8 Easy Healthy Summer Tomato Recipes to Enjoy Now
If you’ve been reading this blog long, you know how much I adore simple, fresh food, and nothing screams “summer” to me more than a perfectly ripe tomato. They’re a vibrant pop of color on any plate and an even brighter burst of flavor. This time of year, when our gardens or local farmers markets are bursting with more tomatoes than we can possibly eat I am always on the hunt for new favorite recipes. There’s no need for complicated preparations when the ingredients are this good, so today, I’m joining some of my best blogging pals to share my 8 easy healthy summer tomato recipes to enjoy now!
Why Summer Tomatoes are the Best!
It’s an added bonus that these little red gems are also packed with healthy nutrients! The lycopene in tomatoes is great for your heart and even helps protect your skin—something we can all appreciate with these long summer days. Plus, they’re loaded with vitamin C and potassium. You get all that incredible flavor with very few calories. What’s not to love? Maybe I need to go on a tomato diet.
How to Choose and Store Tomatoes
Choose local or grow your own– Farmers’ markets often have heirloom varieties that taste way better than supermarket tomatoes.
Look for vibrant color – Red, orange, yellow, even deep purple—choose tomatoes with a uniform, rich color.
Check for firmness – A ripe tomato should feel firm but yield slightly to gentle pressure.
Store at room temperature – Never store your tomatoes in the fridge it ruins the texture and flavor.
Easy Healthy Summer Tomato Recipes to Enjoy Now
We are overflowing with fresh tomatoes at our house and we can’t get enough of them. We have a lot of gatherings here at the ranch, so I am constantly searching for more ways to use our delicious tomatoes. Here are some of my favorite recipes.
Buratta & Fresh Tomato Appetizer
This appetizer is best when cherry tomatoes are at their finest.
I have made several versions of this appetizer but this one from Half Baked Harvest is the best in my opinion.
Three Tomato Brie
This is the easiest imaginable appetizer you can prepare in a pinch if you have a wheel of brie and tomato jam. You can find tomato jam on Amazon here. I like to keep a couple of jars in case I need an appetizer in a pinch.
Three Tomato Brie Appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 7 oz wheel of brie
- 1 T chopped fresh tomato
- 1 T chopped sundried tomato in olive oil
- 1 t capers
- 1 t chopped basil
- tomato jam to taste
Instructions
- Let brie warm to room temperature. Spread with tomato jam, Chop tomatoes & basil. Sprinkle tomatoes, basil and capers on top. Serve with crackers
Traditional Caprese Salad
What’s more refreshing than a traditional caprese salad?
I don’t really use a recipe for mine but Ree Drumond’s Caprese Salad is very close to mine.I took this salad to our friends a couple nights ago for dinner and we all loved it!
Ina Garten’s Heirloom Tomato Feta Salad
This is yet another version of the traditional caprese salad from Ina Garten, her heirloom tomato feta salad. It is also delicious with bleu cheese.
Ina Garten’s Panzanella Salad
This salad is a favorite of our family.
You can find the recipe for Ina’s Panzanella here. It is far and away the best I have tried. I just made it last week. If you make plenty of this and you have some left over it makes a great chilled gazpacho.
Tomato Peach and Buratta Salad
I have not made this salad yet this year and I have no idea why!
This recipe is from Two Peas and Their Pod here.
Patricia Wells Provencal Penne
Patricia Wells Provencal Penne
Patricia Wells Provencal Penne
Ingredients
- 4 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 med onion minced
- 2 plump fresh garlic cloves
- 1/2 t crushed red pepper
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- sea salt to tast
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 28 oz can crushed italian tomatoes
- Grated zest of one orange
- 1 lb tubular pasta
- 1/4 c italian parsley
- freshly grated parmesan or pecorino
Instructions
- In an unheated skillet large enough to hold the pasta later on, combine the oil, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, and a pinch of salt, and toss to coat with the oil. Place over moderate heat, cooking just until the garlic turns golden but not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the fennel, stirring so that the ingredients blend together and are evenly coated in the oil. Cover and sweat for 10 minutes over moderate heat. Toss the fennel with a wooden spoon from time to time to assure that none of the pieces stick or burn.Add the tomatoes and orange zest. Stir to blend and simmer uncovered until the sauce begins to thicken (about 15 min). Tast for seasoning, Remove and discard bay leaf.Meanwhile in a large pot bring 6 qts water to boil. Add 3 T salt and the penne, stirring to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom. Cook until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Combine with pasta and serve with freshly grated parmesan.
I make this pasta year round but it is especially good this time of year with fresh from the garden tomatoes and fennel. Substiture 10-12 san marzano or plum tomatoes for the canned in the summer.
