Celebrate fresh tomato season with salads, salsas, sandwiches, pastas, and more
Written bySunsetJuly 16, 2009
1 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Tomato, Prosciutto, and Ricotta Tart
You can make this tart with any ripe tomatoes, but a mix of big multicolor heirlooms and smaller varieties looks stunning. To create a crisp, flat surface, partially bake the puff pastry with a cooling rack on top before adding the other ingredients.
Recipe: Tomato, Prosciutto, and Ricotta Tart
2 of46 Photo by Lisa Romerein; written by Amy Machnak
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Pomegranate Drizzle
When summer tomatoes are arriving by the truckload, this is fun twist on the classic Caprese.
Recipe: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Pomegranate Drizzle
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3 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Seashells with Basil, Tomatoes, and Garlic
Raw tomatoes get juicy as they stand, helping to create a delicious, no-cook sauce.
Recipe: Seashells with Basil, Tomatoes, and Garlic
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Cold Shrimp and Crab Soup
Ripe summer tomatoes meet a hearty helping of seafood for a soup that’s substantial enough to call dinner. Grill up slices of country bread brushed with olive oil to eat on the side.
Recipe: Cold Shrimp and Crab Soup
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Tomato and Melon Salad with Scallops and Pink Peppercorns
Using a few colors and different sizes of tomatoes will make this recipe especially beautiful.
Recipe: Tomato and Melon Salad with Scallops and Pink Peppercorns
6 of46 Photo by Lisa Romerein; written by Elaine Johnson
Caramelized Tomato Bruschetta
In a skillet cooked atop the grill, the tomatoes caramelize while keeping a soft shape. This makes for an easy and impressive summer party appetizer.
Recipe: Caramelized Tomato Bruschetta
7 of46 Photo by Iain Bagwell; written by Stephanie Dean, Elaine Johnson, and Amy Machnak
Garlic-Basil Grilled Chicken with Caprese Salsa
Why not try scattering your Caprese salad over grilled chicken? It's a great way to utilize summer produce, not to mention super delicious.
Recipe: Garlic-Basil Grilled Chicken with Caprese Salsa
8 of46 Photo by Maren Caruso
Fresh Tomato Basil Pizza
This simple pizza was inspired by a trip to Italy—and by a bumper tomato crop. Feel free to use your favorite homemade pizza dough recipe or store-bought dough, as we have here.
Recipe: Fresh Tomato Basil Pizza
9 of46 Photo by Maren Caruso
Easiest Garden Gazpacho
Makes this soup when your summer garden (or, if you don't have an edible garden, tomato season) is at its peak. Chilling melds the flavors.
Recipe: Easiest Garden Gazpacho
10 of46 Photo by Iain Bagwell
Mango and Tomato Salsa
Juicy tomatoes and mangoes make a brilliant pairing in this perfect chip topper.
Recipe: Mango and Tomato Salsa
11 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Rosemary Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Salad
Transform the BLT from a sandwich to a delightful, summery salad.
Recipe: Rosemary Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Salad
12 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Spicy Indian Tomato Shorba
This aromatic soup is traditionally served hot, but we've chilled our version. For a complete meal, pair it with cold rotisserie chicken drizzled with oil and seasoned with salt and ground coriander, and add a few pieces of toasted naan for dipping.
Recipe: Spicy Indian Tomato Shorba
13 of46 Photo by Leo Gong
Tomato Orecchiette with Brie and Basil
Brie cheese acts as a creamy sauce when melted by the warm pasta. Summer is the time for the most flavorful results, when tomatoes and basil are at the height of their season.
Recipe: Tomato Orecchiette with Brie and Basil
14 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey; written by Amy Machnak
Open-face Caprese Sandwiches
Take all the best flavors of summer and serve them on grilled bread for a fresh and summery open-faced sandwich. Eat a few as a whole meal or make a few smaller ones and serve them as appetizers while the grill heats up for bigger items.
Recipe: Open-face Caprese Sandwiches
15 of46 Andrea Gomez
Marinated Heirloom Tomato Salad
Fresh, juicy, and colorful layered tomatoes, drizzled with sweet and tangy balsamic vinegar make for a refreshing salad on a hot summer day.
Recipe: Marinated Heirloom Tomato Salad
16 of46 Christine Schmidhofer
Green Grape Tomato Appetizer
With bright yellow-green clusters that look like bunches of large Muscat grapes, Green Grape tomatoes have a sweet flavor and bright acidity that call for creamy cheeses and rich fillings. A chef’s favorite.
