SeasonSort Week of Sep 4 · updated Fri

Tomatoes

Peak season in the Midwest · down 7% this week

$2.01 /lb

This week

↓7%

Vs last week

Calories/serv

1 g

Protein/serv

Seasonality of tomatoes

This vegetable is at its local-harvest peak from June through October, and is generally in stores from May through November. This week it's peak season in the Midwest — buying it in season usually means better quality and, as the regional prices below show, a lower price.

Nutrition · per 120g serving

Calories

1.1 g

Protein

4.7 g

Carbs

0.2 g

Fat

1.4 g

Fiber

Per a typical 120g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average).

Cheapest tomatoes this week, by region

Buying tomatoes in the Southeast saves about 34% versus the Southwest this week.

Buying tomatoes

How to pick a good one: Smell the stem end. A ripe tomato smells like a tomato; one that smells like nothing will taste like nothing. Look for a heavy fruit with taut, unbroken skin that gives slightly under a thumb. Colour matters less than weight and scent.
What a good price looks like: Field tomatoes in season are $1.50 to $2.50 a pound; out of season the same shelf holds $3-plus fruit picked green and gas-ripened, which is a bad buy at any price. Under $2 in peak season is the moment to make sauce in quantity. Off-season, tinned tomatoes are better and cheaper than anything fresh in the display, without exception.
What you actually get: A pound of tomatoes is roughly three medium globes and cooks down to about a cup of sauce — a five-to-one reduction worth knowing before you plan a batch. For fresh use, a pound serves four in a salad. Peeling and seeding costs about 20% of the weight.

Storing and cooking tomatoes

How to store it: Never refrigerate a tomato you plan to eat raw — cold damages its texture and flavour permanently. Keep them stem-side down on the counter, out of direct sun, and use within a few days of full ripeness.
In the kitchen: Never refrigerate one you intend to eat raw — below about 12°C the flesh turns mealy and the aroma compounds stop developing, and that damage does not reverse on the counter. To peel for sauce, score an X in the base and drop them in boiling water for 30 seconds; the skins slip off. Salt sliced tomatoes ten minutes before serving and the flavour concentrates noticeably.
Getting the most out of it: In peak season, salt and olive oil are the whole recipe. When they are cheap, roast a tray slowly with garlic and freeze the result; it becomes the base for sauce, soup, and braises all winter. Underripe ones improve on the counter, never in the fridge.

Cook with Tomatoes · cheapest dishes first

See all 2397 recipes with tomatoes →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.

Price from the USDA National Retail Report. Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.

Tomatoes — FAQ

When can you buy tomatoes in season?

This vegetable is at its local-harvest peak from June through October, and is generally in stores from May through November. This week the Midwest has tomatoes marked peak season.

What's the price of tomatoes right now?

As of the week of September 4, 2026, the price of tomatoes in the Midwest is $2.01/lb, down 7% from last week. It's cheapest in the Southeast at $1.75/lb.

How many calories and how much protein are in tomatoes?

A typical 120g serving of tomatoes has about 22 calories, 1.1g protein, 4.7g carbohydrates, 0.2g fat, and 1.4g fiber, per USDA FoodData Central.

What can I make with tomatoes?

SeasonSort indexes 2397 recipes that use tomatoes, each with its cost per serving computed from this week's prices — starting from about $0.12 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.