Best Recipes with Tomatoes from Tomato Salads to Tomato Soups and Salsas

Our best recipes with tomatoes include everything from sweet tomato salad recipes from Myanmar and the Mediterranean to recipes for Thai tomato relish and Mexican tomato salsa. We have a tomato based curry recipe and and a tomato based stew recipe, along with recipes for breakfasts with rich tomato sauces and the classic Italian aperitivo snack or tomato and basil bruschetta.

I’ve just bought some sweet plump ripe tomatoes that I’m going to use to make some stuffed tomatoes, a classic Cambodian dish that’s much-loved here and is a remnant from the French colonial period. I was thinking what other recipes with tomatoes I could make, and as I was browsing our archives, I realised how many tomato recipes we had and thought why not share them?

And if tomatoes aren’t in season where you and you can’t source fresh tomatoes, we also have lots of recipes using canned tomatoes, one of my favourite pantry staples, and in some cases you swap out fresh tomatoes for tin tomatoes, especially tinned whole tomatoes or canned cherry tomatoes.

Now before I tell you more about our best recipes with tomatoes, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo. You could buy a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; book a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or buy something on Amazon, such as a cookbook for culinary travellers or classic cookbook for serious cooks.

Looking for more cooking inspiration? We’ve got thousands of recipes in our archives from around the world from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. And note that you can save your favourites in a private account by clicking on the heart on the right of posts. Now let me tell you all about our best recipes with tomatoes.

Best Recipes with Tomatoes from Tomato Salads to Tomato Soups and Salsas

Our best recipes with tomatoes, from our easy cherry tomato salad recipe to our authentic Andalusian style gazpacho and more.

Caprese Salad Recipe for an Italian Tomato, Buffalo Mozzarella and Basil Salad

Our Caprese salad recipe makes a classic Italian tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil starter from Italy’s Capri and Campania region – with two tweaks: we use vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, which are sweeter, and bocconcini, which are smaller balls of buffalo mozzarella. Better for feeding a crowd and a better side if serving with a main – although traditionally insalata Caprese is an appetiser, so don’t tell your Italian friends!

If you love Italian food and the classic Italian Caprese salad made with the big juicy beefsteak tomato (pomodoro) and buffalo mozzarella (mozzarella di bufala), which traditionally come as larger balls of rich creamy fresh mozzarella, you’ll love our Caprese salad recipe.

Caprese Salad Recipe for an Italian Tomato, Buffalo Mozzarella and Basil Salad

Easy Cherry Tomato Salad Recipe for a Taste of Summer on the Mediterranean

This is the best tomato salad recipe if you want a taste of summer on the Mediterranean and it’s super quick and easy to make – so easy that after you make this you’ll never have to look at it again.

One of our best recipes with tomatoes, the key to making this tomato salad taste so great is fresh, flavourful produce and top quality ingredients: the sweetest tomatoes and crunchiest cucumbers, a grassy extra virgin olive oil, sweet red onions, briny capers, Ortiz salted anchovies, aromatic Italian basil, juicy Kalamata olives, and the best feta cheese you can find.

Easy Cherry Tomato Salad Recipe for a Taste of Summer on the Mediterranean

Shan Tomato Salad Recipe with Shallots, Sesame and Coriander

This Shan tomato salad recipe with shallots, sesame and coriander will make you a sweet tomato salad textured with crunchy purple onions, sesame seeds and crispy fried shallots and garlic, and fragrant fresh coriander.

Mostly made with green tomatoes, the salad can also be made with red tomatoes, and it’s one of our best recipes with tomatoes. This salad is typically eaten as a refreshing accompaniment to rich curries but can also be enjoyed with steamed rice.

Shan Tomato Salad Recipe with Shallots, Sesame and Coriander from Shan State, Myanmar

Greek Salad Recipe for Horiatiki – Traditional Greek Village Salad with Feta

This Greek salad recipe makes horiatiki, a traditional Greek village salad made with Greek feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, onions, and Kalamata olives, doused in a simple dressing of Greek extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar, and a shower of dried oregano. It’s fantastic with everything from grilled seafood to keftedes (Greek meatballs) and souvlaki (meat skewers).

If you’re a fan of Mediterranean food, especially Greek food, make this Greek salad for a side salad or a light yet filling lunch. One of our best Greek recipes, it’s fantastic served with an array of Greek mezedes (dips, snacks or appetisers). Or if you’re looking for ideas for a deliciously simple weekend meal or casual gathering, make this salad, some Greek meatballs, and serve them with tzatziki (Greek yoghurt cucumber dip) and a stack of warm pita bread. Perfect.

