The Essential Guide to Tomatoes

Selecting, Storing, and Cooking

variety of tomatoes on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

For many home cooks and foodies, summertime is the season to go all-in on tomatoes. In peak season from about July until the first frost, tomatoes can be a tasty addition to a burger, sliced and served with just a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt, or simmered down into a sauce. This guide is going to dish everything you need to know about tomatoes, including definitions of some of the most popular varieties.

Where to Buy

Tomatoes can be purchased year-round in most markets but we don’t necessarily recommend that. Tomatoes are truly best when they’re picked close to ripeness, which means buying them in-season and local to where they've been grown. Find a farmer's market near you for the most flavorful tomatoes. Out of season, cherry tomatoes and Roma tomatoes will be the most flavorful varieties available and can be found at any supermarket.

How to Store

The usual advice for storing tomatoes is to keep them out of the fridge at all costs. That said, if you can’t afford to make frequent trips to the store or if you tend to forget to eat your tomatoes right away, you do have some wiggle room.

Generally, the riper the tomato the better it can withstand the refrigerator. Tomatoes that will perform the worst are those which have never been allowed to ripen (this results in mealy, flavorless tomatoes). So, if you’ve bought underripe tomatoes, it's better to store them on the counter for a few days, though precisely how many days will depend on the ambient temperature and how ripe they were at the time of purchase. But if you have perfectly ripe tomatoes and aren't quite ready to eat them yet, store them in the fridge for up to a few days. For the best flavor, allow refrigerated tomatoes to come to room temperature before eating.

Apart from the fridge vs. countertop debate, there is also question around whether tomatoes should be stored stem-side down or up. Those who prefer to store their tomatoes stem-side up believe that they will bruise less easily, but there's considerable evidence that storing them stem-side down is better. This is because moisture is lost through the stems so by placing them stem-side down, you're encouraging moisture retention and therefore, preserving their freshness.

Types of Tomatoes

Let’s talk about seven popular types of tomatoes, as well as how to prepare them.

cherry tomatoes on stems laying on a marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are small in size, have thin skins, and can come in a variety of colors—from red, yellow, and green, to a deep purple or blue. They are best stored in cool or room temperature settings, but can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Quarter and toss cherry tomatoes into salads and cold pasta dishes, or simply eat them as a snack. Cherry tomatoes are also great roasted and sautéed. Avoid making a sauce with them because, relative to their size, they have a lot of skin and tomato skins do not soften or break down when cooked in sauces.

Recipes:

red and yellow grape tomatoes on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Grape Tomatoes

Grape tomatoes are smaller than cherry tomatoes and, unsurprisingly, are about the size and shape of a grape. Compared to cherry tomatoes, they have slightly thicker skin and are less watery.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Grape tomatoes can generally be used interchangeably with cherry tomatoes. They're great served fresh or cooked, though if you're going for the latter you'll want to use a light touch—blistered or sautéed is best.

Recipes:

Roma tomatoes on stem laying on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Roma Tomatoes

Roma tomatoes are an Italian plum variety. Just like San Marzano tomatoes, they’re meaty, have fewer seeds, and have thin skins.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Roma tomatoes are great for making sauces since, among other favorable characteristics, they have a low water content. This means that sauces made with Romas do not have to be simmered as long. Roma tomatoes are also great for using in fresh salsas since, again, their meatiness means they won’t water down recipes.

Recipes:

Beefsteak tomatoes on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Beefsteak Tomatoes

There are many varieties of beefsteak tomatoes but what they all share in common is their hefty size. Beefsteaks have a high seed count and can come in many colors, though red is the most common hue.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Due to all that tasty seed jelly, beefsteak tomatoes are best sliced and used fresh. They’re perfect atop burgers and sandwiches or cored and stuffed.

Recipes:

Green tomatoes on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Green Tomatoes

Green tomatoes are, indeed, underripe tomatoes. As a result, they’re tart, firm, and have fewer seeds than red tomatoes. You may also find tomatoes that are green when ripe, such as the Green Zebra variety. For more information, see Heirloom Tomatoes, below.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Because of their firm texture and low seed count, green tomatoes can be handled a little more roughly than their ripe counterparts. This means they can be fried, made into chutney, and heck, even pie!

Recipes:

redish brown and green Kumato tomatoes on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Kumato Tomatoes

Kumato tomatoes are generally milder and sweeter than other tomatoes and are deep brown in color with red or green marbling. Overall, they're a great-tasting tomato but they are more costly than average.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Kumato tomatoes can be swapped for nearly any fresh tomato in recipes. While you can cook with them, both their unique color and higher price tag make them better for raw preparations.

Recipes:

yellow, red, and green striped heirloom tomatoes on marble surface

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated so their reproduction isn’t controlled by humans but instead, by other factors like birds and wind. They range wildly in color, size, and shape and when they’re good, boy are they good. That said, the term “heirloom” isn’t regulated so be careful to buy from someone you trust, like a vendor at a local farmer’s market.

Best Way to Enjoy:

Because of their intriguing appearance and rich flavor, heirloom tomatoes should be front and center wherever they’re used. 

Recipes: