sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes made at home in under 4 hours using your oven. Get that chewy, punchy flavor without a dehydrator or fancy tools. Easy pantry boost.

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Total Time 4 1

Servings: 10 servings

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Calories: 40

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Main ingredients

1 kg roma tomatoes
1 colher de sopa sea salt
1 colher de chá dried oregano
2 colher de sopa extra-virgin olive oil

Method

Heat your oven to 100°C (210°F). Line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper. If you use foil, lightly oil it so nothing sticks.
Slice the roma tomatoes in half lengthwise. With a spoon or your fingers, gently scoop out most of the seeds. Don’t fuss if some stay behind—that’s fine.
Arrange the tomato halves, cut side up, on the prepared trays. They can be close but not touching. I always start from the corners so I can fit more.
Sprinkle salt and dried oregano evenly over all the tomatoes. Drizzle the olive oil generously across everything—it helps with flavor and prevents sticking.
Bake for 3.5 to 4 hours. Check every hour after the second hour: smaller pieces will dry faster, so pull them out as soon as they’re leathery but not brittle. Leave any wetter ones in until they look and feel right. Don’t rush by raising the heat, or they’ll brown too quickly.
Let the tomatoes cool on the tray. They’ll firm up a bit more as they cool. Store in an airtight jar. If you want a longer shelf life, cover them with olive oil and refrigerate.

Notes

I started making my own sun-dried tomatoes the year I realized how unpredictable store-bought ones can be. Sometimes they're oily or weirdly sweet, sometimes just hard as rocks. This oven method always gives me that chewy, tangy smack I want for salads or toast.

What actually matters when drying tomatoes

Roma tomatoes work because they're less watery, and that means a less soggy, more concentrated final bite. If you're tempted to use big beefsteak tomatoes, be warned: they take twice as long and never get that same deep flavor. Keep sizes pretty even — it helps them finish together so you're not picking single pieces off the tray all afternoon.

I always take out the seeds with my thumb — faster than with a spoon, and you lose less pulp. Oil on the tray makes cleanup a lot easier if you're not using parchment.

Don’t skip the check at the 2-hour mark. Oven spots run hotter than you think, and some tomatoes will dry way faster on the edges.

Real substitutions (and what to skip)

You can swap oregano for thyme or herbes de Provence if that's what you have—those are actually good. Rosemary gets tough and poky, so I skip it. Cherry tomatoes will work if halved, but expect a more jammy texture (not as chewy).

Not worth doing with green tomatoes (they taste flat), and I wouldn't use sandwich slicers — they collapse to nothing and don't hold flavor.

Storing your batch

I keep mine in a jar for up to a week, but if I want that sun-dried umami on hand longer, I cover them in olive oil and store in the fridge, up to a month. A little oil poured on top now and then keeps them supple — no one likes tomato leather on their bruschetta.