These easy quick pickled cherry tomatoes are a great way to use fresh tomatoes, keep them in the refrigerator, and serve at will.
A cherry tomato is packed with Vitamin C and can enhance your immunity and act as an antioxidant. While cherry tomatoes are miniature sizes of the real deal, they are just as powerful.
They are also good sources of Vitamin A, K, and potassium.
Here are some ways you can enjoy your quick pickled cherry tomatoes:
- Excellent in salads.
- Part of a cheese plate.
- Halved and tossed into pasta salads.
- Garnishes for gazpacho.
- The brine is incredible in a bloody Mary.
- Try pickled tomatoes as a garnish for a martini.
Pickled Tomatoes You’ll Love
With Spring here and gardens sprouting up all over the South, it won’t be long before you can gather your own cherry tomatoes or buy them from a local farmer’s market.
These fresh and wholesome crimson veggies are not only pretty in an array of southern dishes but good for your health. A double punch!
You can grow them yourself at home as well. My grandmother grew tomatoes in an old tractor tire for years and years! I still remember biting into juicy tomatoes with tons of salt.
She’d make a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich… now that’s a recipe I need to write.
Things To Remember When Pickling Vegetables And Fruits
- Use only fresh (not frozen), undamaged, and unspoiled fruits or vegetables.
- Always clean produce thoroughly.
- Cut uniform sizes, ideally small enough to both fit in a jar and keep bite sized for eating purposes.
- Prepare and measure out everything (from brine to veggie or fruit prep) before heating the pickling brine.
- Wash containers and jars well and let air dry. You can put quick pickles in any airtight container, but the mason jar is classic.
- This is a recipe for refrigerator pickles – they are not intended to be shelf-stable.
Here’s why you boil the vinegar when doing quick pickles
You boil the vinegar when pickling so that it is hot enough to penetrate the fruit or vegetable being pickled. It’s the same principle seen in making tea. Hot water steeps more intensely than cold water.
Be careful not to over boil. The flavor and pickling comes from the vinegar, and boiling it for too long will cause the vinegar to evaporate.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- Container of cherry tomatoes (enough to fill pint jar), whole
- 2 Garlic cloves, whole
- 1/4 tsp. dill, dried
- 1/2 tsp. mustard seed, whole
- 1/4 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, whole
Here are the ingredients for the Brine:
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
Directions
Directions:
- Wash the cherry tomatoes. You’re going to use enough (depending on the specific size) in this recipe to fill a 16 oz. jar.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, dill, mustard seed, yellow onion, and peppercorn into your jar. Don’t worry that the spices settle at the bottom, they will rise up again and evenly distribute their flavor when you add the brine.
Preparing the Brine:
- Mix the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a stainless steel pan and bring to a boil.
- As soon as it reaches a good boil, pour it over the cherry tomato mixture in the jar until the tomatoes are just covered.
- Put the top on immediately and put into the refrigerator.
Other Quick Pickled Foods You’ll Love!
- Pickled Jalapenos
- Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
- Pickled Cabbage
- Pickled Sweet Peppers
- Pickled Celery
- Pickled Beets
- Pickled Cucumbers (AKA Pickles)
- Pickled Sausage
- Pickled Chicken Feet
Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
Brine
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
Vegetables
- Cherry tomatoes enough to fill pint jar
- 2 whole garlic cloves
- 1/4 tsp dill dried
- 1/2 tsp mustard seed whole
- 1/4 yellow onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns whole
Instructions
Vegetables
- Wash the cherry tomatoes. You're going to use enough (depending on the specific size) in this recipe to fill 16 oz. jar.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, dill, mustard seed, yellow onion, and peppercorn into your jar.
- Don't worry that the spices settle at the bottom, they will rise up again and evenly distribute their flavor when you add the brine.
Brine
- Mix the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a stainless steel pan and bring to a boil.
- As soon as it reaches a good boil, pour it over the cherry tomato mixture in the jar until the tomatoes are just covered.
- Put the top on immediately and put into the refrigerator.
This is delicious. I’m trying my second batch now stuffed mostly with zucchini chunks, onions and just a few tomatoes (the onions were our favorite part!)
Thanks.
I’m so so pleased! 🙂
How long will these last in the fridge?
They’ll last a good couple of weeks. I’ve eaten mine after 3 weeks too 🙂
Just curious if your using regular table salt or pickling salt. Thanks 🙂
Regular table salt is just fine! 🙂
Hi there, do you think you think these would hold up in the canning process ? I have SO many cherry tomatoes right now !
Yes, and let us know how it goes!
Thee best pickling recipe, hands down! I did cherry tomatoes and asparagus and they were both a hit! Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’m out of white vinegar so I’m using apple cider vinegar. I hope that’s ok. Stay tuned. Is one day in the fridge to open the jar enough or should I wait longer?
Hi There! The apple cider vinegar should be just fine. 48 hours is the sweet spot for the waiting time, if you can hold out. Let us know how it goes!
These sound delicious. My girlfriend’s mother used to do pickled green tomatoes for fried green tomatoes but they were so delicious right out of the jar that I learned how to beg real fast. She passed away and I never did get her recipe. I will definitely be trying these as soon as I get the ingredients. Thanks!!!!
Hi Mary, thank you for writing! Please do let us know how you like our recipe!
How long are these good for using this method?
Hi Tina. For these and any of our refrigerated “quick pickles”, we suggest eating them within 2 weeks of pickling. Hope you’ll enjoy!