Greek Salad Recipe for Horiatiki – Traditional Greek Village Salad with Feta

Cypriot Tomato Salad Recipe for a Simple Summery Mediterranean Salad

Our Cypriot tomato salad makes a summery Mediterranean salad that’s the perfect accompaniment to Cypriot meatballs. Cyprus has a salad similar to the traditional Greek feta salad called horiatiki, but I really love this simple village salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, and red onions, doused in quality extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar.

Just as a Greek salad is a great side dish to Greek meatballs, this simple, summery Cypriot tomato salad is fantastic served with Cypriot meatballs. It’s one of my favourite tomato salad recipes. You’ll love this if you love a simple village salad made with beautiful fresh seasonal produce – such as this Middle Eastern farmers salad and my Russian-Ukrainian baboushka’s garden salad.

Cypriot Tomato Salad Recipe for a Simple Summery Mediterranean Salad

Spanish Tomato and Sardine Salad Recipe for Ensalada de Tomate y Sardinas

This Spanish tomato and sardine salad recipe for ensalada de tomate y sardinas makes a salad from Southern Spain that’s enormously popular in summer, although you can happily eat this salad year-round if you can source good tomatoes. Sweet tomato wedges and sardines are scattered with sliced shallots, salty capers, Spanish green olives, fresh parsley, and a zingy vinaigrette.

Just before you’re ready to serve, shower the salad with parsley, sprinkle on a little sea salt, and grind on some freshly cracked black pepper. Distribute the salad between plates or serve it at the centre of the table with crusty sourdough bread to mop up the juices. It’s also wonderful piled on warmed Turkish bread, toasted sourdough or even homemade croutons.

Spanish Tomato and Sardine Salad Recipe for Ensalada de Tomate y Sardinas

Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe Inspired by the Classic Italian Salad from Capri

Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe Inspired by the Classic Italian Salad from Capri

Refreshing Watermelon Tomato Halloumi Salad Recipe from Cyprus

This watermelon tomato halloumi salad recipe makes a refreshing summer salad from Cyprus which you’ll come across in many iterations across the Mediterranean. Aside from being incredibly delicious and cooling, this light yet filling salad comes together quickly, is super versatile, and can be eaten on its own or as a fantastic side to fish or seafood, roast chicken or barbecued meats.

I know some baulk at combining tomatoes and watermelon, but tomatoes are a fruit, after all. Both are juicy fruits, but while cherry tomatoes burst in the mouth, chilled watermelon pieces melt deliciously, especially on a sweltering day. The salty chewy slices of pan-fried halloumi provide a wonderful contrast of texture and flavours, while the red onion or purple shallots bring crunch and bite, and the herbs give fragrance and freshness.

Refreshing Watermelon Tomato Halloumi Salad Recipe from Cyprus

Panzanella Salad Recipe for a Tuscan Bread Tomato Salad that Tastes of Italy

This easy panzanella salad recipe makes the delicious Tuscan style bread and tomato salad that tastes of summer in Italy. One of the best recipes for using up stale bread, a panzanella salad was in fact a bread salad with onions and cucumbers before tomatoes arrived in Italy, and it makes use of stale bread, the hallmark of povera cucina, the no-waste cooking of the countryside. A traditional recipe, it’s versatile – just don’t tell your Italian friends!

As with any cuisine, but especially Italian, always use the freshest and best quality ingredients you can afford and source. In the case of this panzanella salad recipe, of special importance are the tomatoes – make sure they’re sweet, ripe, plump tomatoes – and the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar work better than white wine vinegar. And, if you use salt, a good quality sea salt.

Panzanella Salad Recipe for a Tuscan Bread Tomato Salad that Tastes of Italy

Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Traditional Lebanese Village Salad

This classic fattoush salad recipe makes a traditional Lebanese village salad of ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, zingy radishes, and fresh fragrant herbs, tossed in a delightful salad dressing distinguished by the beloved Middle Eastern ingredients of pomegranate arils and ground sumac, and textured with crispy pita chips.

Like a traditional farmers salad, fattoush is typically eaten with Middle Eastern mezze and grilled meats, which makes it perfect for those in the southern hemisphere gearing up for a season of summertime barbecues. See our recipes for beef kofta, hummus and baba ganoush, and our summer salad recipes here.

Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Traditional Lebanese Village Salad

Cherry Tomato Burrata Salad with Asparagus, Basil Pesto and Dukkah

Tomato and white cheese is one of those wonderfully perfect flavour combinations that appear in so many fantastic tomato salads around the world – from a traditional Greek salad of tomatoes with feta to a classic Italian Caprese salad with tomatoes and mozzarella. If you’re also a fan of that ingredient pairing, you’ll love this tomato burrata salad recipe.

My recipe calls for asparagus spears, which, like the cherry tomatoes, are quickly pan fried in olive oil, or extra virgin olive oil for even more flavour, to add crunch and fresh flavour. I spoon on dollops of basil pesto (homemade or store-bought), drizzle on good extra virgin olive oil (or this classic vinaigrette), and sprinkle on some dukkah, that Middle Eastern nut, seed and spice condiment, for more crunch and flavour.

Cherry Tomato Burrata Salad with Asparagus, Basil Pesto and Dukkah

Greek Style Blistered Cherry Tomatoes on Goat Cheese Recipe

If you have a glut of cherry tomatoes, you must try this recipe for blistered cherry tomatoes pan-roasted in olive oil, garlic and herbs, piled on goat’s cheese, and drizzled with even more gorgeous extra virgin olive oil. It makes a classic Greek mezze, a snack, starter or side dish that’s served as one of an array of appetisers.

Fry the cherry tomatoes in a pan, then serve them atop goat’s cheese. With more time you could slow-roast the cherry tomatoes in the oven, but they’re just as delicious done on the stovetop. If you like this, try our whipped feta and cucumber salad recipe.

Greek Style Blistered Cherry Tomatoes on Goat Cheese Recipe

Savoury French Toast Recipe with Pan-Fried Cherry Tomatoes, Feta Cheese and Fresh Herbs

This savoury French toast recipe is one of our best recipes with tomatoes. It makes classic French toast – fried bread that’s been soaked in a beaten egg and milk mixture – flavoured with garlic, onion, sea salt, pepper, and a little chilli, piled with pan-fried sweet cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and fragrant dill. It’s a fabulous weekend breakfast, brunch or lunch dish.

Savoury French Toast Recipe With Pan-Fried Cherry Tomatoes, Feta Cheese and Fresh Herbs

Mexican Huevos Rancheros Recipe with Mexican Chorizo and Tomato Salsa

This traditional Mexican huevos rancheros recipe with Mexican chorizo and tomato salsa makes the classic Mexican ‘ranch eggs’, a breakfast staple in Mexico. A tomato salsa is enriched with soft spicy chorizo sausage and combined with fried eggs with runny egg yolks laid on warm tortillas. It makes a hearty flavourful Mexican breakfast dish and it’s easily one of our best recipes with tomatoes.

Mexican Huevos Rancheros Recipe with Mexican Chorizo for the Best Mexican Breakfast

North African Chakchouka Recipe for Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce

This North African chakchouka recipe makes poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce. While it’s thought that this recipe comes from Tunisia, chakchouka (also written as shakshuka) is found right across North Africa and we’ve eaten it everywhere from Morocco to the Levant during our years living in the Middle East.

North African Chakchouka Recipe for Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce

Eggs in Purgatory Recipe from Southern Italy, The Calabrian Rendition

This eggs in purgatory recipe for uova al purgatorio in Italian makes the Calabrian rendition of this Southern Italian specialty. A centuries-old dish of soft poached eggs in a rich tomato sauce, the dish originated in Naples.

The secret to this spicy iteration of that family favourite is ’nduja, the spreadable, spicy sausage from Spilinga in Italy’s southernmost province. In Calabria it’s also known as uova fra diavolo (eggs between the devil) and uova ca ’nduja (eggs with spicy Calabrian sausage).

Eggs in Purgatory Recipe from Southern Italy – The Calabrian Rendition of Eggs with Spicy Nduja

Thai Fried Egg Salad Recipe for Yam Khai Dao, a Crispy Fried Egg Salad with Tomatoes

This Thai fried egg salad recipe for yam khai dao makes an addictive salad of crispy fried eggs with sweet tomatoes, purple shallots, crunchy peanuts, fragrant coriander and Chinese celery, chillies, and a salad dressing that’s all at once sweet, sour, tangy, and funky. This is the latest recipe in our Weekend Eggs series on egg dishes from around the world.

