How to Make the Best Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Here's a little tip from me to you: Every weekend while you're doing the necessary adulting (i.e. laundry, etc.), put a sheet pan full of little tomatoes in the oven and cook them low and slow. Then (if you don't eat all of them immediately, which I have done) you will have them on hand to throw into eggs for breakfast, salads for lunch and anything(s) for dinner for the rest of the week.

Why are slow-roasted tomatoes so damned good?

The flavor concentrates during the long bake, so they get sweeter and sweeter and tastier and tastier. Roasting tomatoes is a wonderful way to take off-season tomatoes to an on-season level, or take on-season tomatoes to a candy level.

To halve or to whole(d)?

This recipe works whether you cut your grape or cherry tomatoes in half or leave them whole. As you can see in the photo below, I cut some of the tomatoes so you could actually see the difference. The ones that are cut (and therefore smaller) get a little more jammy, shriveled and sweet. The ones that aren't cut retain a bit more moisture and juiciness, so sometimes I leave them in the oven a little longer so they sweeten up.

The Best Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

paleo, gluten-free, whole30 recipe | makes 1 sheet pan of tomatoes

Ingredients

1 lb grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or whole
olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper

Instructions

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (it works better than foil in this case!).
Toss the tomatoes with a generous drizzle of olive oil (I usually just do this right on the pan) and spread them out.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Turn the oven to 275 F and put the pan in the oven (there's no need to preheat).
Roast for 1.5-2 hours, stirring at the 30-minute mark and the 1-hour mark. It's all a matter of taste, so you decide when they are done!
Sprinkle a little more salt if needed.
Try your hardest not to eat them all right off the pan.