Skip to content
Vegetables / Pickled in vinegar

Pickled cherry tomatoes with honey and dill

Peeled cherry tomatoes in a sweet-and-sour pickling liquid with honey, garlic and dill. Adapted from Ann Low’s recipe, also published in Gourmet Living magazine.

Recipe author: Ann Low · Anncoo Journal

Time
50 minutes + 3 days in the fridge
Makes
1 batch (500 g cherry tomatoes)
Season and ingredients
Ripe, firm cherry tomatoes
Method
Quick vinegar pickling
Jump to the instructions ↓Ingredients and their stories ↓Download printable PDF
Pickled cherry tomatoes with honey and dill · Serving suggestion
Serving suggestion

Storage

Keep in clean, closed jars in the fridge.

Instructions

Download printable PDF

Recipe card to download and print

0 / 4 steps completed

  1. Blanch and peel

    Wash the tomatoes and score a shallow cross in the base of each. Blanch in batches in boiling water for 15–20 seconds. As soon as the skins split, transfer to ice-cold water, then peel.

  2. Pack the jars

    Divide the tomatoes, dill and garlic between thoroughly washed, scalded jars.

  3. Make the pickling liquid

    Bring the 350 ml drinking water, vinegar and salt to the boil. Stir in the honey and simmer for 3 minutes.

  4. Cool and refrigerate

    Pour the hot pickling liquid over the tomatoes and close the jars. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 days before serving.

Tips

Wash the jars and lids with washing-up liquid and rinse well. Following the author’s instructions, immerse them in boiling water for 2 minutes, then turn upside down to dry.

Ann Low confirms that tap water is suitable if it is safe to drink. Distilled water is not necessary.

Notes from Fermentarnia

Choose ripe, firm, undamaged tomatoes. You will also need extra water for blanching and ice-cold water for cooling.

These are refrigerator pickles. Keep chilled; the recipe does not include a canning process for pantry storage.

How to serve

Serve as a chilled starter or alongside grilled dishes.

Ingredients / history / science

Discover the ingredients and their stories

What goes into the jar? Where does the flavour come from? Open a topic and explore its sources.

About the ingredientsA berry in the kitchen

Botanically, a tomato is a berry, although we use it as a vegetable in cooking. Its fruit may be red, yellow or orange. “Cherry” describes a small-fruited type of tomato, not a separate species. Choose ripe, firm tomatoes for this recipe.

History on a plateFrom “golden apples” to the pickle jar

Wild ancestors of the tomato came from the Andean region and had small fruit. Pietro Andrea Matthioli described the tomato in 1544 and used the name pomi d’oro, or “golden apples”, in 1554. A USDA bulletin from 1924 listed green tomatoes among vegetables suitable for fermenting and salting.

How it worksVinegar works differently from fermentation

Apple cider vinegar provides the sour flavour in this recipe. In lactic fermentation of vegetables, bacteria produce lactic acid. Do not leave out the vinegar: these tomatoes are a refrigerator pickle, not fermented tomatoes.

A closer lookWhere the acidity comes from

The apple cider vinegar supplies acetic acid to this marinade. Unlike fermented tomatoes, these tomatoes do not need bacteria to develop their sour flavour. The hot liquid is part of preparing the pickle; this recipe still calls for refrigerator storage.

Recipe sources

This recipe is based on the sources listed above.

Recipes

What will you make next?

Spiced Pickled Jerusalem Artichokes · Recipe ingredient: fresh Jerusalem artichoke tubers.01New / unusual
Vegetables · Pickled in vinegar

Spiced Pickled Jerusalem Artichokes

Crunchy tubers with turmeric and a sweet, tangy spiced pickling liquid. This tested recipe uses vinegar and boiling-water canning, rather than fermentation.

24 hours of soaking + about 60 minutes of preparation + 12–24 hours of cooling
Pickled green beans with horseradish and lemon · Serving suggestion02New / unusual
Vegetables · Pickled in vinegar

Pickled green beans with horseradish and lemon

Green beans pickled with chilli, horseradish and lemon, from Hege Marie Köster’s recipe in essen & trinken magazine.

30 minutes prep + 90 minutes cooking + 2 weeks maturing
Japanese pickled watermelon rind · Serving suggestion03New / unusual
Vegetables · Pickled in vinegar

Japanese pickled watermelon rind

Crisp white watermelon rind in a sweet-and-sour marinade with soy sauce and sesame oil. From Namiko Hirasawa Chen’s recipe at Just One Cookbook.

20 minutes prep + 2–3 hours chilling
Back to all recipes