33 Fresh and Juicy Summer Tomato Recipes, Right This Way! (2024)

FAQs

What enhances the flavor of tomatoes? ›

Well, if you really want to amp up the taste of your tomatoes, cream of tartar is your answer. Yes, there are other ways to make your tomatoes taste even better and increase the acidity. There is lemon, vinegar, or my personal favorite, balsamic.

The key is roasting: high heat cooks off much of the water in the tomato and thereby concentrates flavor. It also caramelizes the fruit's natural sugars. To achieve a jammy masterpiece, arrange chicken thighs, onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes on a sheet pan and roast for a speedy dinner.

Red Beefsteak tomatoes are large and meaty with lots of juice, making them ideal to use as a base for fresh sauces and dips. Red Beefsteak's mild flavor makes them the perfect complement to any dish, without being too overpowering.

We saved the best (and easiest) for last – eating raw Tomatoes is by far the most nutritious way to enjoy this fresh fruit. Eat them as an on-the-go snack, toss them into a light salad, or slice them up and put them on a sandwich – it's hard to beat that fresh-from-the-garden, raw Tomato taste.

Cinnamon and nutmeg to eliminate tomato sourness

If you use canned or bottled peeled tomatoes, you can "soften" the sourness by adding half a teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg while cooking.

Use a Sea Salt Fertilizer

It's true that a lot of salt can be bad for plants, but several studies and taste tests have shown that tomatoes grown with salty, brackish water end up tasting better.

To double down on tomato flavor in your sauce, heat up a spoonful or two of tomato paste in a couple tablespoons of oil until softened and caramelized before pouring in the sauce and whisking to combine.

Gardeners will want to keep a little baking soda on hand when they're putting in their tomato plants in spring because sprinkling some of this ingredient into the soil can prevent certain kinds of produce from tasting dull and gives your tomatoes a boost of sweetness come harvest time.

As the fruit reaches maturity, extra watering can cause it to expand in size, giving you a bigger tomato, but with a diluted flavor. As a result, tomatoes watered twice a week or more tend to be less tasty.

Marigolds

These flowers have been grown with tomatoes for years as gardeners believed that the marigolds deterred harmful insects. Recent studies have confirmed that the gardeners were right. Marigolds are particularly good at controlling whiteflies.

Are Roma and beefsteak tomatoes the same? ›

Also known as Roma or paste tomatoes, plum tomatoes are oval-shaped and smaller than beefsteaks. They also have a lower water content compared to other types, with an almost chewy flesh—making them particularly suited to sauce-making.

Most beefsteak tomatoes are vining and need strong, tall cages or stakes to keep their copious stems and heavy fruits in check. Even with cages, their stems will outgrow their bounds. This is why pruning is essential. Good pruning may reduce the number of fruits, resulting in larger tomatoes.

The fridge is your friend, not your foe in this scenario. Supermarket tomatoes have already been refrigerated in their journey to you, so a little more chill-out time won't hurt them. And unless you're eating them immediately, ripe, locally grown tomatoes will also last longer in the fridge; eat within a few days.

If the tomatoes are not yet ripe, they are best stored on the counter for a few days until they ripen. (You'll know they're ripe when they're fragrant and give a little bit to the touch.) Once they're ripe, either consume them or go ahead and put them in the refrigerator to preserve their freshness.

Tomato's unique flavor results from a balance of sugars, acids, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The most common sugars in tomato fruits are glucose and fructose, and the most common acids are citrate, malate, and ascorbate.

Toss in Olives or Capers

Briny ingredients like olives or capers are another way to brighten up your pasta sauce while also introducing texture and depth of flavor. Roughly chop a handful and stir them into your sauce while it's heating up on the stove.