Thai Fried Egg Salad Recipe for Yam Khai Dao, a Deliciously Addictive Crispy Fried Egg Salad

Tasty Thai Nam Prik Ong Recipe for a Spicy Pork and Tomato Dip

This Thai nam prik ong recipe makes a spicy pork and tomato dip from Northern Thailand. Served with fresh or steamed vegetables or sticky rice, which you dip into the bowl, nam prik ong is the most approachable of the Thai relishes and dips, not being as pungent or fiery as some. You’ll need a mortar and pestle to make this Northern Thai specialty.

Tasty Thai Nam Prik Ong Recipe for a Spicy Pork and Tomato Dip from Northern Thailand

Classic Tomato and Basil Bruschetta Recipe for the Classic Italian Aperitivo Snack

This classic tomato and basil bruschetta recipe shows you how to make this popular Italian aperitivo snack or dinner starter the traditional way. Another of our best recipes with tomatoes, it’s a quick and easy recipe that relies on little else but flavourful tomatoes, fresh fragrant basil and good quality olive oil. It should not be a potion to ward off vampires.

Bruschetta, which is pronounced ‘broo-sketta’ or ‘bruws-keh-da’ not ‘broo-shetta’ or ‘broo-chetta’,  is meant to be a refreshing aperitivo snack or dinner starter, a palate cleanser designed to get the taste buds activated to go on to your first course of dinner or heavier snacks. Fresh onion and balsamic vinegar? That’s a no.

Classic Tomato and Basil Bruschetta Recipe – How to Make The Italian Aperitivo Snack

Easy Red Tomato Salsa Recipe for a Homemade Spicy Tomato Salsa

This easy red tomato salsa recipe makes a spicy Mexican salsa that I’ve been perfecting since we returned from our first big trip to Mexico and the USA way back in the 90s when we first began travelling abroad.

This easy red tomato salsa recipe is so versatile that we serve it with a big old bowl of chili con carne, with quesadillas and huevos rancheros, with my ultimate nachos, or just as a dip with corn chips, perhaps alongside some guacamole. A sprinkle of Maldon Sea Salt (every good chef’s favourite) really brings out the flavour.

Easy Red Tomato Salsa Recipe – How to Make Homemade Spicy Tomato Salsa

Best Gazpacho Recipe for an Authentic Andalusian Style Gazpacho

This is the best gazpacho recipe for an authentic Andalusian style gazpacho from southern Spain of the kind that you’ll find in cities such as Seville, Granada and Cordoba.

This recipe results in a vibrant orange gazpacho that tastes like a garden salad in the form of a cold summer soup. This chilled soup tastes even better the next day!

Best Gazpacho Recipe for an Authentic Andalusian Style Gazpacho from Southern Spain

Russian Borscht Recipe for the Hearty Home-Cooked Soup of my Childhood

This Russian borscht recipe makes the hearty home-cooked soup of my childhood that my baboushka used to make. The Russian-Ukrainian beetroot-driven vegetable and tomato soup, is served with sour cream and dill and is a filling meal in itself.

We’d eat it for lunch or dinner the first night then breakfast the next day, dunking weighty slices of black rye bread into my Russian grandmother’s nourishing broth. It’s one of my favourite Russian family recipes.

This Russian Borscht Recipe Makes the Hearty Home-Cooked Soup of my Childhood

Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe for a Hearty Broth Inspired by Russian Cabbage Rolls

This cabbage roll soup recipe makes a comforting soup inspired by the Russian cabbage rolls called golubtsi (голубцы), filled with minced meat and rice and baked in a rich tomato sauce. It’s by no means an authentic Russian dish.

My Russian grandmother did not make this, nor did my mother. In fact, my baboushka is probably rolling in her grave, but this cabbage roll soup is incredibly delicious, rich, and hearty all the same, and it’s one of our best tomato recipes.

The Cabbage Roll Soup Recipe That Probably Has My Baboushka Rolling In Her Grave

Easy Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsi

This recipe is based on my baboushka’s Russian cabbage rolls recipe for golubtsi (голубцы) – cabbage rolls stuffed with a savoury minced pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling, and cloaked in a rich homemade tomato sauce.

My easy Russian cabbage rolls recipe is a more petite version (one of baba’s cabbage rolls was a meal in itself!), and as I cook the savoury pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling before stuffing the cabbage rolls, they bake much faster than the larger golubtsy filled with a raw meat mixture. They’re equally delicious.

