How To Make Sun Dried Tomatoes

Last Updated September 23rd, 2023 at 10:41 pm by Lisa

Preserve your tomato bounty this Summer! And master how to make Sun Dried Tomatoes with any kind of tomato variety. You can do this in either your home oven or in an inexpensive food dehydrator!

Sundried tomatoes are a tasty snack. And add a punch of flavor into cozy beef stews, Italian tuna salad wraps, cold pasta salads, creamy pasta dinners, and so many other recipes. There are 20+ ideas for you to try!

The pop of color is so gorgeous, and nothing from a package or jar will taste as sweet and "tomatoey" as this garden candy...

Sun Dried Tomato Recipe

Basically, the whole secret of how to sun dry tomatoes comes down to two things.

• ONE: Thin slices!
• TWO: Enough dry time!

Choose your method, either in your oven or using a dehydrator. Then start making sun dried tomatoes!

• 2 pounds small mixed cherry tomatoes - and any thin-sliced variety works!
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (kosher salt not table salt)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning optional
• good olive oil is optional (if olive oil packing)

Prep Instructions

1. Wash tomatoes in cool water.
2. Slice them into ¼" thick slices. Thin smaller pieces dry faster and all the way through. You can cut them round or into long ovals. The original moisture of your tomatoes will ultimately determine how long they need to go through the drying process.

Oven Dehydrator Method

1. Preheat to a low oven temperature of 225 degrees.
2. Line large metal baking sheets with parchment paper. Don't place sliced tomatoes directly on the metal pan or use foil, or the acid of them will react with the metal, burn, and stick to the pan.
3. Arrange cut side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle very lightly with sea salt and or Italian seasoning. I highly recommend sprinkling sea salt and Italian seasoning on them, it makes them extra spectacular.
4. At 2 hours rotate your pans in the oven, this helps distribute the heat evenly on the pans.
5. Bake for at least 2 more hours, until they are "dry and leathery". My top sheet pan was done in 2:45 minutes but the bottom pan was 3 hours 15 minutes. The total amount of time you will dehydrate in your oven will vary based on your type of oven, the pan, and even the weather that day.

Food Dehydrator Method

1. Spread the thin cut slices on food dehydrator tray screens in a single layer. Set the temperature on your dehydrator at 135°F, place the tomatoes in the dehydrator, and allow 5-7 hours for the drying process.
2. Check every few hours as they dehydrate, you are looking for them to become dry and leathery. I put the dehydrator running in a room in my home so the noise of the fan and warmth didn't bother me, as it runs for almost a whole day.
3. Sprinkle very lightly with sea salt and or Italian seasoning. I highly recommend sprinkling sea salt and Italian seasoning on them, it makes them extra spectacular.
4. Storage Tips: Keep them in a glass mason jar with a piece of cheesecloth and the ring lid on in a dry place. The shelf life can be as long as 12 months. The secret is to keep them in a dry cabinet, and not sealed in a jar or airtight container. They can mold! They need air circulation. You can also freeze them in zip-top bags in the freezer. Or store them in olive oil, read on for those instructions.

What Are Sun-Dried Dehydrated Tomatoes?

If you grow your own tomatoes, you know that they often are all ready around the same time! So this is one more way to preserve the pounds that ripen all at once.

For centuries, preserving food is a way of life in order to eat during winter months when fresh produce won't grow. Once the moisture evaporates, it halts the deterioration process and locks in a state of preservation.

By dehydrating tomatoes, these foods can be enjoyed year-round. And provide valuable nutrition in the winter when it is difficult or impossible to grow fresh produce. It is widely believed the Italians were the first to dry them on their ceramic rooftops in the summer sun!

These would make a great gourmet food gift too if you pick up some colorful tomatoes at a farmer’s market. And put a little recipe tag on how to how to make sun dried tomato!

