There’s no competition—tomatoes win the title of the most popular garden crop.
This South American native plant comes in thousands of varieties, ranging from the candy-sweet Sungold to the bumpy Black Krim. It’s fantastic in everything from pasta dishes to homemade pizza sauce.
Sometimes, though, you’re not looking for a full-sized slicer and would prefer tomatoes tiny enough to just pop in your mouth. Welcome to the world of grape and cherry tomatoes. These fun-sized fruits come in a myriad of shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors that make them memorable for all who try them.
While most grocery stores stock only one or two types of tiny tomatoes, starting your own from seed lets you choose from hundreds of varieties to enjoy at home.
But which tiny tomatoes are best? Let’s look at 31 stellar tiny tomato varieties you can grow this year.
3 Questions to Ask Before Choosing Tiny Tomato Varieties
Make sure you know the key traits of your tomatoes by answering these questions for each type.
1. Cherry or Grape?
Most snackable tomatoes fall into the categories of cherry or grape. Grape tomatoes tend to be oblong and slightly larger than their cherry counterparts, which are known for being perfectly round.
And, while grape tomatoes tend to have a meaty texture, cherry tomatoes tend to be sweet—almost candy-like—and contain so much juice that they burst open upon biting.
2. Determinate or Indeterminate?
It’s best to know your tomatoes’ growth habits before planting, so you can plan ahead for harvest time.
Determinate plants produce fruit that ripens all at once. They tend to require less space and pruning, which makes them great for low-maintenance gardeners. Consider these varieties if you plan to can or make tomato sauce, as you can make big batches as soon as the fruit ripens.
Indeterminate tomatoes, in contrast, will ripen throughout the whole growing season. They are great for a continuous supply of tomatoes, though you’ll need to put more effort into pruning and picking them.
3. Heirloom or Hybrid?
Knowing the origins of your tomato variety is crucial if you plan to save seeds for the next growing season.
Heirloom plants are open-pollinated, and most are 50 plus years old. Gardeners love them for their complex flavors, though the plants tend to be more susceptible to disease. The best part of heirloom plants is that their seeds grow true to their parents, which means you can save them from year to year.
In contrast, hybrid plants are cross-pollinated between two different varieties to combine their best character traits. This leads to predictable plants with features like low disease risk, easy harvesting, and crack resistance.
While hybrids are often easier to grow, some varieties sacrifice flavor for these traits. You also can’t save their seeds, as the offspring will have an unpredictable blend of characteristics from its parent’s genetics.
Here are some of the best varieties of heirloom tomatoes for you to try.
31 Best Cherry & Grape Tomato Varieties
Below are some of the best tiny tomato varieties worth your consideration, organized based on each type’s key attributes.
Best Red Tomatoes
The classic summer treat, this collection of red cherry and grape tomatoes taste great in salads and straight from the vine.
Rapunzel: This indeterminate hybrid grows juicy one-oz cherry tomatoes in clusters up to 40. It’s an extra-sweet early season variety that’s perfect for eating fresh.
Sunchocola: A productive plant that produces brick-red cherry tomatoes, Sunchocola tomatoes have a smokey-sweet flavor with low acid content. It’s an indeterminate grower that produces in 8-12 fruit clusters.
Sunpeach: Related to the ever-popular Sungold, Sunpeach tomatoes produce sweet, slightly oblong fruits that are crack-resistant and rarely compromised by viruses.
Sweetie: A high sugar content makes Sweetie tomatoes a consistent favorite. While delicious fresh, many gardeners grow this variety for use as juice or sugar-free preserves.
Candyland Red: If you like tiny tomatoes, then this red currant variety is worth the garden space. It produces large vines loaded with sweet, firm fruits perfect for fresh eating.
Best Yellow Tomatoes
Known for sweet tastes and relatively low acid content, yellow tomatoes can be hard to find in stores but are standouts in the home garden.
Snow White: Almost translucent, these creamy yellow cherry tomatoes have a sweet yet balanced flavor and produce right until the season’s first frost.
Italian Ice: For those who prefer low-acid tomatoes, Italian ice tomatoes produce large clusters of mild-tasting yellow fruit. They remain productive until frost and are delicious fresh or added to pasta dishes.
Barry’s Crazy Cherry Tomato: These pale yellow tomatoes grow in massive clusters that make harvesting simple. Expect to get up to 40 fruits per truss of this eye-popping plant.
Sungold: Long considered the gold standard for tasty cherry tomatoes, Sungolds offer a tangerine-colored, candy-sweet fruit that’s reminiscent of the tropics. Eat them fresh, add them to salad, or make a memorable salsa—these tomatoes are a gardener’s delight because their propensity to crack makes them difficult to ship.
Golden Sweet: This tasty grape tomato is crack resistant, long-lasting, and produces until the season’s first frost. What’s not to like?
