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If you’ve got too many cherry tomatoes (like me), and they have skins that are a bit on the tough side, then turning them into roasted cherry tomato confit is a brilliant save. The gentle, long cook in olive oil softens the skins a bit, concentrates flavour and gives you a stash of umami-rich “flavour bombs” you can freeze and use for months.

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Why cherry tomato confit?

Cherry tomatoes can be deceptively firm, especially late in the season or from tougher-skinned varieties. When eaten raw, those skins can feel a bit chewy, even if the flavour is great. But slow roasting them in oil does the following;

Softens the skin so they no longer stand out texturally.
Concentrates the natural sweetness and acidity.
Infuses the tomatoes (and the oil) with garlic and herbs, giving you a ready-made building block for meals.

It’s a low-effort way to turn “too many tomatoes” into something you’ll actually reach for.

A 500ml jar of confit cherry tomatoes ready to pack into the fridge and use for meals.

What “confit” means

Traditionally, confit is a preservation method where food is cooked slowly in fat at a low temperature. With tomatoes, we’re borrowing the technique more for texture and flavour than true preservation. The key points of tomato confit are;

Low temperature, longish cook.
Tomatoes gently collapse and wrinkle, but don’t fry or brown hard.
They’re stored under oil in the fridge (and/or the freezer), not on the pantry shelf.

So while it’s called “confit”, think of it as slow-roasted tomatoes in oil with a shorter fridge life, which can be extended safely by freezing.

A Thermomix weighing a basket of cherry tomatoes.

Wrinkled tomatoes showing they're cooked

What about those tough tomato skins?

This method is perfect for firmer skins.

The long, low heat weakens the cell structure under the skin, so they feel much softer in the mouth.
The skins wrinkle and relax; rather than popping sharply when you bite, they give you a more “melted” texture.
In many dishes (pasta, grain salads, on toast), you barely notice the skins at all – they just add body.
Or if you still don’t want the skins, they’re soooo easy to remove once they’ve roasted.

So, stop side-eyeing that basket of cherry tomatoes and wondering what do to them because their skins are a bit tough, this is a great way.

Food safety and why this is not a pantry preserve

It’s important to be honest about food safety when storing anything in oil.

Tomatoes and garlic sitting in oil at room temperature create an environment where botulism can grow.
This style of tomato confit is not designed for long shelf storage. It’s a refrigerated product with a relatively short life, or freeze for a bit longer.
For safe, longer storage, freezing is the best option at home.

Treat tomato confit like you would any other high-risk, low-acid food in oil: keep it cold, don’t leave it out for hours, and when in doubt, throw it out rather than risk it.

These following 4 images above show you what I put on my tray before slow roasting the tomatoes. They give you an idea of how much of each ingredient I used.

Adding herbs and garlic to the confit tomatoes.

Before you freeze roasted cherry tomato confit

Freezing is where this really becomes a practical “preserve”. The texture and flavour hold up beautifully.

Tip 1: Cool properly
- Let the confit cool completely in its oil after cooking.
- Cooling before freezing reduces condensation and ice crystals forming in and around the tomatoes.
Tip 2: Choose your freezing method
- You’ve got a few options depending on how you like to cook.
Tip 3: Don’t freeze in glass jars. I find freezer-safe bags or containers, plastic, or silicone are best.

Here are the steps for freezing once your tomatoes are cold

Freeze in containers (batch cooking)
• Spoon tomatoes and oil into small, airtight containers.
• Leave a bit of headspace at the top for expansion.
• Label with the date.
• Freeze for up to about 3 months for the best flavour.
Freeze in portions (“flavour bombs”)
• Spoon tomato + oil mixture into bags or silicone cube trays.
• Freeze until solid, then pop out and store the cubes in a container or zip bag.
• Each cube becomes a ready-to-use portion for pasta, sauces or pan sauces.
Separate the tomatoes and oil
• Scoop the tomatoes (and garlic, if you like) out of the oil and freeze them on a lined tray in a single layer.
• Once frozen, transfer to a container or bag.
• Store the leftover flavoured oil in a jar in the fridge or freeze it separately in cubes.
• This is handy if you want to control the oil level when you use them later.

I know, you’re going to ask “can you freeze oil”?

Olive oil (and other liquid oils) won’t freeze like a hard ice block; it turns opaque, creamy or semi-solid in the fridge and firm in the freezer, then goes back to normal when it warms up again. Freezing doesn’t damage the oil’s nutritional value or flavour in any meaningful way for home use, as long as you’re not cycling it through repeated freeze–thaw events.

