Marinated Tomato Salad

Jump to Recipe

This refreshing marinated tomato salad is the perfect accompaniment to any kind of poultry, beef, or fish. It’s also easily portable for a picnic or barbecue and tastes best when made ahead of time!

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our affiliate disclosure.

This marinated tomato salad is delicious year-round, but it’s especially wonderful in the warmer months. Made with juicy cherry tomatoes, tangy red wine vinegar, and lemony oregano, this salad is refreshing and can be made quickly, thanks to its limited ingredients.

This salad frequently appeared during the summer when I was a kid, and I think I love it as much for the nostalgia as I do the taste. My mother whipped it up quickly as my dad stood outside–hovering over the barbecue and under the blazing sun–grilling up chicken thighs, flank steaks, and burgers.

For years, this was one of those “recipes” I always eye-balled when adding ingredients because it was never really a recipe until I decided to include it on this blog. I had to figure out the exact measurements to publish it as one, but I didn’t need to strain too many brain cells because the few ingredients made it a cinch to put together. It will be a cinch for you, too.

Red onion, olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper round out this simple marinated tomato salad. It’s very forgiving, and you can taste it as you go and alter the measurements to your liking.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Cherry Tomatoes: Use any tomatoes you like, but the firm yet sweet cherry tomatoes are best.
Red Onion: Shallots are also acceptable.
Dried Oregano: This is a key ingredient here because it gives this salad its distinctive flavor.
Red Wine Vinegar: This is another essential ingredient and is preferable to other vinegar.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Be sure to use EEVO and not “regular” olive oil.

How to Make Marinated Tomato Salad

Place all ingredients in a bowl.
Toss everything together and adjust for seasoning, if needed.

Pro Tips

Add the vinegar before the olive oil: This will allow the vinegar to penetrate the tomatoes, whereas adding the oil first could create an “oil slick” and make it harder for the vinegar to cling to anything.

Make the salad ahead of time: Although you can eat this cherry tomato salad right after assembling it, marinating it first will enhance the flavors and pickle the red onions, making them sweeter. It only needs to sit in the fridge for one to two hours.

Transfer the salad to another bowl before serving: As the salad marinates, juices drain from the tomatoes and create more liquid at the bottom of the bowl. If you’re serving this to company and want it to look pretty, use a slotted spoon to transfer the salad to another bowl and discard the leftover liquid.

Suggestions for Variations and Substitutions

Use any tomatoes you like: Grape, Roma, vine, etc., would all work well, but the firm cherry tomatoes hold up well to the acidic dressing. Grape tomatoes are also firm, but I find cherry tomatoes even tastier/sweeter.

Use fresh herbs: You can replace the dried oregano with fresh. Fresh thyme or parsley are also good choices, but they will replace the distinctive oregano flavor of this recipe.

Replace the red wine vinegar with another type of vinegar: You can use balsamic or white wine vinegar, but, like the herbs, they will change the flavor profile a bit.

Recipe FAQs

What are the best tomatoes for salad?

Firmer tomatoes work best for a variety of salads, particularly those with acidic dressings, which tend to break down certain ingredients upon contact. Cherry and grape tomatoes are good choices because they’re firm and can be left whole or (preferably) just sliced in half. Larger tomatoes like vine might work, but they can lose their shape when sliced into.

Storage

Refrigerator

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. It’s recommended to finish these tomatoes sooner rather than later, as they can turn soggy the longer they sit.

More Salad Recipes