Yellow Pear:This old-fashioned, low-acid tomato variety looks like a miniature pear on the vine. It’s highly productive and has a mild, sweet flavor.
Best Early Tomatoes
If you deal with a short growing season or simply want to snack on fresh tomatoes earlier this year, these early-ripening varieties are for you.
Sakura Tomato: This award-winning cherry tomato matures within 55 days. Gardeners praise it for its compact growing size and ability to withstand chilly temperatures. You’ll get large clumps of red berries for your effort.
Bloody Butcher: A favorite heirloom, Bloody Butcher tomatoes are a tasty cherry that are ready to eat within eight weeks of planting.
Power Pops: While it only reaches a foot tall, Power Pop tomatoes pack a flavor punch and ripen two weeks earlier than the average cherry tomato.
Take a look here for more fast maturing tomato varieties for short season growing.
Best Container Tomatoes
If you’re short on space, then container tomato plants offer the solution. Choose one of these small-statured varieties to maximize the growing space you have available.
Baby Boomer: This little plant can produce a big harvest—up to 300 ruby-red tomatoes per season. It’s a prolific plant with sweet-flavored fruits many growers enjoy roasting on the grill.
Sweetheart of the Patio: As a semi-determinate plant, Sweetheart of the Patio produces compact fruit clusters within 68 days. Its branches tend to hang, which makes it an attractive plant for baskets and pots.
Micro Tom: Considered the world’s shortest tomato plant, Micro Tom maxes out around eight inches tall. Yet, this dwarf determinate plant is surprisingly productive and gets enveloped by bright red one-oz fruits.It’s perfect for urban gardening and indoor growing, especially with an AeroGarden.
Orange Hat Tomato: Though the plant tops out at nine inches, Orange Hat Tomatoes are prolific producers of fruity orange orbs. You can grow each one in a six-inch pot or plant them in your flower garden as edible ornamentals.
Tiny Tim: This early-maturing heirloom produces plenty of four-ounce fruits on a 16-inch plant. It’s great for hanging baskets and patio growing, as the plant tolerates small amounts of shade well.
Best Multi-Colored Tomatoes
Greens, purples, and plenty of stripes describe these hodge-podge tiny tomato varieties. If you’re looking to grow types not found in stores, these tomatoes will stand out.
Black Cherry: An heirloom praised for its complex flavor, black cherry tomatoes produce firm one-oz mahogany-hued fruits throughout the summer that pair well with bruschetta and salsa.
Maglia Rosa: Egg-shaped tomatoes in tones of pink and orange sets the Maglia Rosa plant apart. Harvest the fruits just as they turn pink for a sweet yet acidic flavor that tastes like summer.
Blue Berries: This red and deep purple cherry tomato is rich in anthocyanins and has an intensely fruity taste. The more sunlight the plant gets, the darker the coloring. You’ll get impressive yields all season.
Black Vernissage: These indeterminate tomatoes develop striped green and red skin as they ripen. They are full of complex flavor, which makes them the perfect tomato for making sauce.
Violet Jasper (Tzi Bi U): You get a beautiful blend of green and red with these small tomatoes that boast dark purple flesh inside. This heirloom variety from China is one of the most productive tomato varieties sold by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
Pink and Purple Bumble Bee Tomatoes: These bright, slightly elongated cherry tomato varieties have bold stripes and ripen over a long season. They are supremely crack-resistant, which makes them great for selling at farmers’ markets.
Blue Cream Berries: This extra-sweet cherry tomato comes in stunning purple and yellow tones and boasts a complex flavor and vigorous growth habit.
Green Envy: These tomatoes ripen to a jade-green color and have meaty flesh that stands up to grilling and roasting. Growers love their mild flavor, and they make a pretty addition to salsas.
Sun Sugar: Gardeners love the gorgeous tangerine coloring and sweet-yet-tart flavor of Sun Sugar tomatoes. Best of all, they are crack resistant and resistant to most tomato diseases.
Brad’s Atomic: These elongated tomatoes come in a veritable rainbow of colors and produce long-lasting, crack-resistant fruit with a flavor that matches the color intensity. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has long called it their favorite variety.
Lucky Tiger: Green, red, and hints of gold describes the coloring of this heirloom variety. Within the fruit you’ll get a tangy flavor with balanced acidity. It’s a reliable variety for both field and greenhouse growing.
Isis Candy: Mottled tones of orange and yellow make up this cherry tomato. It’s a high performing variety that produces lots of one-inch fruits that maintain their coloring throughout their interior.
Grow Tiny Tomatoes in the Garden This Year
Growing tiny tomatoes takes some planning, but the harvest makes every minute worth it. Keep in mind that these plants tend to be unruly, so you’ll need to plan on pruning and using tomato cages or another support system to keep each fruit-laden branch supported through the gardening season.
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