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Tomatokeftedes (Tomato Balls)

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By: Nicole 42 Comments
Posted: 10/25/23

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Use up the last of the summer tomatoes to make one of my very favorite Greek street foods, Tomatokeftedes or Tomato Balls. These pan-fried tomato and feta fritters are truly delicious and the one new-to-me food item I couldn’t get enough of in Greece.

Use up the last of the summer tomatoes to make one of my very favorite Greek street foods, Tomatokeftedes or Tomato Balls. These pan-fried tomato and feta fritters are truly delicious and the one new-to-me food item I couldn’t get enough of in Greece

Tomatokeftedes (Tomato Balls)

Why should spanakopita get all the mediterranean appetizer glory when we also have Tomatokeftedes at our finger tips?

A little back story: There were a countless items I was excited for prior to our Greece trip a decade ago – the scenery, the clear turquoise waters, the sunsets, the shopping,– but as you can imagine, what I was looking forward to most was the food. I pictured myself stuffing my face with gyros from street vendors, the freshest seafood, loads of pita bread, tzaziki sauce and Greek salad. However sometimes the least expected items we try are the ones that make a lasting impression. Tomatokeftedes were just that.

Use up the last of the summer tomatoes to make one of my very favorite Greek street foods, Tomatokeftedes or Tomato Balls. These pan-fried tomato and feta fritters are truly delicious and the one new-to-me food item I couldn’t get enough of in Greece

I’d been hearing about these little jewels for quite some time from sources like Giada in Paradise, Trip Advisor reviews etc, and knew I had to get my hands on them. They’re a Santorini specialty and on almost every single restaurant menu littering the streets. Rightfully so, since they utilize one of Santorinis most treasured fruits (or vegetables depending on where you fall), the tomato.

I’m not really sure why they call them tomato balls, because they are not shaped into a ball form, they’re more like what we in America would call a fritter.

They peel, seed and chop ripe tomatoes into tiny pieces and then simply combine with a mixture of herbs, onions, a little bit of salt and flour. They’re shaped into patties and then fried in a bath of good quality Santorini olive oil until they’re puffed and golden brown. Most are served by themselves as an appetizer, but I preferred mine dunked in a vat of tzatziki sauce (of course).

Shredded cucumber, greek yogurt, dill, onion and olive oil in a mixing bowl

Ingredients in Tomatokeftedes

Tomatoes. Of course we can’t have tomato balls without tomatoes. Any kind will do, I’ve used vine ripened, roma and beefsteak.

Onion. I love onion in any capacity. but if you don’t like it in big pieces be sure to finely dice.

Herbs. There is nothing quite like fresh herbs, here we use lots of basil and mint.

Baking powder + baking soda. The combo of these two are going to make our tomato fritter tender, crisp and puffy.

tomatoes, onion, basil, parsley. and salt and pepper in a bowl.

Flour. We need something to bind everything together and like most friitters, flour does just that.

Feta. This is optional and not all Tomatokeftedes have it but I love the addition.

Olive oil. You’ll need good quality olive to fry the balls.

Tzatziki sauce. Store-bought or use this easy recipe of ours!

Chopped tomatoes, flour, onion, basil, parsley in a bowl.

Let’s make Tomatokeftedes!

Make the tzatziki sauce and prep ingredients. Once the batter comes together, things move fast so be sure you have everything prepped. This can be made a few days in advance.

Toss everything. In a bowl combine, tomatoes, feta, salt, onion, basil and mint. In another bowl, mix baking powder, baking soda and flour. Stir into tomatoes. Season to taste with PLENTY of salt. You don’t want these under seasoned.

Heat a large non-stick skillet with about ⅛ inch of olive oil to a medium-high heat.

Spoon the batter into the oil, making about 3 inch long fritters. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side.

Drain on paper towels and serve with tzaziki Sauce.

Tomatokeftedes frying in a skillet

Are Tomatokeftedes tasty leftover?

Unfortunately no. They are best served hot.

Do I have to use fresh tomatoes?

Yes. Sorry!

Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success

  • Don’t overmix!
  • Be sure to get most of the moisture out of the tomatoes before adding them to the flour

We love serve these with….

Greek Lasagna (Pastitsio Style Lasagna)

Lamb Sliders with Dill Greek Yogurt

Authentic Spanakopita Recipe

Use up the last of the summer tomatoes to make one of my very favorite Greek street foods, Tomatokeftedes or Tomato Balls. These pan-fried tomato and feta fritters are truly delicious and the one new-to-me food item I couldn’t get enough of in Greece
Use up the last of the summer tomatoes to make one of my very favorite Greek street foods, Tomatokeftedes or Tomato Balls. These pan-fried tomato and feta fritters are truly delicious and the one new-to-me food item I couldn’t get enough of in Greece

Tomatokeftedes (Tomato Balls)

Prep: 10 minutes minutes
Cook: 15 minutes minutes
0 minutes minutes
Total: 25 minutes minutes
Print Rate Email
Use up the last of the summer tomatoes to make one of my very favorite Greek street foods, Tomatokeftedes or Tomato Balls. These pan-fried tomato and feta fritters are truly delicious and the one new-to-me food item I couldn’t get enough of in Greece.
Prevent your screen from going dark
1 tomato ball

Ingredients

  • 2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely diced (make sure to get ALL the seeds and juice out!) See instruuctions
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 2 tbsp minced basil
  • 1 tbsp minced mint
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 cup flour (may need more depending on how wet the tomatoes are)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • Olive oil for frying

Equipment

  • 1 Mixing bowl
  • 1 Large skillet

Instructions

  • Fill a large bowl with ice water. set aside.
  • Peel the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Cut an X on the top of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water and let them boil for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and dunk into ice bath. Once cool, peel the skin off. Cut the tomatoes in half and remove all seeds and juice. Dice tomatoes.
  • In a bowl combine, tomatoes, salt, onion, basil and mint. In another bowl, mix baking powder, baking soda and flour. Stir into tomatoes. Season to taste with PLENTY of salt. You don't want these under seasoned!
  • Add about ⅛ inch of olive oil to a large skillet. Heat over medium-high. Spoon the batter into the oil, making about 3 inch long fritters, this should be about 1/4 cup of batter. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side.Drain on paper towels and serve with tzaziki Sauce

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1fritter
© Author: Nicole

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Meet Nicole

Welcome! My lifelong passion for delicious food and cooking has evolved over time into an equal love of showing you an elevated meal can be easy, approachable and most importantly, tasty. Dive in and find something perfect for you and your family!

