Canned Cherry Tomatoes Are The Perfect Substitute If You Can't Find Fresh

Even if you're not a fan of an heirloom tomato caprese salad or a prosciutto, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, you've probably still got some canned tomatoes in the panty as one of your must-have staples. There's actually a scientific reason that some people dislike raw tomatoes but love them when they're on pizza and in pasta sauce that has to do with their unusual combination of acidity and umami. Even if biting into a raw tomato makes you cringe, you probably have some whole, diced, or crushed tomatoes in the pantry waiting for pasta night to roll around. But there's one kind of canned tomato that you may have never considered buying: cherry tomatoes.

Should you? Absolutely. Cherry tomatoes are those super-sweet, bite-sized tomatoes that are everywhere during the summer months, and they might even be on your porch or balcony. They're easy to grow in a short amount of time, and just one plant can produce these delectable tomatoes through the summer. When the season is over, you might try to freeze some of those fresh cherry tomatoes, but it turns out that the canned versions are the pantry staple you didn't know you needed.

Why? What sets them apart from some of the other canned tomatoes you might already stock up on? For starters, they're canned whole to preserve their structure and skins, which adds not only to their sweetness but gives texture to anything you use them in — and they're great for many dishes.

There's a lot to love about cherry tomatoes, starting with nutritional benefits. All tomatoes have plenty of vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants going for them. Like other tomatoes, cherry tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, which has been linked to preventing heart disease. They also have anti-inflammatory properties, and are high in fiber and beta carotene. If that's something you'd like to add to your diet year-around, reach for the canned variety. 

They're easy to use, too. And, while you might not be putting them on a green salad, the winter months, when they're not in season, were made for hearty comfort foods like soups, cassoulets, and stews. That's where canned cherry tomatoes really shine, because they add an unparalleled texture and sweetness that you're just not going to get with other kinds of tomatoes. They're also great in dishes like a tomato risotto. 

They make tasty appetizers, from a classic bruschetta to adding on top of focaccia. Use them in any sauce for added sweetness, or chop them into a salsa (this is particularly amazing on fish tacos). And here's another bonus: If you're replacing whole canned tomatoes with an equal amount of canned cherry tomatoes, they'll cook faster since they're smaller. And let's be honest: We can all use a few more time-saving kitchen hacks, right?