What to expect when you freeze confit oil

In the fridge, it may look cloudy or have white flakes; in the freezer, it will firm up, sometimes to a scoopable, waxy “butter” texture rather than a glass-hard block.
Once you bring it back to room temperature, it re-liquefies and clears again; this change is physical, not chemical.
Freezing can actually preserve the quality of good olive oil better than just leaving it at room temp for months, because oxidation of the oil slows down.

Practical tips for your confit oil

From a cook’s point of view, freezing the tomato garlic herb oil in small portions (e.g. ice cube trays) is gold: you get instant “flavour cubes” for sautéing veg, finishing soups, tossing potatoes, etc.
I’d treat the frozen oil the same way as the confit once thawed: defrost in the fridge, use within a few days, and avoid refreezing multiple times for both quality and food safety reasons.
If you’re nervous about freezing all of it, try a small batch as a test – you’ll see it comes back just fine in dressings, roasting and finishing dishes.

So yes: freeze the oil and enjoy it. It’s a good way to respect both the tomatoes and your olive oil budget.

Thawing and food safety after freezing

Freezing pauses microbial growth, but it doesn’t magically fix unsafe handling, so we still treat thawed confit sensibly.

Thaw in the fridge, not on the bench. Either overnight or during the day.
The oil will turn cloudy and solid in the freezer – that’s normal. It will reliquefy as it warms slightly.
Once thawed, keep it chilled and use it within a few days.
Avoid refreezing repeatedly. If you’ve thawed a larger container, use it up promptly in cooked dishes.
Don’t leave tomato confit sitting at room temperature for long periods, especially if there’s garlic involved.
Think of frozen confit as a “ready-to-go ingredient”.

Let’s talk about that leftover juice (it’s a good thing)

If you’ve made the roasted cherry tomato confit and ended up with quite a lot of liquid in the bottom of the dish, don’t panic – and definitely don’t throw it out. What you’re seeing is a mix of olive oil and tomato juice that’s been slowly drawn out during cooking. It’s packed with flavour: tomato, garlic, herbs and a little natural sweetness and acidity from the fruit.

Because it’s part oil and part juice, it behaves a bit differently to straight oil. The tomato water holds dissolved sugars, acids and a touch of pectin, so it has more body and “cling” than plain oil. Think of it as a ready‑made, lightly thickened tomato stock that just happens to be riding on beautiful olive oil.

How to store the leftover liquid

Food safety–wise, treat this liquid exactly the same way you treat the confit itself:

Keep it in the fridge, not at room temperature.
Use it within about a week, or freeze it in small portions if you want to keep it longer.

If you like, you can give it a quick whisk or shake before using so the oil and tomato juice come back together a bit.

Ways to use the leftover juice and oil

Here are some easy, useful ways to put every drop to work:

Pan sauces: After searing chicken, fish or veg, add a spoon or two of the liquid to the hot pan and let it bubble and reduce slightly. It makes a quick tomato‑garlic pan sauce that coats whatever you’ve cooked.
Soup and stew booster: Add it to tomato‑based soups, minestrone, casseroles or braises instead of some of the stock or water. It behaves like a light, flavour‑rich tomato stock.
Pasta or grains: Stir some into pasta right at the end of cooking, along with a splash of pasta water, or use part of it to cook rice, barley or farro for a gentle tomato and herb background.
Dressings and drizzles: Whisk with a little extra vinegar or lemon juice to make a punchy warm dressing for roasted veg, or drizzle it straight over grilled meats, fish or bread.

If you want to take it a step further, you can gently simmer the juice–oil mixture to reduce the water content a little and concentrate the flavour before chilling or freezing. Just keep the heat low so you don’t fry it – you’re looking for a soft simmer, not a rapid boil.

What to serve with confit cherry tomatoes

Pasta in minutes – Toss warm confit tomatoes and some of their oil through hot pasta with a splash of pasta water, parmesan and fresh herbs. Add olives, capers or chilli if you like. Tada, roasted garlic and tomato pasta 🙂
Bruschetta or toast topper – Spoon the tomatoes over grilled sourdough with ricotta, goat’s cheese or whipped feta. Finish with a drizzle of the confit oil and a sprinkle of fresh basil.
Pan sauce for proteins – Add a spoonful of confit to the pan after searing chicken, steak or fish. Deglaze with a splash of white wine or stock, reduce slightly and spoon over.
Grain salads and warm vegetables – Fold through cooked farro, barley, quinoa or roasted veg for extra acidity and sweetness. The flavoured oil doubles as a dressing.
Breakfast upgrade – Serve alongside eggs, folded through scrambled eggs, or on the side of a cooked breakfast platter.

Once you’ve made it a couple of times, you’ll start planning your cherry tomato plantings around how much confit you want in the freezer, not just what you’ll eat fresh.