How to Make Sun Dried Tomatoes in your Oven

If you’ve got extra tomatoes on hand, you can save so much money by creating the chewy intense sweet/tart flavor of sun dried tomatoes right in your own oven! You can eat them as is, preserve them in olive oil or freeze them. Personally, I like to preserve them in olive oil with garlic, Italian seasoning and spicy pepper flakes. Because not only do you get the deliciousness of sun dried tomatoes; you also get the lively Italian flavored oil you can use in your cooking!

If you have a dehydrator, then definitely use that. But if you don’t (like me), you can oven dry your tomatoes so easily. All you need is an oven, some parchment paper and time.

Start by cutting your little tomatoes in half … or if they are larger tomatoes, cut them into thin wedges.

Then set them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and put them in the oven at 200 F for 2 – 5 hours. Most posts say it’ll take 2 – 3 hours. Mine might have went as long as 5 hours and they still weren’t very dry. But then again you don’t want them SUPER dry. You want them to still have a little bit of soft to them and chewy, not hard.

What to do if the tomatoes get too dry?

Of course, if you happen to over-dry your tomatoes to the hard stages I so often find at the grocery store, all is not lost! When you go to use them, you can restore them by soaking in water (or wine or broth or whatever liquid would work best in the recipe). Storing them in olive oil will also help plump them up, but I’d recommend soaking them in water, wine or a flavorful broth first.

Mine took longer than the 2 – 3 hours everyone else seems to recommend. But I persisted and let them continue for another hour or two. I’m not exactly sure how long. Once they seemed reduced in size and a little chewy (and SO flavorful) when I sampled one, I took them out. Then (once cooled) it was time to preserve them!

Preserving the tomatoes after drying

Personally I love the sun dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil and Italian spices, so I went for the same with my homemade “sun” dried tomatoes. I added garlic cloves, Italian Seasoning and red chile flakes as I squished my pretty dried tomatoes into the jar. Then I added extra virgin olive oil to cover my little precious tomatoes. Food spoils when it is exposed to air. So, as long as these sun dried tomatoes are completely covered in olive oil, they should stay preserved for quite a while in the refrigerator.

I’m not going to specify HOW long … some people say only 4 days, but I believe as long as they’re safely submerged, they will probably keep for weeks, possibly months. (No guarantees!) The key is they really really have to be COMPLETELY submerged where they are not exposed to air at all.

However you can also freeze these oven-dried tomatoes to safely extend their “life”. Put them on a tray and set in the freezer until frozen, then put the oven dried tomatoes in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air (or use a straw to suck out the air) and return to the freezer.

How to Use Sun Dried Tomatoes?

Sun dried tomatoes are great for adding a pop of flavor to SO many things! You can add them to just about any savory dish: pizza, salads, stir fries and eggs, to name a few. You can even throw them into sauces or soups or even bread to add depth of flavor. Here are some of my favorites. Look for the links to the recipes below the gallery.

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• Mushroom Sun Dried Tomato Skillet
• Bacon Sun Dried Tomato Souffle Cups
• Bacon Asparagus Sun Dried Tomato Salad
• Easy Cheesy BLT Spirals
• Cheese Bliss Spinach Salad
• Mushroom Artichoke Sun Dried Tomato Pizza
• Herbed Bacon Sun Dried Tomato Cheese Spread
• Turkey Fontina Sun Dried Tomato Sandwich
• Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (a.k.a., Pesto Rosso)

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