Marinated Tomatoes

These Marinated Tomatoes have a flavorful fresh herb dressing, and this is a perfect way to serve ripe garden tomatoes! I love this recipe with marjoram from the herb garden, but if you don’t have any marjoram, see recommendations for other fresh herbs to use.

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Marinated Tomatoes is a recipe that came from my sister Sandee, after she heard I was growing marjoram in my new herb beds. The recipe came from her neighborhood neighborhood cookbook, and Sandee recommended I use Marjoram as one of the herbs. I’d never heard of marinating tomatoes, so marinated tomato salad was a completely new idea for me.

But Sandee raved about the salad. So I made the Marinated Tomatoes with yellow heirloom tomatoes and fresh marjoram from my garden, and I agreed with Sandee that this is a perfect salad to make with fresh ripe tomatoes!

Fast forward quite a few years, and now I’m living in a condo that doesn’t have a garden space. But recently a friend gave me some delicious garden tomatoes so Kara and I made this marinated tomato salad  to update the old photos. We used those garden tomatoes, yellow cherry tomatoes, and thyme for the fresh herb, and it was just as delicious as the first time I made it.

And summer doesn’t last forever, so if you have fresh tomatoes I hope you make this salad before it’s too late!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• garden tomatoes 
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• White Wine Vinegar (affiliate link)
• green onions
• finely minced fresh parsley
• minced fresh marjoram leaves (or other fresh herbs; see suggestions below)
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link), or minced fresh garlic if you have it
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Do you need yellow tomatoes to make the Marinated Tomatoes?

I love this recipe with a mix of red and yellow tomatoes, and when we updated the photos we used yellow cherry tomatoes with some red garden tomatoes. But if you don’t have yellow tomatoes the recipe will be just as delicious with all red tomatoes.

What if you don’t have fresh Marjoram?

This recipe is a good reason to plant some fresh marjoram if you have a herb garden! But if you don’t have fresh marjoram and don’t want to buy it just substitute fresh thyme or fresh oregano for this recipe. You could also use chopped fresh basil if you have that, but basil is a stronger flavor and both thyme or oregano will be closer to the results from using marjoram. I also think this salad might be good with a mixture of chopped fresh herbs.

What kind of parsley should you use for Marinated Tomatoes?

I know some cooks have a strong preference for flat Italian parsley, but truthfully I love both curly and flat parsley equally, so use the kind you prefer in this salad. And check out Cooking with Fresh Parsley if you’re a parsley fan or have it growing in your herb garden!

How low in carbs are the Marinated Tomatoes?

Tomatoes do have some carbs of course, but this salad with tomatoes and herbs has only about 8 net carbs per serving and 3 grams of protein.

How to make Marinated Tomatoes:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Start by chopping up the fresh herbs. I used thyme, but use a mixture of herbs if you have them. You can also use more herbs than the one tablespoon this recipe calls for if you have an abundance of herbs (depending on which herb you use and how much you like that flavor.)
2. Chop the parsley.
3. Thinly slice the green onions.
4. I put the dressing ingredients in my Magic Bullet (affiliate link) and buzzed them together, which gave a lovely green look to the dressing and combined the flavors.
5. Wash and dry tomatoes if needed. Just make this with all red tomatoes if that’s what you have.
6. Cut tomatoes into similar-sized pieces, either slices or chopped pieces, whichever you prefer.
7. The red fresh garden tomatoes we used were quite juicy so I drained them in a colander for a minute.
8. Pour dressing over tomatoes, cover with a snap-tight lid, and let them marinate a few hours at room temperature. That’s it!
9. The salad with marinated tomatoes is best the day you make it, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was still quite good after it had been in the fridge overnight.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

Since tomatoes do have some carbs, if you want a low-carb meal I’d serve the salad of Marinated Tomatoes with one of these extra low-carb main dishes:

• Chicken Souvlaki
• Grilled Ginger-Soy Pork Chops
• Rosemary Mustard Grilled Chicken
• Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
• Maple Glazed Salmon

More Summer Tomato Salads to Enjoy:

For all the vegetable gardeners with lots of fresh tomatoes, here are my Favorite Summer Tomato Salads for you to enjoy while fresh tomatoes are still in season.

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Yield: 4 servings

Marinated Tomatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Marinated Tomatoes with a fresh herb dressing are one of the best reasons I’ve found to grow Marjoram! And this is a great way to enjoy fresh summer tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 6 large garden tomatoes (see notes)
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley (either curly or flat parsley will work here)
• 1 T minced fresh marjoram leaves (or other fresh herb, use more herbs if you like)
• 1 tsp finely minced fresh garlic
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Chop the fresh herbs of your choice, chop parsley, and thinly slice green onion.
2. In food processor, blender, or Magic Bullet blender, add olive oil, vinegar, green onions, parsley, marjoram or other fresh herb, garlic, salt, and pepper. Buzz several times until well blended.
3. Wash and dry tomatoes if needed. Cut each tomato in half lengthwise and cut away stem part.
4. Then cut tomato halves into slices. You can cut each slice again to make bite-sized quarter slices if you like, or leave them in slices.
5. Layer tomatoes in a bowl with a tight fitting lid, alternating tomato colors if you have different colored tomatoes.
6. Pour dressing over tomatoes, cover, and let marinate for about 2 hours at room temperature. (You can marinate for a longer time if you need to.)
7. You may want to spoon the dressing over the tomatoes a few times while they marinate if they aren’t all covered.
8. Serve and wait for compliments.
9. I was pleasantly surprised that leftovers from the marinated tomatoes were still quite good when they'd been in the fridge overnight, even though I never like to refrigerate fresh tomatoes.

Notes

Use two colors of tomatoes if you have that option. The combination of parsley and marjoram was delicious, and if you don't have that I'd recommend fresh thyme or fresh oregano. But you can also use any fresh herbs you have on hand for this tasty salad.

When you eat the tomatoes you're not eating all the marinating liquid, so nutritional information reflects that.

Recipe slightly adapted from Our Neighborhood Cookbook from Sandee’s neighborhood in South Jordan, Utah.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 378Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 31gCholesterol 0mgSodium 600mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 4gSugar 7gProtein 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Marinated Tomatoes are a good recipe for any low-carb diet, including any phase of the original South Beach Diet. This recipe is probably too high in carbs for Keto. Tomatoes do have some carbs, but they also have fiber so if you check the nutritional information you may be pleasantly surprised!

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salads or Tomatoes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for marinated tomatoes was first posted in 2008, and I’ve made it many times since my sister Sandee gave me the recipe. It was updated with greatly improved photos in 2022 and was last updated with more information in 2025.

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