How To Make and Preserve Sundried Tomatoes
These couldn't be easier to make, and they'll pack a taste of summer all winter long.
These preserved sundried tomatoes are essentially condensed summer sunshine. We use them all winter on our sourdough pizzas, and in quick weeknight pastas. They’re not technically dried in sun, but the dehydrator brights out the flavor just as well.
You can use many varieties of tomato here, but smaller plum and grape tomatoes will work best and will dry the fastest. These kinds of tomato varieties are also prolific producers, perfect for big batch preserving. I wouldn’t try this recipe with a big juicy heirloom.
How to make sundried tomatoes in the dehydrator
In a large colander rinse and sort the tomatoes. Do not attempt to preserve any tomatoes with large blemishes or rotty spots. Anything that is being preserved will not magically get better with time, so make sure you’re using the freshest and best produce for preserving.
Slice tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a food dehydrator tray. Try and keep similar size tomatoes together on each tray, which helps later on when larger ones may need more time.
Slide trays into the dehydrator and let ‘er rip for 10-18 hours at 140 degrees. You’ll know they’re done when they’re leathery and no longer retain moisture.
Preserving
The finished tomatoes should be leathery to the touch. At this point I usually do two things. First, I fill a small jar with some tomatoes and cover them in oil. They’ll be for fresh eating and will last for about a month in the fridge.
The rest will head straight to a plastic bag for the freezer. Magically, these do not stick together in the bag, so you can just toss them in, label them and move on with your day.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @growingwithgertie on Instagram.