Comparing 12 Tomato Varieties

Find your new favorite by comparing twelve tomato varieties with me.

Did you know that tomatoes have been bred for different purposes for centuries?

Some are perfect for popping in your mouth, like cherry tomatoes. Some are meant to balance out that bacon on a BLT, like the huge heirloom slicers. And some are best for making sauce, like the thick and meaty paste tomatoes. And then there’s a million variations in between!

With over 10,000 known tomato varieties this is of course a very limited list, but also based on my nearly 20 years of growing tomatoes in the north.

Just like so much of the produce in my suburban homestead gardens- a whole new world of flavor opened up when I took a little control and started growing my own.

If you like comparisons, check out my Cucumber Comparison post comparing 10 different cucumbers.

Remember tomatoes do best in full sun, with well draining and fertile soil. Plants often benefit from a midseason application of an organic fertilizer. For a basic guide to growing tomatoes, the Minnesota Extension Service does a great job explaining.

The Tomatoes:Ananas Noire on the vine.Ananas Noire – Heirloom Slicer

They are absolutely gorgeous – inside, and one of the largest and heaviest I’m growing this year. Hearty plants. They’re not especially beautiful on the vine, but their flavor (smoky and a little citrus) makes up for that in the end!

Indeterminate.

From Carmella Bella Farm.

Aurora Blue – “collector’s” Slicer

Beautiful blue shoulders that turn darker when fully ripe. A sweeter variety and dense flesh for a blue. Lots of tomatoes, with lots of ridges and cat facing on my slightly shaded plant.

Indeterminate.

From Carmella Bella Farm.

Big Rainbow – Heirloom Slicer

Golden yellow and red streaked skin that follows into the firm flesh. Mild and sweet, well-balanced flavor more juice and seeds than some- but I love growing this variety for its brightness inside and out. Healthy, sprawling vines.

Indeterminate.

From my Seed Library.

Black Krim – Hybrid of Beef Steak and Cherokee Purple-  Slicer

These are super dark red almost purple fruits that have a super deep rich tomato flavor, somehow classic but better. And perfectly juicy. Sturdy plants.

Indeterminate.

Saved Seeds.

Cherokee Purple – Heirloom SlicerCherokee Purple

Large slicing beauties, with dusky rose flesh that can stay greenish even when ripe. Super sweet and smoky flavor, yet wonderfully acidic. These are my go to for BLT’s. Super hearty plants and an easier plant to start from seed. The fruits are often 12oz plus, which makes up for it being not the most prolific.

Indeterminate.

My Own Saved Seeds.

Milka’s Yugo Oxheart – Heirloom SauceMilka’s Oxheart Tomato cluster on the vine.

Large oxheart variety, a little light, but super dense flesh. Pretty pink coloring, classic, balanced tomato flavor. The plants were a little slow to get going but are finishing strong now. A little lighter in weight than other paste tomatoes, but still meaty with little juice.

Indeterminate.

From Experimental Farm Network.

Jaune Flamme – Salad TomatoJaunne Flamme

Name means “Yellow Flame” in French- and these lit flavor bombs fir sure. Earlier maturing, and consistently producing high yields of round, orange colored flavor bombs set along long trusses. These are a little fruity and are delicious fresh eating, and make excellent roasted + dehydrated tomatoes for adding to pizzas etc. Slightly thicker skins, which also makes them crack resistant. Some disease resistance as well.

Indeterminate

From Seed Savers Exchange

Paul Robeson – All Around OverachieverPaul Robeson

These brick red fruits are never the largest, but always consistently 10+ oz. These are hearty easy to grow plants that have one of my absolute favorite tomato flavors- being balanced but with an extra deep earthy/smoky intensity. Usually still has green shoulders even when ripe, that dark red flesh inside is perfection!

Indeterminate.

From Seed Savers Exchange.

Paste TomatoesSan MarzanoSan Marzano – Heirloom Paste

This is the classic Italian paste tomato- likely what most of today’s paste tomatoes were bred from. Very high yields, lots of 6-7 fruit clusters. Very little juice, dense flesh, classic flavor. I can not overstate how much these can produce given the right growing space!

Indeterminate but not usually more than 6-7 feet.

From Botanical Interests 

Striped RomanStriped Roman – Heirloom plum/Roma/paste

My all-time favorite plum/roma/paste type tomato. So many paste tomatoes aren’t very flavorful, but these stand on their own in a salad or sandwich. They also have next to no seeds and so much meaty flesh, at least twice the size of most paste tomatoes too. Really gorgeous yellow stripes on deep red skins. I tend to have trouble growing the plants from seed, so always start a few extra, they really take off once in the ground.

Indeterminate.

From Seed Savers Exchange.

Cherry TomatoesYellows are White Cherry, oranges are Jaune Flamme, Striped are Sunrise Bumblebee, some Romas and Super Sweet 100’s. Plus a few green cucamellons. White Cherry – Heirloom CherryWhite Cherry

We fell in love with these tomatoes when my boys were little and can’t imagine not growing them. We think they’re maybe even better than Sungold (gasp). They can split after heavy rains but are worth harvesting early. So prolific I freeze these separately and make a yellow tomato soup every year. Best for fresh or freezing.

Indeterminate.

From Seed Savers Exchange.  

Sunrise Bumblebee – Cherry

Super pretty striped cherry that rivals sungold flavoring, but larger and every bit as prolific. These seem to ripen early but hold on the vine for a while as well. A kid favorite.

Indeterminate.

From Carmella Bella Farm.

Tomato Preserving

I freeze most of my tomatoes over the summer and make sauce and can them in the fall. Just let them defrost and slip the skins off, then simmer away. I usually go for condensing at least by half. Follow the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s guidelines for canning whole tomatoes and sauce.

I also make tomato paste in my crock pot and freeze into individual ice cube sizes. This is and such a great way to thicken up sauces or make pizza sauce base!

For a basic guide on preserving all kinds of garden produce, see my guide- “Preserve You Harvest”.

That is a lot of tomato talk- but I hope you find a new favorite in this list… I love growing a few ‘new to me’ tomato varieties every year, along with some of my tired and true favorites.

I’m sure I’ll keep adding to the list as I try new varieties… so tell me, what is your favorite and is it listed here?

Dig In,

Michelle

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