If you’ve brought home substandard tomatoes — hard, flavorless, or underripe — all is not lost. They’re technically fruit, so most common tips for helping fruit ripen faster work on tomatoes, too. Even so, you’re looking at a day or two at minimum before they taste like they should. So what do you do if your meal plans call for ripe tomatoes today? Here’s a trick that can give you tasty tomatoes in about an hour.
Peak Tomato Flavor in 60 Minutes
Home cook and content creator Corre Larkin (@CocoLarkinCooks) has earned thousands of likes for this ingenious tomato hack. Faced with tomatoes that just weren’t good enough, she improvised. Larkin cut her disappointing tomatoes into large pieces and dropped them into a gallon-sized zipper-seal bag. Then she added flaky salt, a few cloves of crushed garlic, olive oil, and several sprigs of fresh oregano before sealing the bag.
She squished the tomatoes gently to make sure the marinade reached every nook and cranny, then set the bag outside in direct sunlight. (Larkin specifically placed it on a sun-warmed stone countertop, but any heat-absorbing surface will do.) An hour later, she brought in the warm, well-marinated tomatoes and cut them up for her meal. That hour marinating in the warm sun made all the difference, taking the tomatoes from bland to bold.
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Why This Works
This is a smart hack in a lot of ways. First, when Larkin gently massaged the tomatoes, she released some of their juices to mix with the aromatic ingredients. Second, salt draws moisture from the tomatoes into the marinade before pulling those seasoned juices back in — much like brining chicken. Third, salt, garlic, and oregano are all proven partners for tomatoes. Finally, warming the tomatoes gradually helps bring out their natural flavor.
Want to make the technique your own? Swap the oregano for another fresh herb, such as thyme, basil, or dill, or use an herb-infused olive oil. If your tomatoes are really bland, add a splash of mild vinegar — cider, wine, or rice vinegar — to the marinade for acidic brightness, plus a pinch of sugar to bring out the tomatoes’ sweetness.
