These delightfully spicy easy confit tomatoes (tomatoes preserved in oil) are incredibly useful in the kitchen for all sorts of recipes from pasta to bruschetta, salads and more. Or just to eat as they are. It’s summer sunshine in a jar!
I’m a huge tomato fan. I use them in everything from salads to soups, sandwiches to sauces. I’ve even used them in a sweet and savoury strawberry and tomato jam. And I’ve preserved them in vodka too, my Tipsy Tomatoes are legendary!
What is tomato confit?
Well ‘confit’ is just the French way of saying preserves cooked slow and slow to enhance the flavours. So you can get sweet confit which are jams and savoury things like confit de canard (preserved duck). So these confit tomatoes are basically cherry tomatoes that have been preserved.
In this case they are preserved in oil. Olive oil.
What type of tomatoes to confit
You want really bright fresh tomatoes for this tomato confit. If you grow tomatoes this is a great way of preserving a glut of tomatoes for later use.
I’ve used multi coloured cherry tomatoes for my confit tomatoes. I love the mixture of colours from yellow to bright red, orange to deep crimson. You can use larger tomatoes but cut them in half or quarters.
Confit tomatoes NOT roasted tomatoes
There is an important difference here. If you chuck your tomatoes into a high temperature oven you roast them and they fall apart. When you confit tomatoes at a moderate baking temperature you release and enhance all their amazing sweetness and flavour and they still retain their shape.
Ingredients for tomato confit
- Cherry tomatoes (mixed colours look great but any will do of course) garlic
- fresh thyme, basil and rosemary
- chilli
- fresh ginger
- sea salt
- lemon juice
- olive oil
How to make confit tomatoes
This is super easy. All you have to do is half the tomatoes and set them cut side up in a baking tin with all the other ingredients and then pour over that gorgeous olive oil to cover the tomatoes.
Now place them in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes until their skins are blistering just a little. By now they will smell amazing.
Carefully spoon the confit tomatoes into a sterilised jar along with the herbs etc and cover completely with that flavour packed oil.
How long will this tomato confit keep
These tomatoes will keep in the fridge for up to a month. Just make sure that the tomatoes themselves are always covered with oil.
The jar will go cloudy in the fridge because that’s what happens to olive oil in a cold place. However, as soon as the jar comes up to normal room temperature the car will clear and your confit tomatoes will look lovely again.
Pro tip
When you take these confit tomatoes from the fridge just spoon out what you want to use and put this in a small bowl to come up to room temperature. Don’t bring the whole jar up to room temperature, just pop it back in the fridge.
Always make sure that the oil covers the tomatoes. Just add some more if you are running low.
Can I water bath/can confit tomatoes
Yes you can can them. Sorry, just couldn’t resist that extra can in there. Simply water bath the jars for 45 minutes and they will keep for 6 months.
Can you freeze confit tomatoes
Yes you can freeze in freezer proof bags and store in the freezer for up to three months
How to serve confit tomatoes
You can serve these flavour packed tomatoes stirred into any pasta or gnocchi. Tomato confit is amazing stirred into risotto.
Spoon them on to bruschetta or just plain toast. Add confit tomatoes to soup when serving for an extra hit of spicy tomato flavour.
Serve confit tomatoes with an antipasti platter or just as a side dish with a main meal or as part of a salad.
Stir the tomato confit into stews too. Here I have served my tomato confit on top of my scrambled eggs on toast. This makes my breakfast into a fabulous feast.
Can you use the tomato oil
Yes, you can use this gorgeously flavoured spiced tomato infused oil for salad dressings and in your cooking. This recipe makes full use of everything. Nothing goes to waste.
Flavouring alternatives
You can miss out on the ginger, and chilli if you don’t want to have a spicy tomato confit. Just follow the recipe here and omit the spices. Keep the herbs and garlic though. You can change the herb combination to suit your own taste.
Some people add balsamic vinegar and sugar to their tomato confit. I find the tomatoes wonderfully sweet without added sugar. Sweetness is all a matter of taste of course.
Looking for more great ideas for preserving in oil? Then check these out before you go;
French style garlic preserved in oil
Grilled courgettes/zucchini preserved in oil
Garlic mushrooms preserved in oil
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Easy tomato confit (tomatoes preserved in oil)
Ingredients
- 300 g mixed cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 small chilli chopped
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
- olive oil (enough to cover tomatoes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c
- place the tomatoes cut side up in a baking tin
- add all other ingredients and pour over enough olive oil to cover the tomatoes completely
- bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes till skins just blistering
- spoon into a sterilised jar and cover completely with the oil
- store in fridge and use within a month
- you can water bath can these for 45 minutes and they will keep for 6 months
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