you can use frozen tomatoes. I would thaw them out first and blot out some of the extra moisture. I have dehydrated peppers that were previously frozen and it worked fine, though it might take longer. Let me know if you notice any flavor issues from being frozen.
Ann says
Just wondering if these would last longer with dried herbs as the fresh will have some moisture which could cause the oil to go rancid more quickly? Also for those mentioning canning these - can you pressure can these in oil? I've never used a pressure canner, so I'm quite curious.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Ann, you can definitely use dried herbs. And yes, I believe you should be able to pressure can this recipe. I would check with the instructions on your pressure canner.