Easy Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsi

Cherry Tomato Feta Pasta Recipe for a Caprese Inspired Fusilli Pasta

This speedy cherry tomato feta pasta recipe makes a fast pasta dish of fusilli with a light sauce of sweet vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, melt-in-the-mouth Persian feta cheese, and fresh fragrant basil leaves. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, shower with more fresh basil, grind on some black pepper, and sprinkle on some chilli flakes. Pasta perfection.

While that Caprese salad was the inspiration for this cherry tomato feta pasta recipe, I swapped out the bocconcini for Persian feta during recipe testing. While the bocconcini was delish, I loved the additional saltiness that the feta cheese brought to the dish, and I found that Persian feta in oil is softer and melts faster.

Cherry Tomato Feta Pasta Recipe for a Caprese Inspired Fusilli Pasta

Creamy Caprese Pasta Recipe with Cherry Tomatoes, Chicken, Bocconcini and Basil

Our quick, easy and creamy Caprese pasta recipe takes inspiration from the classic Caprese salad of tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil from Italy’s island of Capri. Evoking Mediterranean summers, this comforting pasta with a creamy sauce of cherry tomatoes, shredded chicken, bocconcini, and basil will warm you on a winter’s day. Skip the cream and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to lighten it up for lunch in the sun.

A Caprese salad might not be one of those recipes that make even better leftovers — because it’s hard to beat the deliciousness of a Caprese salad, and how many people seriously leave any on their plate?! — but if you have leftover Caprese salad, there are two things to do with it: make this Caprese pasta salad or Caprese-inspired pasta.

Creamy Caprese Pasta Recipe with Cherry Tomatoes, Chicken, Bocconcini and Basil

Matt Preston’s Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe and the Italian-Australian History of ‘Spag Bol’

This spaghetti Bolognese recipe and surprising Italian-Australian history of spaghetti Bolognese comes courtesy of food writer Matt Preston, who uses 800 grams of diced tomatoes in this rich spaghetti bolognese.

The recipe is from Preston’s World of Flavour, The Recipes, Myths and Surprising Stories Behind the World’s Best-Loved Food, which is a cookbook as much as a myth-busting culinary history that sets the record straight: ‘spag bol’ is not Italian, it’s Italian-Australian.

Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe and the Italian-Australian History of ‘Spag Bol’ According to Matt Preston

Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew from South Africa

This tomato bredie recipe makes a classic Cape Town stew. This bredie (an Afrikaans word meaning ‘stew’) is a slow-cooked mutton and tomato stew. The variety and amount of spices added have an infinite variety of permeations.

This is Terence’s version of the tomato bredie that he learnt to make and cooked our time in Cape Town, and it’s easily another of our best recipes with tomatoes.

Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew from South Africa

Classic Burmese Chicken Curry Recipe for an Aromatic Tomato Based Curry

This classic Burmese chicken curry recipe is another of our best tomato recipes. It makes a fragrant gently-spiced curry that is perfumed with turmeric, ginger, garlic, chilli, and lemongrass.

A rich curry with a moreish tomato-based gravy and a layer of aromatic oil that’s quickly soaked up by coconut rice, it should be served with zingy salads and a relish or two.

Classic Burmese Chicken Curry Recipe for an Aromatic Tomato Based Curry

Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Tomato Based Curry

This Cape Malay chicken curry recipe makes a richly spiced curry from Cape Town, South Africa, that’s typically eaten with aromatic Cape Malay yellow rice, buttery roti, and simple tomato, onion and cucumber sambals.

It’s an incredibly delicious curry that you’ll be sorry to finish, and it’s easily another of our best tomato based recipes. Our advice: make double the amount, as it tastes even better as leftovers the next day.

Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Curry from Cape Town, South Africa

Tomato and Bean Chilli Recipe for a Vegetarian Chilli

This easy vegetarian chilli recipe makes a chilli con carne sin carne (without meat) and it’s vegan if you eat it without dairy accompaniments such as sour cream and cheese.

Another of our best tomato recipes, this tomato and bean chilli is a cinch to make and comes together quickly, it’s full of so much flavour thanks to the spices that even meat-lovers won’t miss the beef mince.

Easy Vegetarian Chilli Recipe for Chilli Con Carne Sin Carne (Without Meat) and It’s Vegan Too

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our best recipes with tomatoes as we’d love to know how they turned out for you.