Easy Confit Tomatoes (Tomatoes Preserved In Oil) + video!

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

Lemons preserved in oil

Oven dried tomatoes 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.