This summery fresh tomato salad is France-inspired and includes just 5 ingredients. Simple to put together but makes a colorful and delicious side dish!
When we lived in France, I would come home from the market every August Sunday with a pile of gorgeous tomatoes. My favorites were the “coeur de boeuf,” which translates roughly as “oxheart”.
They are more oval shaped than round, and have a pointy end. It’s a meaty and flavorful tomato, similar to a U.S. beefsteak tomato. When you have a perfectly ripe one, take a cue from the French and try this salade de tomates, or Tomato Salad.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Simple but delicious: let peak tomatoes star in this simple tomato onion salad
- Perfect for small plates dinner: make this French tomato salad, add a baguette, a couple of cheeses, and maybe some prosciutto or sausage, and you have the perfect meal!
- So easy: only 5 ingredients, and comes together in minutes
🥗 Ingredients
- Tomatoes: Of course, ripe tomatoes are the star of Salade de Tomates. Try heirloom tomatoes, and feel free to mix and match colors. Cherry tomatoes are also delicious in this dish.
- Red Onion: I love the combination of onion next to the tomatoes and basil in this salad, but you can leave it out if you aren't an onion fan. White onion or a sweet onion like Vidalia could be substituted for the red onion.
- Olive Oil: This is a great opportunity to use that fancy bottle of extra virgin olive oil you have in the pantry for special occasions. Of course you don't need a fancy bottle, but this is a salad where you will taste the quality of each of the ingredients.
- Red Wine Vinegar: Red wine vinegar is classic in this tomato and onion salad, but you could substitute balsamic vinegar or even white wine vinegar.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
First, slice half of a red onion into very thin slices. Fill a medium bowl with ice water, and add the onion slices. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice 4 large tomatoes into thin wedges and put them into a bowl. Stack basil leaves together and roll into a cylinder, then slice thinly until you have about 2 tablespoons.
Now drain the onion slices and add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
Whisk together 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 1.5 tablespoons red wine vinegar in a small bowl, and pour into the bowl with the tomatoes and onions.
Toss together gently, then pour out carefully onto a serving plate.
Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fleur de sel is perfect for this, but kosher salt or sea salt would also be fine.
Garnish with basil. Let sit at room temperature for 30 min before serving.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for French Tomato Salad
Once a tomato has been chopped or sliced, you should keep it in the refrigerator. This tomato salad will keep for 2-3 days, though it is definitely best the day it is made. The basil will brown, and the tomatoes will continue to release some of their liquid, the longer kept in the refrigerator.
The best tomatoes to use are the freshest, ripest ones you can find. For this recipe, I do prefer the meatiness of a farmstand beefsteak or heirloom tomato, and I think red tomatoes pair better with the red wine vinaigrette than yellow ones.
But really, ripeness trumps all. If you decide on cherry tomatoes, I might chop the red onions smaller, rather than leaving them in slices.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Wondering what to serve with this tomato salad? It's a fantastic side dish for anything you might throw on the grill, from fish to burgers. You could also make this salad into a full meal by adding some baguette toasts topped with Roasted Garlic Aioli.
Or, make this into a summer feast by pairing with Old Bay Shrimp with Dipping Sauce and this Easy Zucchini Gratin. Tomato onion salad is also fantastic on the side of Quiche Florentine, Shrimp Scampi without Wine, or a Ham and Cheese Frittata.
You may be curious about the technique of soaking the red onion before adding to the salad. Soaking raw onions (sliced or chopped) in very cold or iced water for about 10 minutes will help soften their sharp flavor.
You can also sprinkle them with lemon or lime juice, or any kind of vinegar—this will add flavor to them as well, though it will soften them slightly. An ice water bath will mellow their flavor but keep them crunchy, so that’s the technique I prefer for this recipe.
How to Store Tomatoes
For many years, I have sworn that uncut tomatoes should never ever be kept in the refrigerator. And I stand by that guideline, though with one caveat learned from a Serious Eats article: if your tomatoes are at their peak of ripeness, refrigeration is the way to go.
The reason is that the optimal temperature to store tomatoes is 55 degrees Fahrenheit—which is a tough temperature to maintain in a house: colder than room temperature but not as cold as the refrigerator.
So if you purchase or pull from from your garden a tomato that is not quite ripe, then by all means, leave it out at room temperature where it will continue to ripen. However, if you have perfectly ripe tomatoes, the fridge might be the best place for them as they will also continue to ripen on the counter (and eventually, rot).
If you’re not going to eat them in 1-2 days, you can keep them at their perfect stage of ripeness by putting them in the refrigerator. That said, always take them out about a half hour before you want to eat them so that they can come back to room temperature.
Other Delicious Tomato Recipes
For more great recipes for perfectly ripe tomatoes, you must try this Puff Pastry Tomato Tart and this Peach Burrata Caprese. Then check out these favorites:
If you try this Tomato Salad recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- ½ red onion peeled
- 4 ripe tomatoes about 1 ½ pounds
- Small handful of basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- fleur de sel or kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place your red onion half flat-side down on the cutting board, and cut into very thin slices.
- Fill a medium bowl with ice water, and add the onion slices. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, slice tomatoes into thin wedges and put them into a large bowl.
- Stack basil leaves together and roll into a cylinder, then slice thinly.
- When the onions have sat in the cold water for 10 minutes, strain them through a sieve, and add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
- Whisk together olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl, and then pour into bowl with tomatoes and onions. Toss together gently.
- Carefully pour onto large plate or platter for serving.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with basil. Leave at room temperature for 30 min before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Kampus entrepreneurship says
Is it good to add crackers?
Chef Molly says
Sure! You could definitely serve this with crackers, or with some sliced crusty bread.
Chef Mimi says
Love this salad! It makes me long for summer, although that’s not my favorite season! My mother would stick her nose up at your salad because the tomatoes aren’t peeled. I’m not sure my mother ever used a tomato that wasn’t first peeled. As a result, I don’t peel tomatoes. Well, unless the peel will really make a difference! Did I mention she’s French?! 🤣🤣🤣
Chef Molly says
Ha! How funny. I think I've only peeled tomatoes a few times in my life. But I'm sure your mother's way was delicious too! 🙂
S. Peric says
We had a special pleasure of trying this salad. It smelled and tasted phenomenal. It was also quite refreshing on a hot summer day.
I think that experimenting with different kinds of onions in this salad would potentially give it different twists.
Keep up the great work Molly!