A Guide to Tomato Varieties

From tiny red orbs to enormous fruits the size of a fist or bigger, tomatoes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors—yes, colors. If you haven’t explored tomato varieties beyond standard round and red fruits, it’s time to broaden your horizons. Each type has its unique flavor, amount of water content, and appearance, so mixing a range of tomatoes in even a simple sliced tomato salad can take this perfect summer dish to the next level. We connected with chefs and produce pros to learn more about the bounty of glorious tomatoes—common and unique—to look for at your local farmstands or store.

Common Tomato Varieties

While there are thousands of tomato varieties out there, some are more common than others. Below are some of the most popular types you’ll likely encounter at your local market.

Red Beefsteak

Red beefsteak tomatoes are round but slightly squat. “When they are at their ripest, they are heavy with juice and 3 to 4 inches in diameter,” says Ronna Welsh, the author of The Nimble Cook and the chef/owner of Purple Kale Kitchenworks in Brooklyn, NY. “The seed cavities of the beefsteak are large enough to poke your finger into.” Other distinguishing characteristics include:

• Juicy and packed with classic flavor: Because they’re larger, red beefsteak tomatoes are generally less sweet than smaller varieties but still have a robust flavor profile. “Red beefsteak tomatoes are super flavorful and super juicy,” says Rebekah Alstede, production supervisor and co-owner of Alstede Farms in Chester, NJ.
• Uses: “It’s that typical tomato flavor that you’re looking for—not overly sweet, but not necessarily bitter either,” says Alstede. It’s perfect for slicing; add a generous heap to BLTs and hamburgers.

Campari Tomatoes

Also known as cocktail tomatoes, Campari tomatoes are smaller than beefsteak tomatoes but bigger than cherry tomatoes. Generally, these vibrant red tomatoes are about 2 to 4 inches wide. Here’s what else set them apart:

• By the bunch: Cocktail tomatoes, specifically, are normally sold still on the vine, says Alstede. “So, they’re usually found in clusters of six to eight.”
• Recipe-ready: Campari tomatoes are known for their super sweet and juicy flavor, and their size makes them versatile for recipes. “They don’t have a ton of seeds in them, which makes them really great for using in cocktails, like Bloody Marys,” says Alstede. “Or you can even use them in sauces or roast them.”

Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes are a category of tomato, and vary in size and in shape and color. They are old-fashioned tomatoes with interesting names such as Brandywine, Kellogg’s breakfast, and Arksanas traveler. They are most often available at farmers’ markets and farm stands. Often they have a very round, lumpy shape and are about the size of your hand. Other heirloom highlights:

• Picking notes: The flavor of heirloom tomatoes centers on when they were picked. “Depending on what stage you pick them in, they could be more sweet towards the darker side of their colors or a little more tangy towards the lighter side of their colors,” says Alstede.
• Multi-taskers: Heirloom tomatoes are great to eat raw in salads and sandwiches, but you can also roast or grill them.

Plum Tomatoes

The plum variety (which includes Roma tomatoes) is oval-shaped and is typically about 3 to 4 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide.

• Uses: Plum tomatoes are popular for making sauces and pastes because they have firm flesh and aren’t too juicy or heavily seeded.
• Taste and texture: They’re slightly tangy and have a grainy interior with a super firm exterior.

Cherry Tomatoes

One of the smaller types of tomatoes, cherry tomatoes are about 1/2 to 1 1/4 inch wide, and available in colors ranging from bright yellow to orange to deep red. “When ripe, their skins are taut, but inside they are practically bursting with juices,” says Welsh. How to enjoy them:

• Snackable: Cherry tomatoes are best enjoyed on their own or served in a salad. “These tomatoes are snackable raw, so I rarely cook them,” says Welsh.
• Cooked simply: When she does cook, she does it briefly in a Dutch oven with some lemon zest, fresh herbs, and “a couple of glugs of olive oil.” And in fact, Martha uses them in her famous One-Pan Pasta.

Unique Tomato Varieties

In addition to the more common tomato varieties, be sure to seek out unfamiliar types, too. Here, we share a few unique varieties (pictured in the image above) from author and avid vegetable gardener, Sarah Copeland.

Sweet 100

This is a hybrid that produces lots of tomatoes on long fruit-bearing stems, each holding perhaps 100 or more very sweet cherry tomatoes. The fruits weigh approximately 1 ounce and are 1 inch across.

Green Zebra

No, it’s not an unripe green tomato. It’s actually a small tomato—weighing about 3 ounces—that is a beautiful chartreuse color with deep green stripes when ripe. The flesh is also green, rich, and sweet, with a touch of tartness that keeps it balanced.

Speckled Roman

Boasting orange stripes (not speckles), these long, Roma-shaped tomatoes are very thick and meaty with an excellent tomato flavor and great for sauce.

Kumamoto

A striking brown hybrid, this tomato takes its name from the city that’s Japan’s center of tomato production—but it’s not a Japanese cultivar. Rather, the Kumamoto was developed in Spain. Its flavor is succulent, sweet, and slightly tart, and its texture is sturdy, so it doesn’t bruise or break easily.

Yellow Plum

Mild and sweet, this heirloom tomato is shaped like a plum tomato but is smaller in size and has golden-yellow-orange flesh and skin.

Sungold

One of the most popular cherry tomatoes, this Japanese hybrid ripens early to a golden orange and has an extra-sweet flavor. Another bonus: Sungold tomatoes stay firmer longer than other cherry varieties.

Yellow Pear

This small, pear-shaped tomato has a mild flavor that’s great for salads or snacking. Each bright lemon-yellow fruit weighs 3 quarters to 1 ounce.

Black Krim

Juicy, sweet, and prized by tomato growers, this medium-sized heirloom is a beefsteak-type tomato that originated in Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea. Its unusual exterior is reddish-purple to black with green/brown shoulders.

Isis Candy

Red, with a yellow starburst on the blossom end, these pretty cherry tomato hybrids are typically about 1 1/2 inches in size. They’re super sweet, which makes them a hit with kids.

Early-Girl Hybrid

One of the most popular hybrid tomatoes with home growers, this medium-sized fruit ripens early and keeps on producing throughout the summer. Meaty, with a classic tomato look, it’s about the size (and shape) of a tennis ball.

Cherry Roma

Adored by home gardeners, too, this hybrid keeps on producing throughout the growing season. Its sweet-spicy flavor and bright red color also make this 1-inch-long plum-shaped fruit a favorite.