Quick and Easy Garlic Roasted Tomatoes

These garlic roasted tomatoes are so easy to make, and done in thirty minutes! Summertime fresh cherry and grape tomatoes are incredible, and roasting them is one of the best ways to bring out their flavors. Use roasted tomatoes as a topping or to complement any dish!

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Get ready, because these garlic-infused, roasty tomatoes go with everything! They are delicious on their own, but adding roasted tomatoes to your recipes immediately makes them next-level. And with such a simple cooking process as roasting in the oven?? Done and done.

Roasting tomatoes is a great way to use up excess cherry or grape tomatoes from your garden or CSA. Don't get me wrong -- I have shamelessly eaten pounds of raw garden cherry tomatoes in one sitting (that's right, POUNDS) and thoroughly enjoyed every bite (though I did get a little acid reflux... worth it). But with a lot of fresh produce, sometimes you just need to move beyond raw veggies to enjoy the variety of flavors you can produce (oh, you know that pun is intended). Currently, I do not have access to a garden with fresh cherry tomatoes, but I still buy extras at the farmers market or store just to make garlic roasted tomatoes on the reg.

So, let's get garlicky and roast some tomatoes.

The Ingredients

All you need for these easy garlic-infused beauties are:

• Cherry or grape tomatoes - Whatever you have on hand will work! Garden, farmers market, or CSA fresh are unbeatable when it comes to flavor. That said, I'm not one to turn down a store bought cherry tomato. My current favorite brand is the Wild Wonders tomatoes -- they have consistent quality and are always bursting with flavor.
• Extra virgin olive oil - A veggie-roasting essential.
• Fresh garlic cloves - I used cloves from an entire head of garlic! Basically, the garlic cloves will roast in the olive oil while the tomatoes are collapsing in the oven, allowing them to soak up the roasted garlic flavor.
• Salt - The lifeblood of flavorful food!
• Pepper - Some freshly cracked pepper adds some nice flavor to these roasted tomatoes. Feel free to use ground pepper if that's what you have on hand.

How to Make 'Em

Making garlic roasted tomatoes is exactly as this blog post title describes... quick and SO easy. Now, there are roasted tomato recipes out there that use a low and slow method, which is truly delicious. However! Roasting in a high heat oven for a shorter period of time is just as delicious... minus the required patience.

You'll start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees, and lining a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or aluminum foil (no lining is fine, too). Then, spread the cherry or grape tomatoes in an even layer across the baking sheet, sprinkling whole cloves of garlic throughout, and drizzling with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. Gently shake the pan back and forth or push the tomatoes around to get the olive oil everywhere. Sprinkle generously with salt, and follow up with a little bit of pepper. Boom, you're ready for roasting.

Finally, pop those summer beauties in your oven for about 30 minutes, depending on your oven. You'll know the roasted tomatoes done when the garlic is fragrant and slightly browned, and the tomatoes are slightly charred and collapsed from the heat. You can take them out at 30 minutes, or leave in for another 5 minutes if you want to increase the char a bit more. Once removed from the oven, allow the tomatoes to cool on the pan for a few minutes. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.

Uses for Roasted Tomatoes

Probably my favorite topic of this entire blog post... the many uses for garlic roasted tomatoes!

• Top sandwiches, subs, or burgers.
• Toss into salads.
• Pizza toppings - Whether it's homemade pizza or a store bought crust (my faves are the crusts from Angelic Bakehouse or the sprouted wheat crusts from Whole Foods).
• Add to pasta salad or any pasta dish. Maybe this summer veggie pasta salad?
• Toast topping -- try spreading herb cream cheese and then top with garlic roasted tomatoes... YUM!
• Use as an appetizer -- top crackers or crostini with hummus, cream cheese, or whipped feta, and then scoop some roasted tomatoes on top.
• In quinoa breakfast bowls with a fried egg (trust)

I'm so excited for you to try these! Make sure you let me know in the comments below how you used them in other meals or recipes. Bonus points: roast some peppers while you're at it!

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