3 Ways To Dehydrate

1. Sun - people have preserved a homemade version of dried tomatoes in the sun for centuries
2. Oven - home and commercial ovens
3. Food Dehydrator - are inexpensive and available online

PRO TIP: Use similar size tomatoes and slice them evenly thin so they are done at the same time.

Watch ~ Our Video Tutorial

Can You Dry Tomatoes With The Sun?

Yes. In fact, people have dried tomatoes in the sun for centuries, but this process is not always practical for most of us. It can be done by placing thin slices on raised screens in the hot dry sun day after day.

There are challenges with this method.

• You need consistent hot dry days, and bring them in at night.
• Humidity will affect this drying method and can make it impossible.
• You would want to cover them with cheesecloth to deter flying critters as well!
• It can take from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on where you live.

So how about we skip that method and try a couple of easier ways to dry them in just hours?

Oven-Dried Dehydrator Method

Most of you might prefer this method of drying tomatoes in the oven. It is easy and even faster than using special equipment like a dehydrator.

Food Dehydrators

Drying tomatoes in the food dehydrator has the advantage of not heating the house as you can place your dehydrator out of the main living area like a garage. I really like this method, it is how I learned how to make sun-dried tomatoes originally.

Dehydrators have a large fan that is quite loud, but the advantage is that it frees up your oven to use for other things.  But heat does come from a food dehydrator, it's like a giant hairdryer! The best dehydrators provide temperature control with a knob so you can set it and forget it for the dehydrating time you need for that particular food you are drying.

There are several on the market to choose from, but you don't need an expensive food dehydrator, you can use your oven.

But if you are in the market to purchase one of the best dehydrators, these are some brands you might see on the market. I use a relatively inexpensive Nesco dehydrator and it works great. So buy the best quality for your needs.

• Corsi dehydrator
• Excalibur dehydrator
• Nesco dehydrator
• Cuisinart food dehydrator
• Magic Mill dehydrator

PRO TIP: When you dehydrate tomatoes by any method, the liquid evaporates thus shrinking them much smaller. They will darken in color, have a chewy texture, are odd-shaped, and have an intense sweet flavor. You should not see any noticeable moisture on the tops of them, and they will be light and dry like a chip.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes Recipe FAQ

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How To Store Dried Tomatoes?

Pantry

Keep in a dark dry pantry in a small glass jar, and cover them with a piece of cloth like cheesecloth so they stay dry on the shelf. A sealed jar may lead to mold if any moisture is remaining.

Freezer

Put the dried tomatoes into small zip top bags and keep frozen until ready to use.

Place sun-dried tomatoes in an ice cube tray, cover with good olive oil, and freeze in zip-top bags for fast cooking. Use them in sauces like bolognese, marinara, or marinades.

Refrigerator ~ Olive Oil Packing

In small glass jars, place sun-dried tomatoes and top with olive oil and garlic cloves, and chill in the fridge, bring to room temperature and use in recipes for salad dressings, sauces, marinades, meat dishes, and pasta salads within 2-3 weeks.

Sun Dried Tomato Cooking Tips

Since Sun Dried Tomatoes have a concentrated, intense sweet yet tart flavor, it is best to either chop them finely to put into pasta salads and dishes or rehydrate them and blend them into sauces in cooking.

People love to snack on them, they are sooo tasty. They get a chewier texture and hydrating them before using them is a really important step in your cooking.

PRO TIP: Dehydrated tomato flavor is quite concentrated and strong. Use them in recipes when you really want to add rich tomato flavor!

How To Rehydrate Tomatoes?

Rehydrating can be done with water, broth, or even wine. But which is best? Water does hydrate them but dilutes the tomato's flavor and wine overpowers the tomato's natural flavor.

A vegetable broth or Chicken Stock adds savory flavor. Soak in warm broth or stock for 30 minutes until soft and pliable, drain. Save the stock liquid and add flavor to stocks and sauces, dry, and use in your cooking.

