Fresh Tomato Tart
by Sommer Collier — last updated on May 15, 2025 
This vibrant Tomato Tart with fresh tomatoes, a creamy cheese base, and buttery crust is a great way to enjoy your summer tomatoes in a savory pie!
Tomato Tart Recipe (AKA Tomato Pie)
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
I learned to make traditional tomato pies shortly after moving to the South. The comforting combination of freshly-baked garden produce, molten cheese, and pastry crust is hard to beat.
This updated fresh tomato tart is truly beautiful inside and out, with astounding southern comfort and wilted tomatoes covering the top! Not only is this tomato tart knockout-gorgeous, but it’s also easy to make, even with a buttery made-from-scratch crust.
If you’re in a hurry, you can use a refrigerated roll-out pie crust instead. Yet I do recommend using the tart crust recipe below if you have the time.
The cheese filling under the tomatoes is a luxurious, southern blend of creamy mayonnaise, cheese, and herbs. We are using provolone cheese for its delicate flavor and amazing melting properties. However, you can use any cheese you like that shreds easily and melts smoothly.
Ingredients You Need
For the Tart Crust:
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Butter, diced
- Egg
- Salt
For the Tomato Pie Filling:
- Grape or cherry tomatoes, rinsed and dried
- Sharp provolone cheese, grated (sub fontina or white cheddar)
- Fresh basil leaves
- Mayonnaise
- Green onions, chopped
- Black pepper
How to Make A Tomato Tart
Find the full Tomato Tart recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Protein Pointer – If you are looking for ways to add extra protein to all your meals, you can add 1/2 cup drained cottage cheese to the filling.
Servings Suggestions
This savory tart is the perfect center piece to any summer meal. Consider serving it as the main dish of a vegetarian meal with Couscous Salad (with Pickled Vegetables) or Farro Salad with Kale and Artichokes, Creamy Deviled Egg Pasta Salad, Pickled Watermelon Rind, and Mandarin Orange Salad.
Or serve this tart as a side dish, with Grilled Blackened Chicken, Bavette Steak (Flap Meat Steak), Pork Chops with Pork Chop Seasoning, Broccoli Salad with Bacon, Cool and Creamy Grape Salad, and Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe with Dill.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, keep the grape tomatoes whole and bake the tart as directed in the recipe below.
Sure you can! Fresh thyme leaves, fresh parsley, or rosemary are all good options.
Layer the crust while raw and bake the tart all together. If you are concerned about the bottom baking through, you can place the fresh tomato tart on the lowest rack so the bottom of the crust is closer to the heat source.
You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-4 days. Or you can wrap the tart dish with plastic wrap for overnight storage at room temperature.
I would suggest making this dish with homemade pie crusts. However, you can use a puff pastry sheet or a premade pie crust, rolled and cut to fit the pan. Bake according to the recipe below.
Other Great Side Dish Recipes
Tomato Tart Recipe with Basil
Video
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 2 teaspoons
- 6 tablespoons butter diced
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Filling:
- 2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes rinsed and dried
- 1 1/2 cups sharp provolone grated (or fontina)
- 1/2 cup basil leaves divided
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- For the Crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a food processor, combine the flour, cornstarch , butter, and salt. Pulse the mixture until it forms very tiny bits. Add one egg and pulse until a dough forms. This dough is rather tough, but it does come together nicely.
- Gather the dough into a ball. Then press the dough in to the 9-inch tart pan, covering every bit. (You can roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle if you want.) Crimp the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roughly chop 1/4 cup of the basil leaves. Stack and roll the remaining basil leaves and cut them into thin ribbons. Save the ribbons for the end. Mix the cheese, mayo, chopped basil, green onions and pepper in a bowl. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the tart shell.
- Top with grape tomatoes and press them down. Bake for 35 minutes, until the crust edges are golden-brown and the cheese is bubbling up.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with 1/4 cup sliced basil ribbons. Serve warm.
I have made this recipe before and making it again tonight since I have tomatoe plants producing lots of product…… I use a premade pastry dough from Whole Foods…… Dufour is delicious and flaky. I do bake it a bit before I add the cheese and tomatoes….
unfortunately I am allergic to cheese and eggs so couldn’t use the heese or mayonnaise in this recipe.
where i live in France there is no such thing as eggless mayonnaise.
As is usual for me I use creme faiche instead of eggs.
I substituted the cheese with caramelised onions, and ended up with a delicious tart.
I would give anything to be able to eat cheese and eggs,but sadly this isn’t to be.
unfortunately my other food allergies are Pork , lamb, Honey and kiwi fruit.
The latter causing me to go into an anaphylaxic shock.
I cook every day and am always looking out for new recipes.
Thanks for the tomato tart one, which with a few tweets turned out lovely.
Delicious! Perfect tart for my garden veggies. I used the cherry toms, basil, and subbed chives for the green onion. I used havarti and it was so tasty. Next time, and yes there will be one, I’m going to add some cornmeal into the crust for some added crunch! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a new fam fave!
I’ve made this recipe several times….i buy a premade crust from Whole Foods. I do pre bake the crust for a short time…
Nice using grape tomatoes as they are always available in the Midwest even when regular tomatoes are not.
This was excellent and a do over! I used a refrigerated pie crust and a cheddar cheese mix since I happened to have both on hand. I may try pre-cooking the crust a bit to help the bottom maintain a bit of crispness. Great way to use the tomatoes in our garden
Such a unique recipe! thank you so much for sharing!
What a great & delicious way to use up tomatoes! They taste so good with the cheese!
I had no clue how this was going to taste but after I made it, I absolutely loved it! thank you so much for sharing this recipe
The flavors on this tart were amazing–however, mine came out a gooey, semi-liquefied mess! I used fontina and cherry tomatoes; not sure if it was a higher moisture fontina or what, but there is a lot of oil and it’s sort of a gooey, cheesy pile on the plate, rather than a slice. The crust isn’t holding together; it basically falls apart under all the cheese and juicy tomatoes. I followed the recipe as written, and even put my pan nearer to the bottom to ensure the crust was cooked through, so I’m perplexed as to why it’s such a mess. The taste is fantastic, but the textures came out all wrong. Thoughts as to what went wrong? I’d make this recipe again if I could get it to hold form better.
Hi Artemisia,
Sorry that happened! I’m wondering about your oven… It might be worth buying a hanging oven thermometer to check the accuracy of the temperature. If it’s off, you can then recalibrate the oven to make sure it is baking properly.
I made it for dinner for my family of 3 with a kale salad. They loved it ! I used a combination of different cheeses: provolone, parmesan, and cheddar. I also used 1/4th cup yogurt, 1/4 cup mayo. Sprinkled the top with tarragon in addition to the basil. The crust was tasty and held up well with the cheese mixture and all the cherry tomato juices. I will keep this recipe and try other variations.