Baked Tomatoes

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Need a little Italian inspiration for dinner tonight? Baked tomatoes are the ticket! Everybody loves their taste, and they only take 10 minutes to bake.

I absolutely love a yummy cheese-covered baked tomato. They’re oh-so flavorfully delicious, tender, and they make for happiness. Shocker, most kids I know love these baked tomatoes, too. They gobble them down without a fuss. They’re easy to make, only requiring ten minutes of baking time, and they’re packed with Italian flavors your whole family will love.

Looking for more delicious vegetables your family will actually want to eat? I hope you’ll try our fried eggplant (so incredibly delish!), cucumber tomato salad, Southern style green beans, and our roasted carrots and potatoes next!

WHY BAKE TOMATOES?

Simple. Because they’re delicious! We bake these tomatoes at a high temperature, actually verging on roasting, to caramelize the naturally occurring sugars in this delicious fruit. We drizzle a little bit of herby garlic oil before baking then top them with cheese!

BAKED TOMATOES RECIPE INGREDIENTS

• Tomatoes: Any fresh tomatoes will work. I use beefsteak fresh from the garden when I have them. If I’m using store-bought tomatoes, I like Roma plum tomatoes because they have fewer seeds and they’re a great serving size or Campari tomatoes. Try a variety of tomatoes.
• Oil: I use extra virgin olive oil.
• Fresh Herbs: I love fresh rosemary on these tomatoes.
• Garlic: Please use fresh garlic cloves of garlic and not the pre-minced stuff that comes suspended in that disgusting liquid!
• Salt + Black Pepper: Our foundational seasoning.
• Cheese: I love to use shaved parmesan cheese for this dish.
• Garnish with fresh parsley or rosemary.

TIPS + VARIATIONS

• Top Them Off: I often serve these tomatoes with a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze. It’s commercially available at most supermarkets.
• Easy Clean-Up: Line your baking sheet with parchment paper for a quick and easy clean-up.
• Best Tomatoes to Use: Roma tomatoes, hands down, are the best for this recipe. You might think that the type of tomato you use doesn’t matter, but Romas really do make all the difference. These tomatoes have a lower water content than most tomatoes, which makes them ideal for baking. Veggies with high water content can turn mushy in the oven. Nobody wants that! That said some people like baked cherry tomatoes in this recipe to use as a finger food for appetizers
• Creating Level Tomatoes: If you wind up with a wonky tomato half, you just need to flip the tomato over and cut a small, flat slice off of the rounded side to even things out. This is only really needed for tomatoes that are sloped and might lose their cheese when it melt.
• Cool It! Give them a few minutes to cool to avoid burning the roof of your mouth, and then serve them up warm and fresh.
• Cheese: Switch up the cheese as you like!
• Fresh Herbs: Rosemary is my first choice. Basil, thyme, chives, or thyme all work deliciously!
• Dried Herbs: No fresh herbs, no worry! Use a sprinkle of my favorite Italian seasoning.
• Spice It Up! Add red pepper flakes to the oil before applying.

STORAGE + FREEZING + MAKE-AHEAD

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Refrigerator? These will keep a couple of days in the fridge. Store it in a sealed container for 3-4 days. Make sure it’s thoroughly cooled first though! Any condensation will change the consistency of the sauce.
• Can You Freeze This? Yes! Well, sort of. There is a high dairy content in this recipe, so freezing it will risk the milk doing funky things. Just use caution and expect texture differentiations! To thaw, put it in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave.
• Make-Ahead Tips: You can certainly prepare these ahead of time, refrigerate then pop them in the oven ten minutes before you want to serve them. I don’t recommend reheating these later. That said, the types of tomatoes and cheese you use will greatly affect how easily you can reheat these. Again, Roma tomatoes and medium to hard cheese like Parmesan, Mozzarella, or Asiago, will produce the best result.
• How To Reheat: I reheat these in the oven, or toaster oven. The microwave might cause the tomatoes to burst. 
• Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.

ARE THESE THE SAME AS OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES?

