This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
These marinated tomatoes were on the menu at last weeks church potluck, made by Maria K. who is in charge of the church kitchen, and all of the ladies jotted down the recipe! These are scrumptious and are often served at Slavic weddings. We couldn’t wait to make a batch of our own and boy oh boy they tasted good!
Store-bought firm Roma tomatoes work really well for this marinated tomatoes recipe or a variety of firm homegrown tomatoes. It makes an especially striking dish when you mix different colored tomatoes.
Prepping the tomatoes is faster and simpler than it seems. The skins come of easily after blanching in hot water. Also, Marinated tomatoes keep really well in the refrigerator. We are all about make-ahead recipes! 🙂
Ingredients for Marinated Tomatoes:
6 lbs firm Roma tomatoes
1 liter water
28 oz ketchup
2 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 small bunch Dill
1/3 bunch Parsley
1/3 bunch Cilantro
8-10 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped (not pressed)
How to Make Marinated Tomatoes:
1. Boil a large pot of water. Rinse tomatoes and place them in a large pot or bowl. Pour boiling water over tomatoes, place a plate over the top to submerge them in water and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Drain tomatoes, reserving 1 liter of water and set water aside to cool. Use a small paring knife to remove skins. Quarter tomatoes and place into a deep bowl.
2. Use reserved 1 liter of warm (not hot) water and stir in: 28 oz ketchup, 2 Tbsp kosher salt, 2 Tbsp sugar, chopped dill, parsley, cilantro, and garlic.
3. Pour over tomatoes making sure tomatoes are completely covered with liquid. Jiggle the bowl to distribute sauce but avoid stirring so tomatoes stay firm. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
Marinated Tomatoes Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water. Rinse tomatoes and place them in a large pot or bowl. Pour boiling water over tomatoes, place a plate over the top to submerge them in water and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Drain tomatoes, reserving 1 liter of water and set water aside to cool. Use a small
- paring knife to remove skins. Quarter tomatoes and place into a deep bowl.
- Use reserved 1 liter of warm (not hot) water and stir in: 28 oz ketchup, 2 Tbsp kosher salt, 2 Tbsp sugar, chopped dill, parsley, cilantro, and garlic.
- Pour over tomatoes making sure tomatoes are completely covered with liquid. Jiggle the bowl to distribute sauce but avoid stirring so tomatoes stay firm. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Note:
Tomatoes can stain in the fridge for up to four weeks. I hope you’ll give them a try ?.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Before making “6lbs is way too much for weird ketchup tomatoes”
After trying them ” I should really make 24 pounds next time so they last a few days”
Ha ha!! Yessss!!! 🙂 I’m so glad you liked them 🙂
Natasha, do you think I can use tomato juice instead of ketchup?
The flavor wont be quite right. I’ve tried substituting with tomato sauce and it just wasn’t the same.
was just wondering if it is necessary to peel the tomatoes?? Also I want to try this recipe, but will have to try to halve it as there is just the Hubs & I… then can add to summer cook out recipes with all the family get togethers. Sure looks like a winner, thanx
Hi Peggy, yes you do need to peel the tomatoes for the sauce to penetrate them and for them to have a pleasant texture once marinated. You’ll find that blanching them this way in hot water makes it really simple to remove the skins. Halving the recipe is just fine, although if you wanted to make the full recipe, it does keep really well in the fridge 🙂
I finally got a chance to try this recipe and I have to tell you – I LOVE IT! I will be making these marinated tomatoes all the time now. Tomatoes are my absolute favorite vegetable/fruit and prepared this way, they are amazing. I love the flavor that the marinade and all the fresh herbs and garlic give the tomatoes, but they aren’t overpowering. I was also so happy that the tomatoes didn’t become mushy but are still nice and firm, just packed with flavor all the way through.
Hi Olga!! I’m so happy you loved the recipe 🙂 Thank you for sharing your awesome review. It’s quite a compliment coming from you! 😉
Hi Natasha! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe with us! I made these tomatoes for church potluck and I have to say it’s the best and simple recipe I have ever tried!!!!! I shared your recipe with many women in church today! Absolutely delicious!!!!
How awesome! A church potluck was exactly how I found out about this recipe – the ladies were all writing down the recipe and my Mom wrote it down too! 😉
This was absolutely amazing. I love that it was a huge portion… it lasted me a whole week. i ate these tomatoes with all my meals. Even breakfast (eggs). So thank you for posting.
I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipe! 🙂
Can Katchup be substituted with anything else? Thank you!
I have tried substituting it with tomato sauce and tomato paste and it just wasn’t nearly as good.
Do you think tomato paste and sugar will work. I imagine it didnt work as well cause ketchup is so sweet, but do you think adding sugar will achieve the same or a similar result. I dont like cooking with ketchup but this sounds very good.
Hi Kim, to be honest, I can’t really say without testing it that way myself. I do know that it wasn’t nearly as good when I tested with a combination of tomato sauce and tomato paste so I did not continue that way.
