A Guide to Tomato Varieties, From Cherry to Yellow Plum

From tiny red orbs smaller than cherry tomatoes to enormous fruits the size of a fist or bigger, tomatoes come in many sizes, shapes, and colors—yes, colors. If you assume a tomato is just round and red, it's time to widen your horizons. There's a good reason to do so: Different tomato varieties have different flavors, amounts of water content, and looks. Mixing a variety of tomatoes in a simple sliced tomato salad takes it to the next level in both look and taste. With that in mind, get inspired by the glorious varieties—both common and unique—shown here.

Common Tomato Varieties

While there are thousands of tomato varieties out there, some are more common than others. This guide of popular tomato types will make perusing your local grocery for produce store much easier.

Red Beefsteak

Red beefsteak tomatoes are round, but slightly squat. "When they are at their ripest, they are heavy with juice and 3 to 4 inches in diameter," says Ronna Welsh, the author of The Nimble Cook and the owner and chef instructor at Purple Kale Kitchenworks in Brooklyn, N.Y. "The seed cavities of the beefsteak are large enough to poke your finger into."

Because they're larger in size, red beefsteak tomatoes are generally less sweet than smaller varieties, but still have a robust flavor profile. "Red beefsteak tomatoes are super flavorful and super juicy," says Rebekah Alstede, production supervisor and co-owner of Alstede Farms. "It's that typical tomato flavor that you're looking for—not overly sweet, but not necessarily bitter either." This type of tomato is the kind you'd commonly find sliced on BLT's and hamburgers.

Green Beefsteak

Although popular, green beefsteak tomatoes fall into the same variety as red beefsteak. "A green beefsteak tomato is simply a red beefsteak that was picked early," says Alstede. This type of tomato will usually be about the size of your palm when it's picked, because that's when it's best for pickling, frying, or grilling. "Sometimes you can pick them smaller depending on what you want to do with them," Alstede says. Because it's picked before it's ripe, a green beefsteak is going to be firmer, more tart, and crunchier than some other varieties.

Campari Tomatoes

Also known as cocktail tomatoes, Campari tomatoes are smaller than beefsteak tomatoes but bigger than cherry tomatoes. Generally, they'll be about 2 to 4 inches wide and are a vibrant red hue. "Cocktail tomatoes, specifically, are normally sold still on the vine," says Alstede. "So, they're usually found in clusters of six to eight."

Campari tomatoes are known for their super sweet and juicy flavor and their size makes them versatile for using in the kitchen. "They don't have a ton of seeds in them, which makes them really great for using in cocktails, like Bloody Marys," says Alstede. "Or you can even use them in sauces or roast them."

Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes vary in size and in shape. "They're an old fashioned variety and they're known for variations," says Alstede. "No plant is going to be the same as the plant sitting next to it." Generally speaking, they have a very round, lumpy shape and are probably about the size of your hand.

The flavor of heirloom tomatoes varies based on when they were picked. "Depending on what stage you pick them in, they could be more sweet towards the darker side of their colors or a little more tangy towards the lighter side of their colors," says Alstede. Heirloom tomatoes are great to eat raw in salads and sandwiches, but you can also roast or grill them.

Plum Tomatoes

The plum variety (which includes Roma tomatoes) are oval shaped and are typically about 3 to 4 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide. "These are really popular in making sauces and pastes because they don't have a really sweet flavor," says Alstede. Instead, they're slightly tangy and have a grainy interior with a super firm exterior.

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are one of the smallest tomato varieties around and are about 1/2 to 1 1/4 inch wide. This tomato variety is available in a range of colors, from bright orange to deep red. But note that they will ripen in storage, so you can choose a lighter color at the store or farmer's market and then leave them on your counter until they're ripe. "When ripe, their skins are taut, but inside they are practically bursting with juices," says Welsh.

Cherry tomatoes are best for enjoying on their own or serving in a salad. "These tomatoes are snack-able raw, so I rarely cook them," says Welsh. "But when I do, I’ll cook them briefly in a Dutch oven with some lemon zest, fresh herbs, and a couple glugs of olive oil."

Unique Tomato Varieties to Try

While popular tomato varieties are readily available at your local supermarket, be sure to look for some new-to-you types during your next trip to the farmer's market. Here, we sharing a few unique varieties (pictured in the image above) from author and avid vegetable gardener, Sarah Copeland.

Sweet 100

This is a hybrid that produces lots of tomatoes on long fruit-bearing stems, each holding perhaps 100 or more very sweet cherry tomatoes. The fruits weigh approximately 1 ounce and are 1 inch across.

Green Zebra

No, it's not an unripe green tomato. It's actually a small tomato—weighing about 3 ounces—that is a beautiful chartreuse color with deep green stripes when ripe. The flesh is also green and rich and sweet tasting with a tart touch that keeps it balanced.

Speckled Roman

Not quite as its name suggests, these long, roma-shaped tomatoes have orange stripes (rather than speckles) running down the length of the fruit. The tomatoes are very thick and meaty with an excellent tomato flavor and great for sauce.

Kumamoto

A striking brown hybrid, this tomato gets its name from the city that is the center of tomato production in Japan—but don't confuse it for a Japanese cultivar. The Kumamoto was developed in Spain. Some people find the color less appealing than a red tomato but the succulent, sweet, and slightly tart flavor wins them over. Plus Kumamotos are more sturdy than some tomatoes and don't bruise or break as easily.

Yellow Plum

This heirloom tomato is shaped like a plum tomato but is smaller in size and has golden-yellow-orange flesh and skin. Their taste is mild and sweet.

Sungold

One of the most popular cherry tomatoes, this Japanese hybrid ripens early to a golden orange and has an extra-sweet flavor. Another bonus: Sungold tomatoes stay firmer longer than other cherry varieties.

Yellow Pear

This one is a small pear-shaped tomato with a mild flavor that's great for salads or snacking. Each bright lemon-yellow fruit weighs 3 quarters to 1 ounce.

Black Krim

Very juicy and sweet tasting and prized by tomato growers, this medium-sized heirloom is a beefsteak-type tomato that originally came from the Crimean Peninsula of the Ukraine. Its unusual exterior is reddish-purple to black with green/brown shoulders.

Isis Candy

Pretty red fruits with a yellow starburst on the blossom end, these cherry tomatoes are typically about 1 1/2 inches in size. They're a hybrid with a very sweet flavor that makes them popular with kids.

Early-Girl Hybrid

This is one of the most popular hybrid tomatoes with home growers because this medium-sized fruit ripens early and keeps on producing throughout the summer. About the size (and shape) of a tennis ball, the early girl looks how we expect a tomato to look and is meaty.

Cherry Roma

Another tomato hybrid that's popular with home gardeners is the Cherry Roma. That's because it keeps on producing throughout the growing season. It's also loved for the sweet-spicy flavor of it's 1 inch long plum-shaped fruits that are bright red.