Grilled Tomato “Lollipop” Toasts & Favorite Cherry Tomato Varieties
This grilled cherry tomato skewers recipe is the first in a series we’re sharing for Summer on our favorite heirloom tomatoes that we’re growing. And we’ll have an amazing recipe to use up your cherry tomatoes. This grilled cherry tomato skewers recipe is an oldie but goodie from 2010 and updated with a new video with step-by-step recipe images. Enjoy!
Grilled Cherry Tomato Skewers Recipe
Oh we know they’re not really lollipops. They’re simple and delicious grilled cherry tomato skewers. But when we were grilling these little red jewels the term “tomato skewers” sounded so mundane. After plucking these super sweet cherry tomatoes from their vines, they were so cute and plump, it sounded more appropriate (and fun) to call them lollipops. Because they’re so sweet like candy during this time of year, it only made sense to call them lollipops if we jabbed them on a stick. Summer screams of bbq and we’re constantly heating up our grill to cook up what ever flavors epitomize the season.
Different Spreads and Toppings for Grilled Cherry Tomato Skewers on Toast
The possibilities are endless and this is where you can definitely get your creative culinary juices flowing. We use simple ricotta and our homemade basil pesto recipe here. But this is just the small fraction of all the delicious ideas that can be part of your cherry tomato kebab toast bar. Yep, that’s another way to describe this dish: the grilled cherry tomato kebab party bar.
- Try our homemade basil pesto recipe for the spread
- Our popular sweet onion crack dip is AMAZING on the toast
- Chopped nuts are a nice crunchy touch.
- Chunks or slices of avocado are delicious and creamy.
- Sauces like drizzles of balsamic, hot sauce, hot honey, or mustards. Even ranch isn’t a bad idea. Don’t judge!
- Use different types of soft cheeses for spreads or grated parmesan on top.
Watch Video: Delish Grilled Cherry Tomato Skewers on Toast:
Grilled Tomato Skewers on Toast (Grilled Tomato Lollipops)
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) cherry tomatoes
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) oil of choice , we usually use olive oil or grape seed oil
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic , finely minced
- salt ,to taste
- pepper , to taste
- 6 slices crusty bread
- 1 cup (246 g) ricotta cheese , softened goat cheese, blue cheese, grated parmesan on top, or your any of your favorite cheese or sauce. Pesto is great!
Equipment
Instructions
- If using wooden/bamboo skewers, soak and fully immerse the in water for about 30 minutes before grilling.
- Heat Grill to medium-high heat. Scrape the grill grates clean.
- Wash and dry cherry tomatoes. Remove the stems if you want. Keeping them on just makes them prettier, then you can pull them off before serving.
- In large bowl, combine 3 Tablespoons (45ml) oil, 1 teaspoon (5ml) Worcestershire, and minced garlic. Add cherry tomatoes to marinade and toss to combine and coat tomatoes.
- Skewer about 4-5 tomatoes on each bamboo skewer. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste on each tomato skewer.
- Reserve the leftover marinade and brush them on the sliced crusty bread. If you need more marinade, just add a little more oil to the bowl.
- Grill tomato skewers and the bread slices. The tomatoes usually take about 3-5 minutes, or until they are cooked to your preferred tenderness. We like it just a little longer after they start to split but not so long that they just fall apart and barely hang onto the skewers. The bread will usually grill quite a bit faster, so make sure you keep an eye on it an remove from the grill ahead of time or just cook after the tomatoes are done. Cooking time will vary depending on the heat of your grill and size of your cherry tomatoes.
- Spread ricotta (or other desired toppings) on slices of bread and top with tomatoes. Remove stems if you want before serving. We like to slightly crush the tomatoes on top of the bread so they don't explode when you bite into them.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Check out a Few of our Favorite BBQs Tools for Small Items
Different Skewers for Grilling
Growing Cherry Tomatoes is the easiest
Our cherry tomato plants are going bonkers, meaning they just don’t know when to stop producing fruit. We’re not asking them to stop either. Luckily, we’ve had family and friends visit so much for the last 4 weeks that all the cherry tomatoes are going to good homes and bellies. Nothing is better than sending home a basket full of vine ripened cherry tomatoes. These variety of tomatoes are the easiest to grow because they set fruit faster and ripen faster. So if you’re growing tomatoes for the first time or in a pot with a small garden, you should go for a cherry tomato variety first.
