Homemade Sun-dried Tomatoes
Make your own Homemade Sun-dried Tomatoes easily--in the oven! (with information on using a dehydrator, or even drying in the sun!}
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Ingredients
- 3 pounds tomatoes (use as many tomatoes as you would like to process)
- salt (optional; to taste)
- olive oil (optional; to taste)
- dried or fresh herbs (optional; to taste)
Instructions
- Prepare tomatoes by washing.
- Slice tomatoes as uniformly as possible to a maximum of 1/4" thickness. and lay them out on a cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Heat your oven to a low temperature. You can potentially set it from 160 up to about 255 Fahrenheit, but I recommend going with the lowest possible temperature to prevent burning.
- Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over them (optional) and sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Season with spices if desired.
- Place baking sheets into the oven and bake, watching them carefully so they don’t burn. They'll be in there for a while--possibly all day.
- If desired, flip tomatoes in the middle of the drying time (around the 3 hour mark) to make them dry a bit faster.
- The tomatoes are done when they are dry but still pliable (not moist or sticky).
Notes
Technically, you can dry the tomatoes more than stated--they will be a lot less pliable or even not pliable at all. It’s a matter of personal preference, but I love them both ways! The more dry they are, the longer their shelf life will be.
TO MAKE SUN-DRIED TOMATOES IN A DEHYDRATOR:
Instead of using baking sheets, use dehydrator trays. Dry at 125 degrees Fahrenheit until tomatoes are dry, but still pliable.
TO MAKE SUN-DRIED TOMATOES IN THE SUN:
Place tomato slices on some kind of raised screen to dry in the sun. Cover with cheesecloth. See post for more information including drying supplies.