How to use sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil

You can use sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil by chopping or slicing them into pasta, salads, sandwiches, pizza, and soups. Blending them into a spread or pesto and using the oil from the jar for cooking were also popular suggestions in a cooking discussion among home cooks. The strongest agreement centered on these flexible uses rather than one particular recipe.

What pasta dishes can you add them to?

Pasta and pasta salad drew repeated recommendations. The practical preparation tip was straightforward: drain the tomatoes, then slice or chop them before adding them to the dish. Both pasta dishes and pasta salads give you a way to use the tomatoes without turning them into a separate spread.

For a cold option, chopped or sliced tomatoes were repeatedly suggested for pasta salad. That recommendation stood on its own, rather than depending on a particular dressing or a fixed set of other ingredients.

For pasta dishes, one home cook shared a more detailed combination involving spinach, Asiago or Fontina, Parmesan, pine nuts, and oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. That combination was an individual suggestion, not a formula independently repeated by others. The broader support was for adding the tomatoes to pasta, so there is no need to treat that one version as the required approach.

Do they work on sandwiches and pizza?

Sandwiches, grilled cheese, pizza, and focaccia were all well-supported ideas. For these uses, the tomatoes remain an addition or topping rather than becoming a blended ingredient. Drain and slice or chop them as suggested in the discussion.

• Sandwiches: Add the sliced or chopped tomatoes to a sandwich.
• Grilled cheese: Use them as an addition to grilled cheese, an option recommended by multiple home cooks.
• Pizza: Use them as a topping.
• Focaccia: Add them as a topping here, too.

These were general serving ideas, not complete recipes. The discussion did not establish a particular sandwich filling, pizza combination, or focaccia method that should accompany the tomatoes. The useful point is that all of these were repeatedly suggested places to use them.

Can you blend them into a spread or pesto?

Yes. Blended spreads, pesto, and dips formed another well-supported group of suggestions. This is the main alternative offered for cooks who would rather blend the tomatoes into something than add chopped pieces to a dish.

• Goat cheese spread: Blend the tomatoes with goat cheese for a spread for toast or crackers.
• Pesto: Blend them with Parmesan and pine nuts.
• Other dips: Hummus and olives were also mentioned as ingredients to blend with the tomatoes.

The discussion supplied these combinations but did not establish shared quantities or a single preferred texture. Treat them as options rather than a measured recipe. The goat cheese suggestion includes a specific use for the finished spread, while the pesto suggestion identifies the ingredients to blend without setting out a full method.

What about chicken, salads, and soup?

Chicken dishes were repeatedly recommended, including versions called Marry Me Chicken and Tuscan chicken. Those names identify directions suggested by home cooks, not one agreed-upon recipe. Support was broader for using the tomatoes with chicken than for any particular cooking method.

Salads also came up, including green, grain, and pasta salads. Pasta salad received especially frequent mentions, while green and grain salads provide additional options if a pasta dish is not what you have in mind. The same drain-and-chop or drain-and-slice preparation applies.

Soup was another suggestion, though it received less emphasis than pasta, sandwiches, and spreads. Chili appeared as an individual idea rather than a widely repeated recommendation. Those options can be noted without giving them the same weight as the uses that many home cooks independently endorsed.

Can you use the oil from the jar?

Yes. Multiple home cooks suggested saving the jar oil for cooking or drizzling it on food. The oil was treated as something usable in its own right, not simply something to discard after draining the tomatoes.

The discussion did not settle on one cooking application or one food to drizzle it over. Keep the advice at that general level: drain the tomatoes when preparing them for a dish, and save the oil if you want to use it for cooking or drizzling.

What should you try first?

Start with chopped or sliced tomatoes in pasta or pasta salad, a sandwich, or on pizza. If a blended option appeals more, try the goat cheese spread or the Parmesan-and-pine-nut pesto combination. These choices reflect the strongest overlap among the suggestions.

One home cook cautioned that the tomatoes have a distinct flavor that can take over a dish when used heavily. That was an individual warning, not a shared verdict, but it is worth keeping in mind if you are unsure how much you enjoy their flavor.