These Fresh Tomato Recipes Are the Perfect Summer Dishes

While this dish is exceptional when using peak season tomatoes, which need virtually no cooking to maximize their inherently deep and balanced flavor, you may need to boost the flavor of off-season tomatoes with extra salt or a hit of sherry vinegar or lemon.

“This recipe is perfect for a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. It’s an oldie but a goodie. Some call it Southern pizza, and I believe they are right,” declares South Carolina-born Angeleno restaurateur Ari Kolender.

This party-worthy main course is one of the best uses of peak-season tomato and corn we’ve ever tried. It’s a bit cheffy to make corn broth with leftover corn cobs, but it adds a layer of flavor you can’t get otherwise. If that’s one step too many, feel free to skip! You can make the curry the morning of your party or a day ahead.

Tomato water requires you to plan a day ahead, but the mixture adds another layer of tomato flavor to this pretty grilled salad from Los Angeles restaurant Yangban Society.

You can make this tart with any ripe tomatoes, but a mix of big multicolor heirlooms and smaller varieties looks stunning. To create a crisp, flat surface, partially bake the puff pastry with a cooling rack on top before adding the other ingredients.

Chef Brandon Jew cold-smokes his tofu for 30 minutes, but we arrived at a similar result using smoked olive oil.

This minimalist salad from Seattle’s Tomo is all about the maximalist dressing: roasted tomato vinaigrette. It requires a multi-step process that yields a vinaigrette that’s deeply flavored thanks to the roasted tomato water and the addition of Yondu, a prepared sauce loaded with umami-packed fermented vegetables that’s easily found online. While it’s a bit of a project, this makes 1 1⁄2 quarts of vinaigrette. Freeze in batches to use over the next couple of months.

Ripe summer tomatoes meet a hearty helping of seafood for a soup that’s substantial enough to call dinner. Grill up slices of country bread brushed with olive oil to eat on the side.

You’ll love the classic Italian flavors of this grilled chicken, and the caprese salsa with sweet, tart grape and cherry tomatoes is the perfect accompaniment to the charred flavor from the grill.

Farm-raised rainbow trout are one of the most sustainable fish you can buy. Butterflied, they cook in minutes, and their rich but delicate flavor takes the BLT to a new level.

For this summery pasta, chef, author, and cooking teacher Samin Nosrat cooks down half of the tomatoes into a savory jam, then adds fresh ones at the end. “I like to layer flavors, to have two levels of deliciousness.” If you can’t find ricotta salata, fresh ricotta works well, too–just drain it and stir in some salt.

Home gardener Reed Davis makes this simple soup when his summer garden is at its peak. Chilling melds the flavors.

Chris Cosentino is known for adventurous dishes like this one, a meet-up of mild grilled calamari (squid), fresh produce, and exciting seasonings. He grills the calamari over almond wood plus regular charcoal briquets; for the home cook, he recommends easy-to-find mesquite hardwood charcoal. To make the dish as fiery as Cosentino likes it, use 2 tbsp. black pepper and 2 tsp. Aleppo pepper, and don’t seed the serrano chile.

This more substantial twist on traditional salsa works as an appetizer with tortilla chips or as a topping for grilled chicken or shrimp.

Transform the BLT from a sandwich to a delightful, summery salad.

Tamarind, cilantro, mint, and cucumber flavor this bowl. 


Nigella seeds (also called kalonji) add an oniony flavor. Look for them and for tamarind concentrate at Indian markets and some specialty food stores.

All the ingredients of the classic summer salad go into these terrific grilled sandwiches.

This is the salad to make with tomatoes from the farmers’ market or your backyard, ideally when they’re still warm from the sun. The surprise is the easy homemade cheese.

Ripe tomatoes and juicy chicken, hot off the grill, mingle with herby oil to make a delicious sauce. Serve with warm bread to mop it up. You’ll need a perforated grill pan for this recipe (or use a double thickness of foil, oiled, with dime-size holes poked through about an inch apart).

In the height of summer, you won’t find a better side dish for ribs than this deceptively simple combination of peak-season produce. Try bringing it to a party, too.

Linda Wisner of Portland, Oregon uses a mix of heirloom tomato varieties from her garden; heirlooms are available in many farmers’ markets. Toast the baguette slices up to one day ahead; cool, wrap airtight, and store at room temperature. Prepare tomatoes up to one hour ahead; cover and let stand at room temperature.

Ripe, juicy tomatoes, along with parsley, sage, thyme, and garlic, give this artisanal-style bread fresh garden flavor.

Biga, is a yeast-based starter, gives the loaf characteristics of bread made with a sourdough starter.

Chefs from Canada’s Okanagan Valley, in British Columbia, are bringing this simple yet delicious soup to your home kitchen.

If you prefer a smooth texture for your sauce, either peel the tomatoes before chopping them or run the sauce through a food mill before stirring in the basil. You can easily double (or triple) this sauce. It freezes beautifully for up to 6 months.

A refreshing option for dinner on a hot summer night. Ingredients can be prepped and pasta cooked a day ahead of time and chilled (add 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil to the cooked pasta). Toss everything together just before serving.

Serve this easy-to-make, inventive salad with sourdough bread.

These sandwiches are perfect for a summer picnic. Make and wrap sandwiches just before packing your basket.

A briny, flavorful marinade tenderizes and moistens the chicken and also serves as a dressing for the olive-tomato topping. Serve with sliced grilled potatoes if you like.

Marsha Stout put together the ingredients for this salad one hot summer day when she wanted something quick and cool.

The secret to this dish’s success is to use firm tomatoes, such as those sold on the vine. Roast them on a rack near the top of the oven.

Inspired by the flavors of both a Bloody Mary and Italian salsa verde, this easy, bright sauce works with almost any fish.

Refreshing and sweet with a hint of earthiness, this sorbet shows off tomatoes’ fruity side.