There are a wide variety of recipes that involve roasting tomatoes, though, like

These tomatoes are not the same as oven-roasted tomatoes, though they bear some similarities. We have a few roasted tomato recipes on our site like roasted tomato sauce, (one of my favorite pasta sauce) Roasted tomato Caprese, or honey roasted tomato bruschetta and these will approach roasting/baking differently.

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS

These tomatoes make a wonderful side dish. Anything grilled or smoked, We love these with our grilled flank steak, beef shish kabob, Greek chicken, cilantro lime chicken or pollo asado  (I switch up the rosemary on the tomatoes to oregano).

I also serve up a platter of these with my Italian Sunday gravy, classic lasagna, chicken Alfredo lasagna,  instant pot spaghetti and meatballs, chicken francaise, chicken Milanese, lemon pepper chicken, creamy lemon chicken, and steak pizzaiola!

HOW TO MAKE BAKED TOMATOES

Making crispy baked tomatoes might take a little more cooking time, frankly, I love them either way. Just a few simple steps and they’re ready to serve!

1. You start off by preheating the oven and lining a rimmed sheet pan with Silpat lined baking sheet. Then you’ll grab a mixing bowl and whisk together the minced garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. 
2. Next, you’ll use a small spoon to evenly drizzle the oil mixture over the tomatoes and sprinkle salt and pepper across the top. You’ll top with shaved parmesan
3. Stick them in the oven to bake until the cheese melts completely.

***See the full instructions below.

MORE DELICIOUS VEGGIES

• Fajita Veggies
• Skillet Corn
• Sautéed Asparagus
• Arkansas Green Beans
• Roasted Green Beans (with shallots and pancetta!)
• Crack Green Beans
• Candied Carrots
• Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
• Crockpot Cream Corn
• Smothered Potatoes
• Country Potatoes
• Roasted Garlic Asparagus With Feta

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Baked Tomatoes

Our baked tomatoes are delicious with concentrated tomato flavor. Drizzles with garlic and herb oil then topped with melty cheese!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 Roma tomatoes
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
• ▢ 1 large clove garlic
• ▢ salt
• ▢ black pepper
• ▢ 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese shaved

Instructions

•  Preheat oven to 400ºF (204ºC).
• Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.
• In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil (1 tablespoon) and minced garlic. Use a small spoon to evenly drizzle oil, rosemary (1 teaspoon), and garlic over tomatoes then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Top with a Parmesan (3/4 cup).
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and golden.

Fans Also Made:

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  1905 Salad
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  Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad
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  Honey Roasted Tomato Bruschetta
• 
  Marinated Tomato Salad (With Video!)

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Notes

1. Top Them Off: I often serve these tomatoes with a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze. It’s commercially available at most supermarkets.
2. Easy Clean-Up: Line your baking sheet with parchment paper for quick and easy clean-up.
3. Best Tomatoes to Use: Roma tomatoes, hands down, are the best for this recipe. You might think that the type of tomato you use doesn’t matter, but Romas really do make all the difference. These tomatoes have a lower water content than most tomatoes, which makes them ideal for baking. Veggies with high water content can turn mushy in the oven. Nobody wants that! That said some people like baked cherry tomatoes in this recipe to use as a finger food for appetizers
4. Creating Level Tomatoes: If you wind up with a wonky tomato half, you just need to flip the tomato over and cut a small, flat slice off of the rounded side to even things out. This is only really needed for tomatoes that are sloped and might lose their cheese when it melt.
5. Cool It! Give them a few minutes to cool to avoid burning the roof of your mouth, and then serve them up warm and fresh.
6. Cheese: Switch up the cheese as you like!
7. Fresh Herbs: Rosemary is my first choice. Basil, thyme, chives, or thyme all work deliciously!
8. Dried Herbs: No fresh herbs, no worry! Use a sprinkle of my favorite Italian seasoning.
9. Spice It Up! Add red pepper flakes to the oil before applying.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the recipe | Calories: 78kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 202mg | Potassium: 112mg | Vitamin A: 442IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 153mg

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Updated 2/20/25

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