17 of the Best Cherry Tomatoes to Plant in Your Garden

Ripe cherry tomatoes look like tiny jewels in the garden, and they make the perfect summertime snack. Perfect served raw in salads, roasted with veggies, or baked onto homemade pizza, there’s no wrong way to eat a cherry tomato.

Just as there is a lot of variety in slicing tomatoes and canning tomatoes, cherry tomatoes come in many different colors, shapes, and flavors too. From black cherry tomatoes to yellow cherry tomatoes that are the same golden color as the summer sun, you’ll find some of the most popular and tasty cherry tomatoes right here!

1. Cherry Bomb
‘Cherry Bomb’ is a pint-sized tomato that just won’t quit. A prolific grower, ‘Cherry Bomb’ is notable for its bright crimson skin, meaty texture, and perfectly balanced, sweet, and tangy flavor. An indeterminate grower, this plant can produce fruit throughout the season, providing you with plenty of delicious cherry tomatoes for snacking right through the end of summer.

‘Cherry Bomb’ is a hybrid-type tomato that was specially developed for its resistance to late blight. While it’s not great for seed saving, this plant is a top choice among market growers due to its uniquely formed fruit. ‘Cherry Bomb’ tomatoes are slightly heart-shaped, which makes them stand out among other cherry tomatoes.

2. Principe Borghese

‘Principe Borghese’ is a remarkable Italian heirloom that is commonly kept for sundried tomatoes. Since these tomatoes have a firm, meaty texture, and minimal seeds, they’re super easy to dry. But whether you eat them dried or fresh, ‘Principe Borghese’ tomatoes will pack a flavorful punch in any recipe.

‘Principe Borghese’ is a determinate grower, meaning it stays small, but it has a long growing season and will produce tons of tomatoes. In fact, just four ‘Principe Borghese’ tomato plants can yield about 2 gallons of dried tomatoes and even more tomatoes for fresh eating! Tomatoes can be dried in the sun or with a food dehydrator for even faster processing.

3. Sweet Aperitif
Sweet Aperitif’ may be small, but this plant is known for having some of the sweetest cherry tomatoes you can find. The fruit of ‘Sweet Aperitif’ only measures about ⅞” across – or about the size of a dime – but it has an intense flavor and a sweetness that builds and builds. These tomatoes can be used in salads or for snacking, but they also make unique garnishes for cocktails and other summertime drinks!

‘Sweet Aperitif’ is open-pollinated, so you can save the seeds. It is also an indeterminate grower that produces tomatoes throughout the season, but it may need some extra trellising to keep it from overwhelming nearby plants. With glossy red fruit and a nice bite, there’s so much to love about this sweet cherry tomato!

4. Lucia
Lucia’ is technically a grape tomato rather than a cherry tomato, but it has small and finely formed fruit that’s ideal for salads, pizza-making, and more. These early producers can begin to fruit in as little as 64 days, but they are indeterminate growers that can fruit throughout the season too.

‘Lucia’ is a hybrid plant that was specially grown for its complex flavor that is equally tart and sweet. The fruit also has the perfect crunch and juicy texture, and it’s even resistant to cracking in the garden. As long as ‘Lucia’ isn’t grown in overly cold and wet weather, this tomato cultivar should produce handfuls of blemish-free tomatoes without any trouble at all.

5. Sun Gold
Sun Gold’ has a flavor that is often likened to ‘Lucia,’ with a balance of zingy tang and subtle sweetness. But unlike ‘Lucia,’ ‘Sun Gold’ has a brilliant, bright orange skin that can add extra color to whatever recipes you add these tomatoes to. Another prolific grower, ‘Sun Gold’ tomatoes grow in clusters, and they can be blended into homemade sauces or devoured as a delicious snack while you’re working in your garden.

Sun Gold’ tomatoes ripen long before many other tomato varieties, and they can be harvested just 57 days after planting. But ‘Sun Gold’ plants have a long growing season, and they can continue to fruit until the frosts of fall arrive. Although ‘Sun Gold’ tomatoes have a good level of disease resistance, they are vulnerable to cracking in wet weather, so always pick your tomatoes if rain is in the forecast!

6. Gardener’s Sweetheart

Formed by crossing ‘Gardener’s Delight’ with ‘Royal Chico’ tomatoes, ‘Gardener’s Sweetheart’ has all the flavor of its parent plants, but it has thicker skin that helps it hold up better in the garden. An open-pollinated cultivar, ‘Gardener’s Sweetheart’ has a distinct heart shape and deep red color. These tomatoes last a long time in the garden, and they also have a good shelf life in the fridge too.

The secret to getting the best flavor out of ‘Gardener’s Sweetheart’ is to let the tomatoes ripen as long as possible on the vine until they develop a deep red color. When harvested too early, their flavor can be mild, but if you pick them at the peak of freshness, ‘Gardener’s Sweetheart’ tomatoes are firm and have a sweet and nuanced taste. Thanks to their thick skin, these tomatoes are also great for cooking, and they can even be used to make shish kabobs!

7. Pocket Star
If you love oddball plants and crave colorful tomatoes, you need to save some room in your garden for ‘Pocket Star.’ This green tomato type has beautifully colored skin that exhibits fine, golden speckles when ripe. Plus, it has all the flavor you could want, with just the right balance of sweetness and acidity and a rich, tomatoey taste too.

‘Pocket Star’ tomatoes take a bit longer to mature than some of the other plants on this list, but they are indeterminate growers, which means they can produce fruit through the end of summer and into early fall. You can use ‘Pocket Star’ tomatoes for fresh snacking, but they can also be blended into salsa verde and other vibrant sauces and salsas. The trick to picking green tomatoes at their peak flavor is to wait for the fruit to develop a light, golden-yellow color on their bottoms!