Make this quick green tomato bread to celebrate the change of seasons. It's moist and sweet, with a nice tang from the unripe tomatoes. An utterly delicious recipe!
Have you ever thought about turning unripe tomatoes into a dessert? If not, it’s time you did. Start with this beautiful green tomato bread recipe; it's a great way of putting an abundance of green tomatoes to good use.
My garden is overflowing with green tomatoes right now. And while a lot of people might regret that so many tomatoes will never ripen, I am never sad about it. After enjoying so many sweet tomatoes in summer, I am happy to make the most of the green tomato harvest.
Table of contents
What to do with an abundance of green tomatoes?
Fried green tomatoes are always a great idea, but there is much more you can do! Green Tomato Salsa Verde for canning, Green Tomato Sauce for pasta, Green Tomato Soup, Pickled Green Tomatoes, and Green Tomatoes on the Grill are just some of the green tomato recipes I make every fall.
Recipe ingredients
- Fresh green tomatoes: Small or large, chopped into small pieces. This time, I used unripe cherry tomatoes because I kept the larger ones for making pickles.
- If using cherry tomatoes, don’t remove the seeds. If using large tomatoes, remove the seeds of about ½ of the batch to prevent the cake from getting soggy.
- Butter: Unsalted butter. Remember to remove it from the fridge in time so that it can get soft before stirring the cake batter.
- Nuts: Ground almonds for the batter and walnuts or pecans for the crunch.
- Other ingredients: All-purpose flour, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, and whole milk.
How to make green tomato quick bread?
This is a super easy and quick green tomato bread recipe. It’s a dessert bread that I’ve been making for years, mostly with apples. But during the green tomato season, I swap the apple for tomatoes; the whole family loves this slightly tangier version.
- Preparations: Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 375°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan of about 25 x 11 cm/ 10 x 4 ½ inches.
- Prepare green tomatoes: Wash and dry them. Remove and discard the cores and chop the raw green tomatoes into fine cubes (1). If using large tomatoes, discard about ½ of the seeds.
- Chop the walnuts or pecans as well (2).
- Wet ingredients: Cream the soft butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl (3).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract (4).
- Dry ingredients: Mix flour, baking soda, a pinch of salt, and ground almonds in a separate bowl (5).
- Combine: Alternating, add the flour mixture and the milk to the butter-egg mixture (6).
- Fold in: Mix tomatoes with 2 teaspoons of flour and toss them lightly to coat. Fold them and the chopped nuts into the batter using a plastic spatula (7).
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared tin (8). Bake in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes.
- Check after about 30 minutes; if the top of the cake is already golden brown, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too dark.
- Check if the quick bread is done by sticking a toothpick in the middle; it should come out clean, with maybe just one or two small crumbs clinging to it.
- Cool: Once baked, let the green tomato bread cool completely in the tin.
- Sprinkle it with powdered sugar (or glaze it) before serving.
Expert Tips
Most important tip: Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
Ensure that the ingredients (eggs, butter, milk) are at room temperature. They will create a smooth emulsion that traps the air in the batter. This air will expand during baking, making the baked goods light and fluffy.
Butter: If using unsalted butter, leave the pinch of salt out of the batter. Remember to remove the butter from the refrigerator in time; it must be really soft.
Tomatoes: If using cherry tomatoes, don’t remove the seeds. If using large tomatoes, remove the seeds of about ½ of the batch to prevent the cake from getting soggy.
Toss the pieces with a bit of flour to prevent them from sinking too much into the batter during the baking process.
Immediate baking: Bake the green tomato loaf immediately. Ensure that the oven is preheated and the pan is prepared. If you leave the batter waiting, the baking powder will lose its power, and the bread will not rise nicely.
You can easily make a double batch and bake the cakes in two loaf pans.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, they are safe to consume. However, if you are particularly sensitive to very acidic foods, they might cause slight gastrointestinal discomfort.
Yes. Try apples, peaches, cherries, berries, etc. Gooseberries are the best substitute; they are closest in flavor and texture to green tomatoes.
You will taste their tanginess, but you won’t guess they’re tomatoes unless you know. People tend to think they are gooseberries because of their tanginess and green color.
Sure. Make a simple icing sugar glaze by mixing 75 g/ ¾ cup/ 2 ½ oz icing sugar (confectioners' sugar) with 3-4 teaspoons lemon juice. The glaze should be thick yet slightly pourable. Pour over the tomato bread and let set shortly.
You can also make half of the cream cheese frosting I used to cover the Carrot Cake Traybake.
Room temperature: Keep the green tomato bread covered with a clean towel; it will be great for at least 2 days.
Refrigerate it in an airtight container to store it for longer (about 5 days).
Freeze it: It will keep for at least 3 months. You can freeze the whole green tomato loaf (wrapped in plastic wrap and then in foil) or freeze the individual slices. Freeze the pieces in a single layer on a baking tray or similar. Once solid, wrap them in plastic or foil and place them in freezer bags or airtight containers.
Defrost in the fridge or on the counter; it will not take long.
More quick bread and loaf cake recipes
Quick Green Tomato Bread
Equipment
- Loaf pan of about 25x11 cm/ 10x4 ½ inches
- Electric mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
- ¾ lb green tomatoes 350 g, about 1 ⅓ cups when chopped Notes 2, 3
- 1 ¼ sticks butter soft, 150 g/ 12 oz, Note 4
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g/ 7 oz
- 3 eggs large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour 200 g/ 7 oz
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup ground almonds 35 g/ 1.2 oz
- scant ½ cup whole milk 115 ml/ 3 ½ fl.oz
- ¼ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped, 35 g/ 1.2 oz
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 375°F. Butter and flour the loaf pan.
- Green tomatoes: Wash and dry them. Remove the cores and cut the tomatoes into fine cubes; you will need about 1 ⅓ cups once they are chopped; slightly more or less is OK (See Notes 1,2).
- Chop the walnuts or pecans and set them aside.
- Wet ingredients: Cream the soft butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, a pinch of salt (Note 3), and ground almonds.
- Combine batter: Alternating, add the flour mixture and the milk to the butter-egg mixture.
- Add: Toss the chopped tomatoes with 2 teaspoons of flour. Fold tomatoes and chopped nuts into the batter using a plastic spatula.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes; if the top of the bread is already brown, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too dark.
- Check: Stick a toothpick in the middle of the loaf; it should come out clean, with maybe just one or two small crumbs clinging to it.
- Cool: Once baked, cool completely in the tin. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or glaze before serving (Note 5).
Notes
- Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
- I used cherry green tomatoes. If using cherry tomatoes, don’t remove the seeds. If using large tomatoes, remove the seeds from about ½ of the batch to prevent the cake from getting soggy.
- I use unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt to the batter. If using salted butter, leave out the pinch of salt.
- Make a simple icing sugar glaze by mixing 75 g/ ¾ cup/ 2 ½ oz icing sugar (confectioners' sugar) with 3-4 teaspoons lemon juice. The glaze should be thick yet slightly pourable. Pour over the tomato bread and let set shortly. You can also make half of the cream cheese frosting I used to cover the Carrot Cake Traybake.
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