Store-Bought (Dry-Packed) Sun-Dried Tomatoes

• Less expensive than olive oil packed, sometimes ⅓ the price.
• Dry-packed variety can have tougher skins and a chewier texture.
• They are unseasoned without fresh herbs, so you can flavor recipes your way.
• Some people try to approximate oil-packed tomatoes by soaking the dry-packed sun dried ones in olive oil. It helps, but they still have a tougher chewy texture and will still need to be diced.

Store-Bought Oil Packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes

The tomatoes left in the jar should be covered in oil and chilled in the fridge.

• Oil packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes come in several ways, they may be julienned, finely chopped, or whole. Herbs and/or spices are often added to the oil like Italian Seasoning, sea salt, etc.
• Use the oil from the jar to make salad dressings and to saute meats and vegetables. It is packed with tomatoey flavor.

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What Kind of Tomato Should I Use? 

Ideally, use small bright-colored tomato varieties straight from the grocery store or ones from your own garden. Any size of tomato will work, like bigger tomatoes, heirlooms, or small cherry varieties. The key is to slice them thin and all the same size.

The best tomatoes to choose from are cherry tomatoes or small colorful heirloom varieties. They are easy to slice and dehydrate quickly due to their size vs. larger tomatoes that can hold a lot of water inside. They come in so many colors too!

Roma, paste tomatoes, or plum varieties are another really good choice and are oval-shaped and smaller than larger tomato varieties. Another advantage is their lower water content, so they work dehydrate well.

Any of these will work really well...

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Roma Tomatoes (aka Plum tomatoes or paste tomatoes)
• Yellow Pear
• Red Torch
• Patio Choice Yellow
• Juliet
• Grape Tomatoes
• Valentine
• San Marzano

Sun-Dried Tomato Recipe Ideas

For recipes that use your homemade sun dried tomatoes, try these...

• Blend into Red Pepper Tomato Soup
• Top on Chicken Parmesan
• Sun Dried Tomato Butter
• Mix into Chicken Piccata
• Use as a topping on Pizza
• Chop and mix in an easy Pasta Salad
• Mix into Breakfast Omelets or Breakfast Egg Muffins
• Bake into Dinner Casseroles
• Mix into Italian Tuna Salad
• Blend into Pasta Sauces, Alfredo, Marinara, or Bolognese
• Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
• Bake into a Hot Dish or Pasta Bake Casserole
• Rehydrate and blend into Beef Stew
• Saute into Gnocchi Soup with Bacon or Sliced Sausages

Sun Dried Tomato Pasta: Simply boil and follow the package instructions of your favorite pasta. Cook the pasta recipe al dente, and reserve a half cup of pasta water.

In a skillet, sauté crumbled Italian sausage, with chopped onion, add some red pepper flakes, black pepper, oregano, thyme, and heavy cream. Now add in a half cup of pasta water, diced sun dried tomato, and toss with fresh spinach over low heat with the cooked pasta. Finish with grated parmesan cheese and basil ribbons. A sun-dried tomato pasta is so easy!

More Tomato Recipe Ideas

These are some of my favorite recipes to use up the bounty of summer when you have a lot of tomatoes ripen all at once!

Fried Green Tomatoes can be a snack, lunch, or a side for family dinner. Dip in Remoulade sauce or buttermilk Ranch Dressing, and is a great way to use up green tomatoes from your Summer garden.

Homemade salsa is an easy recipe with a fresh taste you will never get out of a jar.  The fire-grilled flavor from tomatoes, onions, and peppers with medium heat in this homemade Tomatillo Salsa will have people loving each and every bite scooped on a tortilla chip...

Cobb Salad became famous in Hollywood, California at the Original Brown Derby restaurant. It has a Special French Dressing (Cobb salad dressing) and delicious toppings like tomato, chicken, crumbled bacon, avocado, and chopped eggs.

Tuna Salad can become a sandwich wrap or in a low-carb style in a colorful bell pepper bowl. And this recipe has no mayo. Bursting with flavor from crunchy celery, avocado, fresh basil, capers, kalamata olives, and a great recipe for adding sun-dried tomatoes...