Recipe: Green Grape Tomato Appetizer
17 of46 Iain Bagwell
Garden Bloody Mary
A great co*cktail can start just outside your door when you grow almost all the ingredients yourself. Garden Bloody MaryRecipe:
18 of46 Thomas J. Story
Tomato and Herb Salad with Fresh Chive Cheese
This is the salad to make with tomatoes from the farmers' market or your backyard, ideally when they're still warm from the sun. The surprise is the easy homemade cheese.
Recipe: Tomato and Herb Salad with Fresh Chive Cheese
19 of46 Annabelle Breakey
Fresh Corn and Avocado Salad
In the height of summer, you won't find a better side dish for ribs than this deceptively simple combination of peak-season produce. Try bringing it to a party too.
Recipe: Fresh Corn and Avocado Salad
20 of46 Iain Bagwell
3 fresh salsas
You can create 3 great dishes using our Fire and Fruit Yellow Tomato Salsa recipe.
Recipes:
Spiced Grilled Chicken with Fire and Fruit Yellow Tomato Salsa
Halibut Tacos with Fire and Fruit Yellow Tomato Salsa
Easy Grilled Pork Chops with Fire and Fruit Yellow Tomato Salsa
21 of46 Thomas J. Story
Canned Heirloom Tomatoes
For this extra-easy recipe, adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, you just squish raw skinned tomatoes into jars. This cold-pack technique may cause the fruit and liquid to separate a bit during processing, but the results still taste delicious.
It's essential for food safety when working with tomatoes that you acidify them with bottled (not fresh) lemon juice or citric acid, which has a standardized acidity, and that you do not increase the amount of herbs or add any other ingredients.
Recipe: Canned Heirloom Tomatoes
22 of46 Photo by James Carrier
Caprese Melts
Broil these tomato-basil-cheese sandwiches in the oven for a hot meal in minutes.
Recipe: Caprese Melts
23 of46 James Carrier
Tiered Tomato Soup
This tomato soup is almost as fun to look at as it is to eat. Avocados provide the bright green layer.
Recipe: Tiered Tomato Soup
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Heirloom Tomato and Haricot Vert Salad
It’s nice to use a mix of colors of tomatoes, but make sure they all taste wonderful—flavor is most important.
Recipe: Heirloom Tomato and Haricot Vert Salad
25 of46 Annabelle Breakey
Tomato Salad with Chile and Lime
This salad pleasantly reminds us of fresh salsa, and wouldn't be out of place on a Mexican-themed buffet or on the table with beef fajitas or pork or shrimp tacos.
Recipe: Tomato Salad with Chile and Lime
26 of46 James Carrier
Grilled Salmon in Tomato Water
Serve the salmon in tomato water, topped with creamy mayonnaise blended with fresh basil and lemon juice; offer crusty bread alongside.
Recipe: Grilled Salmon in Tomato Water
27 of46 James Carrier
Garden Tomato Bread
Ripe, juicy tomatoes, along with parsley, sage, thyme, and garlic, give this artisanal-style bread fresh garden flavor.
Biga, is a yeast-based starter, gives the loaf characteristics of bread made with a sourdough starter.
Recipe: Garden Tomato Bread
28 of46 Thomas J. Story
Heirloom Tomato Soup
Chefs from Canada's Okanagan Valley, in British Columbia, are bringing this simple yet delicious soup to your home kitchen. Recipe:Heirloom Tomato Soup
29 of46 James Carrier
Indian-spiced Tomato Soup
Tamarind, cilantro, mint, and cucumber flavor this bowl.
Nigella seeds (also called kalonji) add an oniony flavor. Look for them and for tamarind concentrate at Indian markets and some specialty food stores.
Recipe: Indian-Spiced Tomato Soup
30 of46 Thomas J. Story
Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes, Marjoram, and Ricotta Salata
Berkeley chef and cooking teacher Samin Nosrat cooks down half of the tomatoes into a savory jam, then adds fresh ones at the end bringing you a delicious tomato layered dish. Recipe:Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes, Marjoram, and Ricotta Salata
31 of46 Annabelle Breakey
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Whip up a classic sauce of ripe tomatoes, basil leaves, garlic, olive oil and salt.
