cherry tomatoes
Small, round, very sweet tomatoes, typically eaten whole; good raw in salads or roasted until they blister and burst. Their small size means a much higher skin-to-flesh ratio than a large tomato, which is part of why they burst and caramelize so readily under high heat rather than just softening.
Buying guidance
Choose tomatoes that feel firm but give slightly to gentle pressure, with taut, unwrinkled skin and a fresh green stem if attached. Avoid any with soft spots or split skin -- cherry tomatoes bruise and spoil quickly once damaged, given how little flesh separates the skin from the seeds.
Substitutions
- Grape tomatoes -- slightly firmer and less juicy, otherwise interchangeable.
- Any ripe fresh tomato, cut into similar-sized pieces -- match by weight rather than count, and expect more juice and seeds from a larger tomato.
- Sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated -- much more concentrated and chewy, useful for a similar sweet-tomato flavor without fresh tomatoes on hand.
Tips & common mistakes
A cooler oven or a pan that isn't fully hot leaves the skins tough and unburst, since a cherry tomato has less flesh than a large tomato to soften and give first -- they need real heat to blister properly. Left whole in a long simmer, their skins can stay intact and trap the juice inside rather than releasing it, so crushing them first gives a less watery result.
Storage
They hold up well refrigerated without turning mealy the way a large tomato can, since they're usually eaten within a day or two anyway. Let them come to room temperature before eating raw, since cold noticeably dulls a tomato's sweetness.