I love sun-dried tomatoes and the extremely concentrated flavour that it provides. Now considering my resolve to eat more salads in the days to come, I was looking to find a steady supply of it. However, I hate how expensive they generally are. Now to explore avenues of making it myself, I soon realized that the traditional way of making it is pretty painstaking. But then, a new shiny microwave oven was waiting to be experimented with. Hence, after a few trial and error attempts, I managed to make the perfect jar of sun-dried tomatoes 😎.

Things I used:

This recipe requires just three simple ingredients, and hence can literally be made any time.

1. 12 tomatoes, not too ripe
2. Salt
3. Olive Oil

How to make sun-dried tomatoes in the microwave oven:

• Wash and Halve the tomatoes and scoop out the central seedy, mushy part out. (You can always use them later in curries)
• Arrange the tomatoes on a greased tray, with cut side down.
• Set the Microwave on High for a total of 10 minutes.
• Take them out on the five minutes mark, to let out the steam, pat down the skin and turn them around without squishing them, in that order. The tomatoes might look extremely collapsed at this stage, but that’s perfectly fine.
• Microwave for the rest of the five minutes and check if the tomatoes have been dehydrated amply. The skin should be extremely wrinkly and there shouldn’t be any excess liquid in the tray.
• Let it cool and transfer to a sterilized, air-tight jar. Add in some salt and olive oil to preserve them better.

I am still not exactly sure how long this stays good without any preservative. But I kept them for around 5 days, and they were still perfect.

• Do not add any salt before it is actually dehydrated, as it slows the process.
• Microwave ovens often have a mind of their own, and different ones act differently. So the timing may differ a little for some.
• It is important to grease the tray lightly, or else it becomes rather difficult to take them out later.
• Keep in mind that each piece of tomato will be reduced to around one fifth of its original size, so calculate the quantity you will need accordingly.
• Do not over-crowd the tray and keep enough space for each tomato half to collapse and be turned.

I cannot wait to make a bigger batch very soon 😃. Do let me know if you tried making the same!