Fermented Cherry Tomatoes

By : YogurtHydro | 9 Comments | On : November 9, 2015 | Category : Fermentation, Food, Lacto-fermentation, Probiotic, Recipes

Lacto-Fermented Cherry Tomatoes

There were 4 varieties of cherry tomatoes in my garden last year. Everyday I’d head out to collect a bowl of them, and by the time I got back to the house, it was closer to half a bowl.

I did not think they could get any tastier than straight from the garden – but I was wrong.

I don’t say this lightly – mainly because I never use this phrase – fermented cherry tomatoes are the bomb!

You don’t have to chop anything and it can be considered a finished ferment within a week, which makes this super quick and simple.

Once it’s done fermenting, you are left with a jar of fizzy bite-sized bursts of fermented flavor in every cherry tomato, infused with garlic and spices.

It was my first attempt at them so I only made a 1/2 pint to test them out. My mistake – now I have to start another batch.

You can easily scale this up (or down) to make as many as you want. The important bit is the salt percentage in the brine to create a safe ferment. For tomatoes you need at least a 2% brine, I used 4%~.

To make a 2% brine, use 5 grams salt per cup of water. I used 10 grams per cup of water.

Fermented Cherry Tomato Recipe

This is from my ‘test-sized’ 1/2 pint recipe. Keep the salt:water ratio the same to scale it up for a larger batch.

Add 10 grams coarse sea salt (or other non-iodized salt) to 1 cup water. Stir to dissolve completely and set aside.

To a sanitized jar add:

2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp. pickling spice (I used a mixture of mustard seed, coriander, bay leaves, dill seed, fenugreek, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, red pepper, black pepper, and cloves)

Fill jar with cherry tomatoes leaving 1″~ headspace.

Add enough brine to cover tomatoes.

Use a fermentation weight to keep the tomatoes under the brine – I used a drinking glass.

Cover with a tea towel or coffee filter held on with an elastic and leave at room temperature for 3 – 5 days.

Cover with a lid and let tomatoes chill in fridge for another 2 days – 6 weeks, whenever you can no longer resist eating them all.
I fermented them 4 days on the counter and a week in the fridge before eating them like bonbons.

Next: start a bigger batch and wonder why you only made 1/2 pint jar the first time.

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