Ferment some of your grape or cherry tomatoes for a tangy treat that is full of probiotics!
Do you have a lot of grape or cherry tomatoes in your garden? These may be one of my favorite ferments to date, and they are so easy to make.
Be sure to use water without chlorine when making fermented grape tomatoes since the chlorine may hinder the fermentation process.
A weight on the top of the tomatoes is important to keep them submerged. My post Fermentation Weights: 10 Ideas for Keeping Your Ferments Submerged has some great ideas.
And if you need an airlock, my post DIY Airlock for Fermentation will show you how to make your own.
The basil imparts a wonderful, aromatic, sweetness to the tomatoes. I hope you’ll try this out and let me know what you think!
My two go-to books for fermenting are Nourishing Traditions and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods.
Do you ferment vegetables? What is your favorite?
More Fermentation Posts You’ll Love
Fermented Strawberry Rhubarb Soda
Preserving Vegetables through Fermentation: A Primer
Lacto-Fermented Cranberry Apple Relish
Honey Mustard Salad Dressing with Probiotics
Making Fermented Garlic and Ways to Use It
Fermented Grape Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 quart grape tomatoes
- fresh basil leaves
- 4 cups water chlorine free
- 3 tablespoons sea salt
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes and remove stems.
- Poke a hole in each tomato with a toothpick.
- Fill a wide mouth quart canning jar with the tomatoes to within an inch and a half of the top, adding a basil leaf every few inches.
- Mix 4 cups of water (no chlorine as this will prevent fermentation) with 3 Tablespoons of sea salt.
- Pour this brine over the tomatoes in the jar leaving an inch of space at the top.
- End with several basil leaves on the top to help keep the tomatoes under water.
- Use a fermentation weight to keep all ingredients submerged.
- Place a lid with an airlock on top. If you don't have an airlock use the wide mouth canning lid that came with the jar.
- Leave on the counter with a tea towel over the jar to ferment for 3 - 5 days. If you are using a lid without an airlock release the gases a few times a day by unscrewing and then tightening the lid.
- After 3 - 5 days, refrigerate. Will keep for weeks in your refrigerator.
Thank you for visiting Learning And Yearning. May "the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Num 6:24-26
Debby says
The tomatoes are great in the market at the moment so I will try this and let you know how I get on.
Deb
susanv says
Great! I’m looking forward to hearing what you think
Gretchen says
I’m definitely giving this a try. We have so many tomatoes this year. I am just starting a new homestead related link up, and would love you to join. If you get a moment, come by and check it out! http://www.simplejoyfulliving.com/2012/09/backyard-farming-connection-bees.html
susanv says
Thanks for the invitation!
Joyness Sparkles says
Thank you for this recipe, I will be trying this in the future! 🙂
susanv says
Let me know how it turns out, ok?
Tiffany says
These sound delicious! I’ll have to try them out if I can get my hands on some good tomatoes. We’re about done for the season here in Georgia!
susanv says
There’s always next year. That’s the mantra of all gardeners!
Jana says
Fantastic post, thank you so much for this great information about one of my most favorite fall fruits. A new follower from Deborah Jean’s Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop
susanv says
Hi Jana! Thanks for stopping by; I’m following you back!
Miz Helen says
This is a great recipe that I can’t wait to try. We still have some tomatoes coming from the garden so I will give it a try. Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
kristy @ gastronomical sovereignty says
i’ve never heard of this before! what a clever way to do tomatoes – i love it! to be honest, i’ve always been a bit nervous about fermenting things, not sure why. this seems like a simple way to start though. and why not get a little more tomato in before the season is up, right?
thanks for sharing with us at the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link-up! I hope to see you again this week with more seasonal & whole/real food posts! xo, kristy.
Amanda @Natural Living Mamma says
Thanks so much for sharing this on Natural Living Monday!
I am going to try this. I have some baby tomatoes that need to be processed but I hate to turn them into sauce because I have other tomatoes for that. I will give this a try!
Cant wait to see what you have for this week 🙂
Lauren @ Gourmet Veggie Mama says
What an interesting way to preserve cherry tomatoes! I’ll definitely be trying this with some of mine.
Elizabeth says
I am so new to this, how do I make brine and how do I get it into tomatoes, do I mix the tomatoes with the salt water. I’m trying. Thnks
Susan says
Hi Elizabeth, To make the brine, mix 4 cups of water with 3 Tablespoons of sea salt. Pour this brine over the tomatoes in the jar leaving an inch of space at the top.
Jonathan WOod says
how long do you ferment them for?
Susan Vinskofski says
For 3 – 5 days.
Barb says
Just made a batch and they are going into the fridge now. They turned out great!
Deborah says
I have read that if you let chlorinated water sit for 24 hrs. the chlorine dissipates. Is this so and can it be used for fermentation?
Susan Vinskofski says
I have heard that as well. If that’s your only option, give it a try with a small batch to see how it goes.
Diana says
I have aqariums and fish won’t live in clorinated water. Leaving it set over night does allow the closing to disappate, but there are other chemicals in there so I always use distilled water.
Bill says
If you are referring to tap water as your source you will need to find out if your local water company uses chlorine or the now more common chloramine. The former can be removed by waiting for it to off gas or boiling. The later is a lot more convenient for the water utility company but cannot be removed except via filtration. I am not entirely sure which methods of filtering work best, but I do recall reading that the “pitcher” type filters using activated charcoal do not effectively filter it. The only one I completely recall being effective is a reverse osmosis system (but I am sure there are others).
You would have to check with your local water company to see which you have. Our town produces a yearly water quality report where they name “Chlorine” and there is no mention of chloramine. Found this on my town’s web site.
Happy fermentations!
Bill says
Just picked what is maybe the last two gallons of cherry and grape tomatoes when I stumbled across this recipe. Going to start it over the next few days.
Can it ferment longer than the 3-5 days? With kraut I do 4+ weeks under the impression it takes that long for the probiotics to effectively build up.
Thanks, and I love your sites attitude!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Bill, I prefer not to ferment tomatoes more than a few days as they tend to get mushy. Thanks for the nice compliment!
Bill says
Thanks! Just made a big jar of them – will try them in about a week. Right now I have a pickle pipe on them – when I move them to the fridge will the off gassing slow down enough where I can put a normal lid on em?
Susan Vinskofski says
Yes, put a normal lid on them when they go into the frig. Enjoy!
Annie says
Can you substitute something else for the basil? We are allergic in our house.
Susan Vinskofski says
Absolutely; use whatever herbs you love with tomatoes, or none at all.
Annie says
Awesome! Thank you.