Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes in the Sun
Learn how to make sun dried tomatoes, homemade! After our San Marzano tomatoes started reddening its oblong masses, we decided to go super old school and slowly drying the tomatoes in the sun over many days. 
Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes Recipe
Sure we could have heated up the kitchen’s oven and dried them in there over a fraction of a day. But where was the romance in that? How beautiful would it be to have the tomatoes slowly kissed by the sun over a few warm summer days. The gentle summer breeze wrapping its warmth around the tomatoes, reducing them to perfectly concentrated and preserved little delicacies.
We’re always curious to discover the “how tos” and “best ways” of dishes and ingredients we love. We want to know how to make something ourselves and find out if we can make it better than what we are able to buy. Is there something extraordinarily special about the way something was traditionally done, or can modern conveniences do just as good or better of a job? This summer we decided to delve into a homemade sun dried tomatoes recipe. The process is as simple as it gets. Slice, add some herbs if you like, then either dry in the oven at 180° F over many hours (8-10 hours depending on thickness and type of tomatoes) or dry them in the sun over many days. Dry them until they have the consistency of a plump raisin, then store the tomatoes in a vacuum sealed (or air-removed ziplock) or packed in olive oil and sealed jars.
ta da! before and after the sun tan
Custom screen frame built for
the tomatoes to dry in the sun. Kinda rough but created the airspace.
How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes
Ideally you want the air to be able to circulate all around the tomato slices so they will dry evenly. In the oven, a wire cooling rack used on top of a sheet pan works great. For testing our this sun dried tomato recipe, we wanted something bigger so we quickly rigged up a drying rack using a couple pieces of wood and some window screen mesh. We used the screen under the tomatoes for air circulation and over the top of the tomatoes to keep the bugs off. This sun dried tomatoes recipe would be very easy for someone to make a proper frame for drying the tomatoes, however our drying rack was tossed together as a rush job done in a few minutes before heading out the door. Looks “rustic” but worked perfect.
We sliced the tomatoes in varying thickness to see how each of them dried, since I wasn’t trusting that and 1 1/2″ plum tomato would have the best texture if merely cut in half. In the end it did. The ones cut into 1/2 or 1/3rds for an 1 1/2″ thick tomato dried the best. The ones cut thinner became too thin after drying. Still tasty though. Are they any better than drying them in the oven? That is hard to say but these particular tomatoes were quite tasty, and we didn’t do a side by side dehydrate off. Plus it was simple, took virtually no prep time, just a few days of waiting and checking, and the oven didn’t have to be turned on in the summer’s heat.
Happy Summer. – Todd and Diane
This sun dried tomatoes recipe was originally published in 2010 and re-publishd in 2018 with updated photos.
Sun-Dried Tomato Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Plum or Paste Tomatoes , sliced lengthwise (for an 1" to 1 1/2" thick tomato, slice no thinner than in thirds)
- Chopped Herbs oregano, thyme, etc... optional
- Sea Salt , to taste
Equipment
- frame with screen mesh to lay tomatoes on & more screen mesh to lay over the top to keep bugs off
Instructions
- Slice the tomatoes & lay on framed screen mesh. Season with optional herbs and sea salt. Cover with another layer of screen mesh and place in a sunny spot. Leave outside for several days (may be longer, depends on weather, thickness of tomato, water content, etc...) Sun dried tomatoes are done drying when the texture is no longer tacky, and it resembles a plump raisin.
- Store in a vacuum sealed bag (or zip lock with air removed) in fridge or freezer for up to a year, or store packed in olive oil and sealed in a sterile canning jar (can be left in a cool place).
if you could squeeze in 1 or 2 more ads, you wouldn’t have to waste time with a recipe at all.
This was great, thanks!
I used cheesecloth instead of screen to keep the bugs out & it worked very well.
I also put the baking sheet I was drying the tomatoes on , on top of my car for quicker turn time. My neighbors probably wondered what I was doing, but it worked well.
I have tried making sun dried tomatoes in my expensive dehydrator but it never tastes as good as sun dried.
Theresa! You made our day! LOL, thanks so much for sharing and you’re the coolest neighbor ever. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the tomatoes and keep up the delicious fun.
Awesome
Great post! I’ll try this over the weekend. Anyway, I would like to ask what is the shelf life of the sun dried tomatoes if you put it in a ziplock and freezed compared to the one that is stored in a jar with olive oil. Thanks!
Shelf life would depend on so many factors: moisture and humidity are a few. To be safe, we would probably store them dried for about 2 weeks. Have fun!