Penne with Sausage, Corn and Tomatoes
Penne with Sausage, Corn, Tomatoes and Basil
Penne with Sausage, Corn, Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients
- 12 oz. penne or any pasta you have on hand
- Kosher salt
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. aidells italian sauasage or similar
- 3 garlic cloves grated
- 4 sprigs basil plus 1 cup leaves for serving
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 2 cups fresh cooked corn kernels from about 2 ears
- 4 oz. Parmesan coarsely grated,
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 c sliced green onions
- 1 1/2 c grape tomatoes, more if you like
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; drain, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid.Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot over medium-high. Add sausage, pepper flakes ,and corn, cook, just until warmed. Add tomatoes,green onions, basil, and l c pasta cooking liquid just until heated through. Serve with freshly grated parmesan and a little chopped fresh basil.
Annie’s Tomato Butter
This recipe makes nine sorry! I almost forgot Annie’s delicious tomato butter.
This tomato butter is a great way to use up bruised or broken tomatos. It is simple and delicious on corn, toast, or anything else you can think of!!
Shop Platters and Bowls
For more fresh summer recipes you might enjoy these posts:
Fresh From the Garden Lunch Menu your Guests will Enjoy
Meal on the Grill When it is too Hot to Cook
I hope you enjoyed reading 8 Easy Healthy Summer Tomato Recipes to Enjoy Now. We are really enjoying our fresh tomatoes from our garden. What types of tomatoes have you had success growing? Now let’s pop over and visit my friends for their favorite summer recipes.
Oh my! I love tomatoes, but I definitely need to up my tomato game! Thanks for these wonderful recipes.
Hi Susan
I just enjoyed a sungold & sweet 100 caprese salad last night for dinner!
I really want to plant tomatoes now. I love them. So many good recipes here. I’m pinning them.
Hi Mary Ann
Do tomatoes do well in Florida? I bet some of our readers would know!!
Cindy! I love all your tomato ideas! We have a ton that are ripe right now! Thank you for including the tomato butter, too! xx
Annie
I wish I weren’t trying to lose weight I would be enjoying that tomato butter daily!
Love this post, Cindy! I’ve been gobbling fresh tomatoes like crazy, and they work together with just about any fresh fruit or vegetable. Ina Garten also has a recipe for cherry tomatoes, fresh corn, avocados, red onion and chopped jalapeños/wo seeds. I had that and a grilled chicken breast for dinner last night. Heavenly! xoxox, Brenda
Hi Brenda
I am looking that recipe up right now! Sounds like something that is right up my alley!!
Hi Cindy,
Gorgeous recipes ideas thank you. I am leaving for my local Farmer’s Market right now for heirloom tomatoes and burrata! Happy day!
Hi Francesca
That buratta appetizer is to die for! Whenever I take it to an event, every bite gets gobbled up!
Cindy! I want to dive into every single one of these dishes. Yum! I made your pasta recipe earlier in the week … it’s delicious. And it’s now got a place in my regular repertoire. Love seasonal summer food … especially eaten outdoors. xo
Hi Juliet
I am going to be so sad when tomato season is over! I am taking your appetizer to wine club next week!
Not much better than a ripe fresh tomato.
I made the first appy recipe for friends last week and it was a huge hit!
Hi Gray
Care to share your recipe?
Cindy, I live on tomatoes in summer! These all look so good. I am totally trying the Patricia Wells penne with the orange peel. I love the panzanella one too. You make all your dishes pretty.
This was a great idea. I need more summer dinner ideas! xo
That Patricia Wells Penne is a winner…I had no idea what a great combination the orange, fennel and tomatoes would be! Heavenly!!
For the Patricia Wells pasta recipe, should the fennel be sliced? Looks yummy.
Hi Laura
I have sliced it or chopped it! It is delicious either way. This is one of my all time faves!!
Half Baked Harvest posted a simple roasted Sungold tomatoes pasta recipe recently. I have those tomatoes in abundance and have made this pasta repeatedly.
Hi Nancy
I do too! I am going to look that one up and make it this week. With our fresh Etto pasta, that sounds amazing!
Cindy,
You are so right there is something about the flavor and texture of a summer tomato, especially if you have grown them yourself. My mom has two cherry tomato bushes next to her back door and everyone that walks in takes a few off and eats them as they walk in.
I am printing a few of these recipes. They all look easy and delicious!
HAve a wonderful week.
Hi Elizabeth
What a smart idea to plant a bush right at your back door!! Thanks for joining us and sorry I zoned out! I took last week off and have been trying to get with it ever since!!