Tomato Confit (Easy Oven Recipe)

Tomato confit is one of those simple recipes that completely transforms an ingredient. Cherry tomatoes are slowly cooked in olive oil with garlic, basil, thyme, and salt until they are tender, sweet, and bursting with flavor. You are left with both luscious tomatoes and an incredible infused oil that you will want to drizzle over absolutely everything.

A Note From Teri

Tomato Confit is one of my OG Magic Elixirs, and it is one of those things that I like to keep in my refrigerator. It takes something so simple and makes it absolutely extraordinary. The tomatoes become sweet, soft, and intensely flavorful, and the oil is just as delicious as the tomatoes themselves. I originally adapted this recipe from the Gjelina cookbook, and over the years it has taken on a life of its own in my kitchen. There are so many ways to use it. Add the tomatoes to pasta, spoon them over chicken or fish, spread them on a sandwich, serve them with eggs, or put them on crusty bread with a wonderful cheese. Then use that glorious tomato-infused oil in dressings, pesto, vegetables, and anywhere you need an extra hit of flavor.

At the end of summer, this is a total must. When you have more cherry tomatoes than you know what to do with, make a batch (or do what I do and double it). It is the exact same amount of work, and trust me, you will use them! But fret not, you can make this Magic Elixir year round with store-bought tomatoes as this is one of my favorite ways to transform an ordinary grocery store tomato into something special any time of year.

What is Tomato Confit?

Confit is a technique where an ingredient is slowly cooked in fat. Traditionally, you may hear the word associated with meats like duck confit, but the same basic idea works beautifully with vegetables. For tomato confit, the tomatoes are submerged in olive oil along with garlic and fresh herbs and gently cooked until they soften and their flavor intensifies. Unlike roasting tomatoes on a sheet pan, you aren’t trying to brown or dry them out. The olive oil surrounds the tomatoes as they cook, leaving them beautifully soft and juicy. And you get a two-for-one Magic Elixir: the tomatoes flavor the olive oil while the olive oil flavors the tomatoes. Do not throw that oil away!

Ingredients

• Cherry tomatoes – Cherry tomatoes are perfect for tomato confit because they become wonderfully soft and sweet while still holding their shape. This is an especially great recipe for using up an abundance of cherry tomatoes at the end of summer.
• Olive oil – You need enough olive oil to immerse the tomatoes. The oil becomes infused with the tomatoes, garlic, and herbs as everything cooks, so it is every bit as useful as the tomatoes themselves.
• Garlic – Smashed garlic cloves add a savory depth of flavor to both the tomatoes and the oil. For even more garlic goodness, add extra cloves and turn this into a tomato and garlic confit all in one.
• Fresh basil – Basil and tomato are simply meant for each other. The basil infuses the oil as the tomatoes cook.
• Fresh thyme – Thyme adds another layer of herbaceous flavor. You can also play with the herbs depending on what you have. Rosemary is delicious here too.
• Kosher salt – Salt brings out the natural sweetness and flavor of the tomatoes.

How to Make Tomato Confit

Step One: Combine the Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place the cherry tomatoes in an oven-safe baking dish. Next, add the smashed garlic cloves, basil, thyme, and kosher salt, then pour in enough olive oil to immerse the tomatoes.

Step Two: Cook the Tomato Confit

Transfer the tomatoes to the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

While they cook, the tomatoes will soften and release their flavor into the olive oil while soaking up all of the wonderful garlic and herbs.

Remove from the oven and allow everything to cool.

Step Three: Store

Once cooled, transfer the tomatoes and oil to an airtight glass jar and store in the refrigerator.

Make sure the tomatoes remain covered with the oil. You can leave the herbs in the jar or remove them, it is completely up to you.

Ways to Use the Tomato Confit

The question really isn’t what can you do with tomato confit, it’s what can’t you do with it? Once you have a jar in the refrigerator, you’ll find yourself reaching for it constantly.

With vegetables: Toss the tomatoes with zucchini or squash noodles, add fresh basil and Garlic Confit, or spoon them over roasted vegetables.

With proteins: Spoon tomato confit over chicken, fish like mahi mahi, pork chops, roast lamb, or beef tenderloin. Mix it into meatballs with fresh garlic or Garlic Confit, stir it into taco meat, or add it to Tinga de Pollo. One of my favorite easy meals is leftover Heroine Chicken over lettuce with some tomato confit.

With eggs: Put it over scrambled or fried eggs or fold it into a frittata. It is such an easy way to make breakfast feel special.

For dressings and condiments: The infused olive oil is liquid gold. Use it as the base for pesto, blend it into your favorite salad dressing, or simply use the oil itself as a dressing. Pair the tomatoes with Green Goddess dressing and crudités, add them to guacamole with Garlic Confit, use them as a garnish for cashew hummus, or mix them into homemade ketchup or barbecue sauce. Chopped with avocado, they make a fantastic avocado relish.

With pasta and grains: Toss tomato confit with pasta, garlic, and fresh herbs; spoon it over polenta; or mix it into a quinoa salad.

On sandwiches and pizza: Add it to a great Italian sandwich, or truly any sandwich. Use it in Eggplant Parmesan or add it to a margherita pizza.

You can even add chopped olives and serve the mixture alongside beef tenderloin or pair the tomatoes with a creamy tarragon chicken. Once you start keeping tomato confit around, you will discover your own favorite ways to use it.

Don’t Forget the Tomato Confit Oil!

This deserves its own moment because the infused olive oil is absolutely part of the recipe.

As the tomatoes cook, their juices mingle with the olive oil, garlic, basil, and thyme. The result is an intensely flavorful oil that can instantly transform something simple.

Drizzle it over roasted vegetables or grilled protein, use it for salad dressing, add it to pesto, toss it with pasta, spoon it over bread, or use it anywhere you would normally reach for olive oil and want an extra layer of flavor.

This is what I mean when I talk about Magic Elixirs. You make one simple thing, and suddenly you have the beginning of a dozen different meals.

Recipe FAQs

Check out these other Magic Elixirs!

1

The Best Garlic Confit Recipe for Garlic Lovers

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2

Marinated Red Onions

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3

Green Goddess Dressing & Dip

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4

Pistachio Pesto Magic Elixir

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If you make this Tomato Confit recipe, be sure to review it below and let me know what you think! If you’re looking for more inspiration, subscribe to my Substack, and follow along on Pinterest,  Instagram, and TikTok to join in all the fun!

Tomato Confit (Easy Oven Recipe)

Teri Turner

Use over the next two weeks for pasta, in a homemade sauce, or anytime you want to flavor enhance a dish to make it more special.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Magic Elixir, Sandwich

Cuisine French

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes stemmed
• 4 garlic cloves smashed
• 1/2 cup basil leaves
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups olive oil or more

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Add the tomato, garlic, and herbs to a small baking dish and season with salt. Submerge the ingredients in olive oil and cook them at for 30 minutes. When done, remove from the oven and set aside.
• After the tomatoes cool, reserve the oil and the tomatoes in your refrigerator in an airtight glass jar.

Notes

Here I have cooked the tomatoes at 350°, which is below the smoke point of Olive Oil.

Keyword tomato confit

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