Make a double (or triple) batch for many easy dinners; this recipe freezes beautifully for up to 6 months.
Recipe: Fresh Tomato Sauce
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Chicken, Corn, and Tomato Pasta Salad
For this cool main-dish salad, stir orzo with a ricotta-lemon dressing, cooked chicken, and crisp raw corn.
Recipe: Chicken, Corn, and Tomato Pasta Salad
33 of46 James Carrier
Rainbow Tomato Bruschetta
Linda Wisner of Portland, Oregon uses a mix of heirloom tomato varieties from her garden for this favorite appetizer.
Recipe: Rainbow Tomato Bruschetta
34 of46 Thomas J. Story
Cucumber-Tomato Salad
At the San Francisco restaurant mini-chain, Souvla, specializing in spit-roasted meats offers this crunchy, refreshing salad, which is an indispensable part of pork souvlaki (grilled-meat pita wraps). Recipe:Cucumber-Tomato Salad
35 of46 James Carrier
Tarragon Crab Salad in Tomato Cups
Serve this easy-to-make, inventive salad with sourdough bread.
Recipe: Tarragon Crab Salad in Tomato Cups
36 of46 James Carrier
Tomato and Sweet Onion Crumble
Leftover bread, tomatoes from the garden, and Walla Walla sweet onions inspired Megan Wentworth to create this easy, savory side dish.
Recipe: Tomato and Sweet Onion Crumble
37 of46 James Carrier
Tomato, Fresh Cheese, and Watercress Salad
This salad is also beautiful with multicolored cherry tomatoes. Any fresh chèvre (goat cheese) works well in this salad.
Recipe: Tomato, Fresh Cheese, and Watercress Salad
38 of46 James Carrier
Ham and Manchego Sandwiches with Tomato Jam
These sandwiches are perfect for a summer picnic. Make and wrap sandwiches just before packing your basket.
Recipe: Ham and Manchego Sandwiches with Tomato Jam
39 of46 James Carrier
Gazpacho Salad
Marsha Stout put together the ingredients for this salad one hot summer day when she wanted something quick and cool.
Recipe: Gazpacho Salad
40 of46 Annabelle Breakey
Tomatoes in Spicy Yogurt Sauce
The tomatoes are warmed, not fully cooked, in the sauce, leaving their softly solid texture intact. Serve them alongside broiled, grilled, or steamed fish and be sure to have plenty of rice to soak up the sauce.
Recipe: Tomatoes in Spicy Yogurt Sauce
41 of46 Photo by Coral Von Zumwalt
Tomato, Cucumber, and Basil Salad
This salad is summer in a bowl. You can cut up the vegetables a little ahead of time, but dress them fairly close to serving or they'll get soupy.
Recipe: Tomato, Cucumber, and Basil Salad
42 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Risotto-Stuffed Tomatoes
The secret to this dish’s success is to use firm tomatoes, such as those sold on the vine. Roast them on a rack near the top of the oven.
Recipe: Risotto-Stuffed Tomatoes
43 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Grilled Halibut with Tomato, Green Olive, and Celery Sauce
Inspired by the flavors of both a Bloody Mary and Italian salsa verde, this easy, bright sauce works with almost any fish.
Recipe: Grilled Halibut with Tomato, Green Olive, and Celery Sauce
44 of46 Thomas J. Story
Grilled Calamari, Watermelon, and Tomato Salad
Chris Cosentino of co*ckscomb restaurant in San Francisco is known for adventurous dishes like this one, a meet-up of mild grilled calamari (squid), fresh produce, and exciting seasonings. He grills the calamari over almond wood plus regular charcoal briquets; for the home cook, he recommends easy-to-find mesquite hardwood charcoal. To make the dish as fiery as Cosentino likes it, use 2 tbsp. black pepper and 2 tsp. Aleppo pepper, and don’t seed the serrano chile.
Recipe: Calamari, Watermelon, and Tomato Salad
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Watermelon, Corn, and Tomato Salad
This savory-sweet summer salad is a perfect example of the saying, "If it grows together, it goes together."
Recipe: Watermelon, Corn and Tomato Salad
46 of46 Photo by Annabelle Breakey
Yellow Tomato Lime Sorbet
Refreshing and sweet with a hint of earthiness, this sorbet shows off tomatoes’ fruity side.
Recipe: Yellow Tomato Lime Sorbet
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