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).
I am totally excited to make these. I don’t have much direct sunlight in my place, but I sure do have an oven. Sun dried tomatoes are so good in so many dishes!!
That’s awesome that you’re going to try these! Have fun!
Is there a way to process these in a water bath? I would like to preserve them in the pantry for past a years time?
Though I haven’t tried this, I would think you could do your standard jarring/canning procedure with these in a mason jar full of olive oil, and that would then last upwards of a year. As long as you seal out as much air as possible.
That oil would then make a lovely salad dressing or light pasta sauce when you do open them!
Love to see people doing this at home! Sundried tomatoes from the store are very hit-or-miss. Sometimes they’re just as good as the ones I make, sometimes it’s like eating bugs. (Sorry.)
One suggestion: use a sweetish sort of salt like what people get on the rim of a margarita glass. Dissolve that salt in water, dip the tomatoes in water, and then set them out to dry. I like them that way. For some people it makes the dried tomato too “ketchupy” and overcomes the green flavor of the tomato. Hm, a very little bit of sugar might be good too, but that just occurred to me and I haven’t tried it.
Funny how the universe works. I was trolling the ‘net when a blog post about sun dried tomatoes caught me eye. Not more than a week later, my BFF offered me a bounty of fresh tomatoes from her garden. I live in Phoenix so I’ll be curious how long the sun-drying process takes in 110 degree heat. Using inspiration from your photos, I fashioned a “dryer” out of a large plastic storage container, a stackable cooling rack and an old window screen. My beauties are drying in back yard as we speak. Thanks to one of your entries, I’m not going to worry about bringing them in at night since dew in the desert won’t be an issue until the monsoons roll around next month!
I am such an admirer of your photos! Absolutely gorgeous.
Stunning photos! I love sun dried tomatoes. Actually we do them every summer where I live as the temperature rises up to 42 degrees celcius and surely we’ll us that source of energy instead of the oven. We make 2 versions salted and the unsalted.
Sundried tomato tapenade on a piece of bread is just a summer delight!
I love sundried tomatoes but I’ve never tried making them before. Thank you so much for the tutorial!
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Your recipes with the step by step instructions and beautiful photos make me want to try. The sun dried tomatoes look divine.
Thought you and your readers might appreciate this cool time lapse video shot about how an urban community turned their junkyard into a sustainable garden in just one day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13x4lySlXW4. I think it’s cool that Kia is driving change.
May have to use the oven method here in Florida except in Feb. or March.
It’s been so mild and cool up here in Nor. Cal. that most of our tomato plants are just now bearing lots of fruit and starting to ripen. Usually our summers are so hot that we have tomatoes all summer long! Hoping it stays warm enough to get a few more weeks worth…
I tried doing this several years ago on my mother’s porch in Serbia, but the wasps got to them! Now I can go back and try it with the screen to protect them. There is nothing better than hot summer air to put the essence of the season in some ripe tomatoes.
Btw. I AM sappy, and the description made me smile:)
http://bibberche.com/2010/08/onion-peppers-tomato-sautee-sataras/
Well, you’ve done it again- you’ve made something I thought was completely unaccessible just the opposite. Can’t wait to give this a try! Beautiful photos, as usual!
That looks fabulous! I am eager to try it myself! Now if only my tomatoes would rip-en 😉
As always, beautiful photography! Here’s something to try, and I’ve done this with cherry tomatoes as well as plums: Cut them in half and put them on a smoker or grill. Crank the temp as low as possible, but get some smoke into the cooking chamber for about 20-30 minutes. If you don’t have a smoker, put wood chips in a foil packet, poke holes in it so the smoke can escape, and place it on the coals or the gas burner. Then you can finish drying the tomatoes in the sun, on the grill, or in the oven. I’ve played with different levels of dehydration. I’ve taken them out of the smoker and made fabulous cold tomato soup. By leaving a bit more moisture than the normal sun drieds you can toss them into creamy pasta sauces or in soups, wherever the whim takes you and they are like raisins. Partially dried tomatoes need to be kept in the fridge.
This sounds awesome. Absolutely love it and we are going to have to do this next smoking session.
Very interesting! I just might have to try this but I am wondering – you say it takes several days. Did you bring the rig inside overnight or just leave it there continuously? I am wondering if the dew might dampen them.
We left it out. We don’t get a heavy amount of dew but we have a bit of coastal dampness and everything dried just fine. If you do get a lot of dew, it might be a good idea to bring it in at night.
Hi question, does it make a difference scooping out the seeds and pulp first…thankyou
Hi Michelle, If you scoop out the seeds and pulp first, the tomatoes will definitely dry faster!
This looks like a great summer project! Will have to bookmark for next year!