Tomato Sorbet
Cool and savory-sweet Tomato Sorbet contains just a handful of ingredients and is so easy to make! Ripe tomatoes, sweetener, a touch of lemon juice, and salt. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, flaky salt, and fresh basil! So refreshing as a dessert or a between-course palate cleanser.
I had a delicious version of this sorbet a few years ago and couldn't seem to forget it. Not too sweet with hints of herby, salty, savoriness thanks to the toppings. It truly was a refreshing treat!
What's the difference between sorbet and sherbet?
- Sorbet = fruit puree/juice + sugar + water. It is icy and fruit-forward.
- Sherbet = fruit puree/juice + sugar + cream/milk. It is creamier and softer in texture.
Botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit even though it is normally eaten as a vegetable. Fruits have internal seeds and grow from the seed of a flowering plant. Given this definition, there are a lot of veggies that are technically "fruits," including avocado, chili, cucumber, eggplant, peas, pumpkin, and squash.
In the kitchen, we don't necessarily treat these as fruits. But today, we are because we're making a dessert with tomatoes as the star! I know this sounds weird, but the result truly is fun and delicious!
You will need an electric ice cream maker for this recipe. Be sure to freeze the insert 24 hours in advance and follow the manufacturer's directions.
Lessons Learned
- Use any kind of tomato you prefer, or even a combination of them. The important thing is to choose ripe ones!
- I've made this sugar-free by using a monkfruit-allulose blend (I like the Lakanto brand), but granulated white sugar works, too.
- If you don't mind a sorbet with some texture, skip the straining. I prefer mine silky smooth so I passed the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer before churning.
Hat Tips
Thanks to NY Times Cooking for their tomato sorbet recipe, which I slightly adapted.
Tomato Sorbet
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Chilling Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 30 minutes plus chill time
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound ripe beefsteak tomatoes
- ½ cup monkfruit with allulose (or sugar)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Garnish: olive oil, flaky sea salt, fresh basil leaves
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Remove any green stems from tomatoes. Roughly chop into 1-inch pieces.
- Place the chopped tomatoes, sweetener, lemon juice, and salt into a blender or food processor and blend until pureed. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard the solids or save for another use. Cover strained mixture and refrigerate for 2 hours or until completely chilled.
- Pour the tomato mixture into the frozen insert of an ice cream maker. Place the insert on the base of the machine, place the paddle and top on, and churn for 20 minutes or until it has firmed up into a scoopable texture.
- Scoop the sorbet into a container, cover, and place in the freezer for 2 hours or until firm. If you are leaving it overnight, take the sorbet out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving to soften slightly.
- To serve, scoop sorbet into a bowl. Drizzle with a good quality olive oil, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
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