Question: what is the conversion for Kosher salt? Is it less than table salt or more table salt? I always forget. Thanks
Hi Alina, since kosher salt is larger granules, you want to use more kosher salt than table salt. Think of it as filling a cup with sand (table salt) versus filling a cup with marbles (kosher salt). The marbles have more air between them so there is actually less mass in the cup. This is why when you have larger flakes of salt, you actually need more salt to make up the same amount. I hope that made sense. 🙂 Here is a good salt reference.
Ohmygod that’s such a mouthwatering recipe!! Awesome! How long can I put this in the fridge after I’ve made this?
Tomatoes can stain in the fridge for up to four weeks. I hope you’ll give them a try 😀.
4 weeks? Well I’ll tell you I can’t keep them for more than a couple days before they disappear. Great stuff!!
Ha! That’s awesome! 🙂
Hey Natasha I keep signing up for your news letter but I never get a response back. Either in my email or junk.
Kurt
Ksurette@mac.com
Hi Kurt, when someone subscribes, they should receive a confirmation email where they need to click to confirm. I see you on the list but it’s not confirmed so I went in and manually added you as confirmed :). I send out my newsletters on weekends 🙂
I love this! 1 tip for peeling tomatoes, stone fruit or anything with a similar skin, score an “x” on the bottom before putting in boiling water, it will be so easy to peel :). Works great with peaches when making fresh peach pie with jello. Yummo!
Thank you Yana for the tip 😀.
These tomatoes look SO DELICIOUS! I am such a huge fan of tomatoes, especially marinated, I will be giving this recipe a try.
Thank you Olga! I hope you love the recipe! 😉
Thank you Olga! I hope you love the recipe! 😉
Hi Natasha.. This recipe my sister in law made last year, and those tomatoes are sooo delicious. this recipe will be a hit for you..
Thank you! They really are so tasty 🙂
Natasha, try my recipe, it’s even faster. I am using tiny colorful heirloom tomatoes from Costco, blanched for a minute, following with ice bath, and peeled. Transfer to a tall mason jar or other glass container, appropriate for marinating. Add 1-2 minced cloves of garlic and small bunch of chopped parsley. Pour in Zesty Salad dressing, just barely to get to the top of tomatoes and give it a gentle shake. Ready in couple of hours. Enjoy. ☺
Wow thanks so much for sharing that with me! What brand of zesty salad dressing do you like best and are you referring to an Italian zesty salad dressing? Thanks so much Olga! 🙂
You are welcome, I will hope you give it a try. This is tiny part of sharing from my side, comparing to what you are doing for all of us.
Yes, zesty Italian salad dressing, I usually buy it in Fred Meyer. This method of marinating is nice for mushrooms too. The smaller, the better for this recipe. Just clean them in running water thoroughly, cook them in boiling water with addition of some salt, black peppercorns, bay leaf, for 5 minutes. Take them out using a small sieve and transfer to a mason jar or another glass container appropriate for marinating. Add a bunch of chopped green onion or chives, and few sprigs of dill, finely chopped. Add the dressing, close the jar and give it a quick shake. When cooled transfer to the fridge for few hours. Enjoy. ☺
Wonderful, thank you so so much!! 🙂
hi natasha, this question has nothing to do with this post but i know i’ve seen you post recipes that has poppy seeds in them, so i was wondering how do you grind poppy seeds or what do you use? i have that old Ukrainian hand grinder & its just painful to use it now because it takes so long.
I use my meat grinder attachment for my kitchenaid and push down as they grind which helps. I have also had good results using a clean coffee grinder.
What an unusual recipe…totally love it. The photos are just gorgeous. Will definitely be making these. Pinned. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for pinning! You’re awesome! 🙂 I hope you love it!
These are SO good on a burger!
Oh yum! I absolutely love that idea. I can totally imagine chomping on a burger with marinated tomatoes. mmmmm…
They are just amazing, I make them too but I do them with juliet tomatoes, they are just perfect cause they are small and less work, you don’t have to cut them.
That’s so smart! I totally love that idea! Do you peel them also?
These look great!! Pinning 🙂
Thank you Natasha and thanks so much for pinning! I really appreciate it! 🙂
This looks so beautiful recipe. I love tomato made recipes and this will be one of my favorite recipe. I am going to add this yummy recipe in my weekly menu. Thanks dear for sharing this nice recipe with us. If you have more tomato recipe please share them also.
I hope you you love it! Thanks Malin 🙂
These look amazing!!!
Thank you Leanna! 😉
Wow these look sooooooo very yummmm colorful and tantalizing I loveeeeeeeeee tomatoes in a salad on a sammie or sometimes just to snack on was wondering if I can sub the ketchup for tomato paste pr would it give off a different texture and taste love all ur recipes am hooked on this site have a gr8 weekend hunbun cheers
Thank you Tzivia! 🙂 That just about sums up how I feel about these tomatoes ;). I’ve tried substituting with tomato paste and tomato sauce and it just wasn’t the same.
Ya omg these would be gr8 to make for Passover which is in less than 2 weeks yikesssssss and they would be the perfect starter to a meal ok good to know that tomatoes sauce or paste is not the same like it is with ketchup I’ll stick to ketchup then thanx darlin
You’re so welcome!