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  1. Natasha @ The Cake Merchant says

    Posted on 6/14/14 at 2:00 pm

    Wow, these pictures are really making me want to go to Greece! It looks like such a gorgeous place! I’ve never heard of tomato balls, but now I’m intrigued. This one’s on my to do list.

    Reply
  2. Layla @ Brunch Time Baker says

    Posted on 6/14/14 at 2:47 pm

    OMG!! These pictures are beyond beautiful! Girl I was scroll up and down between the food and the beautiful pictures. Everything looks perfect!

    Reply
  3. Dana says

    Posted on 6/15/14 at 7:17 am

    Wow I love your pictures, my mouth was watering as I scrolled down. I’m a big tomato fan so I gotta make these. I need to go gluten-free though, so I shall try them with my GF AP mix, hopefully they will work out. What a great idea for fresh summer tomatoes though!
    Looks like an incredible trip to Greece, too! I’ve never been but now I really want to. Thank you! It looks like you stayed in a fabulous place too.
    Just found your blog fairly recently and I must tell you that it’s one of the best food blogs I’ve seen (and I’m an avid foodie so I have quite a few faves:). I like the style and your writing is very casual and fun to read, and your photos all make me hungry (haha!) You’ve now been bookmarked, I can’t wait to try these tomatoes, I will let you known ho the GF flour works out in case you have any other (celiac) readers interested in trying them out.
    Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 6/16/14 at 2:58 am

      Wow! Thank you so much for the sweet words Dana! I’m so happy to have you here!!

      Reply
  4. Sarah @ Running On Brie says

    Posted on 6/16/14 at 5:06 am

    I was interested in these great looking fried tomatoes- and then I scrolled down to your Greece pics and couldn’t believe my eyes! Wow! What a magical place! And just beautiful photography.

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 6/16/14 at 5:13 pm

      Thank you much Sarah!!

      Reply
  5. Bibs @ Tasteometer says

    Posted on 6/16/14 at 11:45 am

    Oh my, these sound fabulous. Never heard of them before and I love Greek food. Your pics are amazing too, glad you had a good trip.

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 6/16/14 at 5:12 pm

      Thank you so much!!!

      Reply
  6. Jessie {Life As A Strawberry} says

    Posted on 6/16/14 at 4:17 pm

    These sound SO GOOD! It looks like you had an amazing time in Greece – what beautiful pictures! I’m glad you had a good time (and are bringing all the delicious recipes home to share with us – you rock!)

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 6/16/14 at 5:11 pm

      Thank you so much Jessie!

      Reply
  7. Jess @ On Sugar Mountain says

    Posted on 6/16/14 at 4:56 pm

    I didn’t even know you could prepare tomatoes like this. WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING ALL MY LIFE?! 🙂

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 6/16/14 at 5:11 pm

      Jess, these are SO good!! You have to try them!

      Reply
  8. Chelsea says

    Posted on 6/18/14 at 8:53 am

    Am I blind?! I can’t seem to find the recipe 🙁

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 6/18/14 at 1:56 pm

      Chelsea, I was having issues with plug ins, the recipe should be up now! Sorry about that!

      Reply
  9. Dana says

    Posted on 7/9/14 at 1:51 am

    Hello there, I finally got a chance to make these and they were absolutely delicious!!! Thank you again for the recipe. I just came back from a trip to the deep south and tried Fried Green Tomatoes (which I’ve never had before and loved!) and these were quite similar to those. They were easy to make and very yummy. I made them gluten free by using a gluten free flour (a mix of br rice flour, pot starch and tapioca) and it worked like a charm. I coated them in a bit of parmesan too before frying to add a bit to the breading coating as I was afraid my GF flour may be a bit bland.
    I have to stay away from yogurt as it gives me gut issues (oddly enough) so I made a feta cheese mix (feta, cream cheese and bit of milk) for drizzling on top…so good!! Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 7/12/14 at 4:12 pm

      Oh lovely Dana!! I’m so glad you liked them! That feta cheese mix sounds awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing, I hope you come back!

      Reply
  10. Mary says

    Posted on 10/10/14 at 7:39 pm

    Hi, my husband and I are in Santorini right now and we had lunch at the Argo restaurant today, fantastic, and the tomato balls are fantastic, that’s how I came across your blog, I was googling the recipe, and yes drenched in tzatziki. We are staying at this wonderful hotel with the most amazing view, love it,love it, love it. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Nicole says

      Posted on 10/10/14 at 7:46 pm

      Oh my gosh! I’m so jealous!! We LOVED Argo, really one of our favorite restaurants in Santorini. If you get a change to go back for dinner, you need to get one of the tables up top for a killer sunset view. Eat lots of good food for me!! And thanks for stopping by the blog! 🙂 Oh, and don’t miss lobster spaghetti at Taverna Katina down in Amoudi Bay!

      Reply
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