Sweet Million or Sweet One Hundred Cherry Tomatoes
We’ve always grown Sweet One Hundred cherry tomatoes and enjoyed their wonderful bounty. But once we found a variety called Sweet Million and have been hooked ever since. The difference between the two is that we find the Sweet Million to produce much more cherry tomatoes on longer branches and they’re sweeter. We always wait until they turn a deep red on the vine to where they want to just fall off the vine at the slightest touch. This is when the cherry tomato is at its sweetest and like candy. Last Summer we were making tomato bacon pizza’s like mad and never got tired of eating them. Check out all our tomato recipes here.
Sugar cherry tomatoes are new to our garden this year and they’re mind blowing amazing. Even when they’re in their orange/red color stage, they’re still super sweet. And if you wait until they fall off the vine, they’re just like their name– Sugar sweet!
Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow pear and as always, sun gold cherry tomatoes are in the garden again and we couldn’t be happier. Their color and beauty is always a treat to have in the garden. Our friends and family love plucking these varieties and adding it to their to-go basket of red cherries. It’s like a rainbow in a basket. So what do we do with all these cherry tomatoes? This weekend we grilled them on the bbq and call them our tomato “lollipops”! Have you ever grilled your cherry tomatoes? They’re super amazing and the texture is like roasted tomatoes, but you don’t have to turn on your hot oven in the Summer. And best of all, they have the wonderful bbq flavor to them.
A simple way to enjoy these grilled cherry tomato skewers “lollipops” is on grilled bread and swiped with a nice layer of ricotta cheese. Summer can’t get any better than this. Make sure to make a big platter of these little skewer lollipops for your gathering because they’re sure to be a hit. They’re so good, your guests will probably just eat them off the skewers like candy too!
Happy Summer,
diane and todd
These cherry tomatoes make me mouth-watering. Such a fantastic recipe!
I’ve never thought about growing it until seeing your gorgeous lollipop. Now I’m about to run for finding how to grow it. LOL
Again, thanks for sharing.
What a great idea! These are the perfect snack to serve to friends at summer cookouts.
These are superb, especially when still warm. I used farmer’s cheese instead of ricotta and cut the tomatoes in half and cooked them on a grill pan (I live in an apartment and don’t have a regular grill). I also added some torn-up basil leaves. I ended up making three batches for dinner and didn’t eat anything else 🙂
simplistic yet flavourful..love that! Great photos …anything on a stick is playful.
First off, these tomatoes may be the most perfect things ever! Love these photos, and always enjoy a perfectly grilled veggie skewer! Yum – thanks for reminding me to do this soon! xo Big Hugs @ Waiting on Martha
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!! We have quite the abundance of cherry tomatoes, as well, so I am absolutely making these tomorrow!! 🙂
That Tomato looks fantastic – I think you made the right choice 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
These are my kind of lollipops 🙂
ok this is one the reasons i wish i had a grill…can i do these on my stovetop? I know they won’t have that same blistered taste but i could still do it, right?
I try to grow tomatoes every year, especially cherry ones. They were always in my garden growing up so they have to be in it now that I’m older! I usually just pull them off the vine, give ’em a quick rinse and pop them in my mouth, but I’ve been noticing so many little green ones showing up all at once that grilling a few “lollypops” once they are all bright red seems like the right thing to do with them. Thank you for the great idea!
Magnificent grilled cherry tomatoes!
To put them on toast are wonderful!
‘Spicy’ greetings
Delicious! I love tomatoes. These look perfect.
These represent summer, deliciously!
Came back to tell you that we grilled these last night, along with some sourdough bread that we’d rubbed with garlic, and slathered them with goat cheese and sprinkled them with a few basil leaves. And also sautéed some kale with olive oil and garlic, and added a few greens on our open-faced sandwiches while we were at it. And it was one of the most soul-satisfying summer meals! Gosh , I love summer!
the PERFECT summer dish, what more could you need
I kinda wish we were having this for dinner. Tonight.