Our garden has an abundance of Indigo cherry heirloom tomatoes. I’ve turned them into spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and soup, and wanted something different. My plan was simple; make sun-dried tomatoes. Then, I discovered they are a pain to make. The traditional recipe calls for building drying boxes, allowing them to set outside for three days, turn them a couple of times, and keep them covered with cheesecloth.
My new plan? Oven sun-dried tomatoes. This plan was derailed when my air-conditioning unit went down and couldn’t be repaired for a week. Temperatures soared to 90° inside my house. The oven stayed off. While pondering what to do with my tomatoes, my son suggested I try drying them in the smoker. It’s outside. It works like an oven. Boom! This Smoked Sun-Dried Tomatoes Recipe was born.
Smoked Sun-dried Tomatoes Recipe
Sun-dried tomatoes are a delicious way to amp up salads, spaghetti, and bruschetta. These are no exception, but our family thinks they are better than the traditional version because of the slightly smokey flavor. Here’s the step-by-step guide to prepare your own batch.
1. Start with fresh, ripe (or nearly ripe) cherry tomatoes. Give them a good wash and remove any stems.
2. Place a piece of parchment paper on the smoker tray. Chop the tomatoes in half and place them on the paper.
3. Spritz the tomatoes with olive or vegetable oil. Sprinkle your choice of salt, spices, and herbs over the top. I used sea salt, smoked paprika, dried oregano or dried thyme, and dried minced garlic.
4. Preheat the smoker to 170°. Place tray on the bottom rack. Smoke for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Savor your smoked tomatoes by themselves or in the dish of your choice.
Printable Recipe:
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano OR dried thyme
- Place a piece of parchment paper on smoker tray.
- Spread tomatoes evenly across the smoker tray. Spritz tomatoes with oil.
- In a small bowl, mix salt, paprika, garlic, and oregano Or thyme until blended. Sprinkle evenly across tomates.
- Preheat the smoker to 170 degrees. Place tomatoes on bottom tray of smoker. Cook, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. If tomatoes are not done to your desired level, they can continue to smoke for up to five hours.
Cooking Tips:
*Add wood chips if you like. This is optional. We didn’t add wood chips and still had a mild smokey flavor from the wood chips that had been used in a previous dish. Good choices are oak, maple, or cherry.
*While you can use all the racks in the smoker to prepare multiple trays, I’ve found they cook more quickly on the bottom rack. I had to remove trays from the bottom and move other trays down to the bottom shelf.
* These naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
*To reheat, I place them in a small skillet over medium heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
*You can use other types of tomatoes. If you use Roma or larger tomatoes, you’ll need to slice them very thin or scoop out most of the pulp.
Have you tried Smoked Oven-Dried Tomatoes?
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Oh I love this! I’ve never tried to make one but now I know how!
This smoked sundried tomatoes looks delicious I will try it for myself, I love to try it in my sourodugh bread. thansk for sharing this.
That air fryer cookbook sounds really good to try. I like sun dried tomatoes in some recipes.
I love sun-dried tomatoes. I’ve never thought about making them at home.
My favorite appetizer! It’s so great to make sun dried tomatoes at home!
Those look really good. I’m not a big fan of tomatoes, but I do like them sometimes depending on how they’re cooked and such. These look like they’d be really tasty too.
I never thought to make my own sun-dried tomatoes. This doesn’t sound too difficult, and it would be neat to try.
That is amazing! I have never tried preparing my own sun dried tomatoes. I just always buy them at the store. 🙂
I have actually never had sundried tomatoes period! But my husband loves all things smoked, so this is right up his alley.
Easy and convenient! I want to try this one, it looks delicious.
This is very new to me, and I am already intrigued by this smoked sun-dried tomatoes. I wonder how they will taste
Man I just went through a whole package of cherry tomatoes today! I should have read this first! Thanks for the tips.
I can’t wait for the day when we can grow our own tomatoes! This looks so delicious. We love putting them in pastas and salads.
Yes please. I love tomatoes so I am excited to try these out. They look so good.
I love using sun dried tomatoes in most of my recipe, they are so delicious.
Those sun dried tomatoes look so good. I have always liked them in salads and in sauces. It is so nice to grow your own tomatoes for this.
These look so good! We gill and smoke year round so I must try this! Pinned it!