How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes

sun dried tomatoes in oil with herbs in a bowl on a table

How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes

Here's how to dry recommended tomato varieties and then mix them with oil and garlic to make traditionally flavored "sun dried tomatoes". This is the basic recipe/method - the article contains lots of little details that might help.

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Prep Time 8

Cook Time 5

Infusion Time 21

Total Time 21 8 5

Course Healthy Recipes

Cuisine Preserved Foods

Servings pints

Ingredients

8 cups dehydrated tomatoes
6-7 cups olive oil first cold-pressed is best
4 tsp. sea salt
12 cloves dried garlic or 4 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. dried basil optional

Instructions

To Dry Tomatoes
Rinse and slice the cherry or plum tomatoes in half.
Place the tomatoes face up on your dehydrator racks. Lay them close together but avoid having them touch or lie on top of each other.
Fill the dehydrator with tomatoes and close it up. Use your dehydrator's instruction booklet to set time and temperature. Suggested dry temp/time:
135F/57C for 8-12 hours.
The tomatoes will be slightly rubbery or even brittle when dried. There should be no wet or mushy parts left.
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Use within a year.
To Make Sun Dried Tomatoes
Gather pint or half pint jars to fill with your chosen number of dried tomatoes.
To each jar, add one to three dried cloves of garlic (without their covering), and a teaspoon of sea salt.
Add as many dehydrated tomatoes as you can comfortably push into the jar. Don't want to pack it tightly, but pack enough to fill the jar 1/2" below the rim of the jar.
Finally, cover the tomatoes with cold, first-pressed olive oil and screw on the cap.
Be sure each tomato and garlic clove is entirely submerged in the oil.
Set in the refrigerator to infuse the oil and garlic into the tomatoes for one to three weeks. Eat within 6 months for best flavor.

Notes

Please note that recipe amounts are general - if you have more or less dehydrated tomatoes, simply adjust the amounts. Each pint holds 1-2 cups of dried tomatoes, plus 1/2 cup oil, plus 1 tsp of sea salt, plus the garlic.

If you don't have pint jars, use whatever glass jars you have that can be closed up with a lid. Don't stress too much over being specific.

Keep stored in the fridge. Eat within six months for best flavor but you can keep them for up to a year in cold storage. They start to taste more like oil than tomatoes after that long!

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