10 Ways to Use Fresh Tomatoes

Today we’re talking 10 ways to use fresh tomatoes because while tomato season may be over for some, I STILL have two giant bowls of fresh tomatoes, so I’m using tomatoes in #alltheways

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Every year I over plant my little garden with tomatoes. I don’t know how it happens…well, ok fine, correction, I know exactly what happens…there’s this one vendor at the farmers market that literally gives me tomato plants and since I can’t say no to a free little baby tomato plant (it needs a home, right?!?) I end up having an insane amount of tomatoes.

So with a bunch of tomatoes that just turned perfectly ripe and are ready for using, I thought I’d put together a list of 10 ways to use fresh tomatoes:

1. Salsa & pico de gallos – grab some chips and create delicious salsa’s or pico’s with fresh tomatoes. I love making this watermelon salsa,  or how about this rainbow salsa from Gimme Some Oven, and this Mexican hash brown stack with pico from Blogging Over Thyme-definitely need to try that or this pico de gallo recipe from Foodie Crush. I also like to sneak fresh tomatoes in when I make quick guacamole. 
2. Pizza and flatbreads – fresh tomatoes go so perfectly with cheese as a topping for pizza and flatbreads. This pizza with fresh tomatoes from Foodie Crush is calling my name, I’ve been dying to make THIS smoky grilled chicken pita flatbread from How Sweet Eats and this roasted garlic caprese faltbread from With Salt and Wit, and THIS this 4 ingredient tomato galette – it counts as a pizza, right? And these grape tomato tarts…yeah, I make them ALL the time!!
3. Salads – little tomatoes or chopped tomatoes work perfectly on salads! This steak caprese salad as well as this 20 minute turkey taco salad with blistered tomatoes are two favorites I make, and this chopped chickpea Greek salad from Ambitious Kitchen is out of this world good (I made it to bring to a friends’ house and it was a hit) and how good does this quinoa tabbuleh salad from The Lemon Bowl sound?  Another favorite salad with tomatoes that I like to make is to just chop up tomatoes, some fresh mozzarella and drizzle on some pesto – like so:
4. Sauce – roast them up and make them into a sauce! This roasted tomato and garlic marinara sauce from Order in the Kitchen sounds so good! I like to make this parma rosa sauce, it’s one of the best things ever, also did you know you can make your own enchilada sauce?! 
5. Soups – my soup game has been a little lacking, which is exactly why I can’t wait to make this cream of fresh tomato soup
6. In a bake/roasted – you can use them to top a dish, like this Mexican cheesy chicken bake from Real Food by Dad or you could add them in with some roasted salmon OR you could make them with some easy roasted vegetables and sausage.
7. Pasta – is there anything better than pasta with fresh ingredients? How about this roasted garlic butter bucatini with blistered tomatoes from How Sweet Eats or this soba noodles with ground lamb and mint pesto (my mint is also running rampant so this is the perfect recipe for me) from Climbing Grier Mountain or this shrimp scampi pasta from Foodie Crush, I’m pretty much drooling!
8. Condiments – nothing is better than making something homemade, like this 5 ingredient quick ketchup or your own enchilada sauce!
9. Stuffed – something I haven’t done yet is stuff tomatoes, so I’m all about trying these recipes: stuffed tomatoes with quinoa from Cookie and Kate, herb and panko crusted baked tomatoes from Spoon Fork Bacon, and roasted corn and basil stuffed tomatoes from Pinch of Yum 
10. Sandwich topping – think burgers and blts, like this crispy smoked provolone blats from How Sweet Eats or THIS carne asada taco melt from Real Food by Dad or these surf and turf melts, tomatoes are so great for sandwich toppings!

With all these recipes compiled, I’m now so excited to go use fresh tomatoes! What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy tomatoes?