This potato bake with fresh juicy tomatoes is the perfect comfort food year round! It is easy to make with very few ingredients, and is completely plant based / vegan. Everyone will love the simple but perfect combination of creamy potatoes, juicy tomatoes and fresh lemony kale pesto. An easy lunch or side dish, or round it off with some protein for a comforting dinner.

This recipe combines two of my favorite things in the world: fresh juicy summer tomatoes and creamy carby potatoes.

The fact that “tomato” and “potato” rhyme makes writing this feel awkward but there ya go.

What you get here is a dish of fluffy and slightly roasted potatoes that are topped with baked tomatoes and crispy sliced garlic. The tomato juices infuse with the potatoes to add lots of flavor and moisture. We then spoon some fresh kale pesto on top which is perfection.

Mr. Veggie is always concerned that potato based dishes will be too dry. He sees potatoes and scrambles for sauces and condiments. If you feel the same way – rest assured! Thanks to the tomato juices and pesto drenching the potatoes, this dish is not at all dry.

How to choose the right ingredients

This dish is very simple, so the end result somewhat depends on the quality of your ingredients. You want good fluffy potatoes and you want super sweet, fresh tomatoes.

For the benefit of my UK based readers, I used these beauties…

  • Isle of Wight tomatoes, available from Ocado or direct from The Tomato Stall. Be warned that once you try them you’ll never go back and they will take all your money forevermore.
  • Fairfields Farm potatoes. They run a home delivery offer, be warned that you will get too many potatoes and be stressed out by whether you can possibly use them all and feel guilty if a day goes by that you haven’t chipped away at the box of potatoes… but then when they finally run out you will order more because you miss them. Sigh.

How to Make it – in Pictures

There is a full printable recipe card to follow, but this is just a visual run through for extra confidence before you dive in.

Potatoes go in…
… and after about 30mins of cooking, you’ll add the tomatoes and garlic…
… and make the pesto while you’re waiting around…
… take the bake out of the oven and spoon the pesto on top…
Scoop it up!

How to Serve

The fun part!

This is one of those side dish recipes I sometimes look at and think “That’s all very well but can you be lunch? or dinner?” because I don’t always have the energy to make too many components of a meal.

It can be a light lunch on its own, but to really round it out to dinner status I’d put it in a bowl with some kind of easy to make vegetarian protein source such as:

  • Vegetarian or vegan sausages
  • Tofu (try smoked tofu!) or tempeh – for maximum easy buy it pre-flavored
  • Cheese: it’s amazing with either pan fried halloumi cheese or creamy burrata
  • Fried or poached eggs

All of which only require a few minutes to prepare while your potato tomato bake is finishing up in the oven.

Potato Tomato Bake with Kale Pesto

This potato bake with fresh juicy tomatoes is the perfect comfort food year round! It is easy to make with very few ingredients, and is completely plant based / vegan. Everyone will love the simple but perfect combination of creamy potatoes, juicy tomatoes and fresh lemony kale pesto. An easy lunch or side dish, or round it off with some protein for a comforting dinner.
5 from 1 rating

Ingredients

  • 2 large potatoes, peeled chopped into small (1 inch max) pieces
  • 300 g (10.5 oz) mixed fresh tomatoes , see notes
  • 2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Kale Pesto

  • 1 handful of raw kale leaves, washed
  • 1 bunch of basil leaves
  • 4 Tbsp raw cashew nuts
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 large clove of garlic
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt, to taste

Instructions 

  • Heat the oven to 180C (360F).
  • Toss your chopped potatoes in olive oil and place in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven and cook, uncovered, for 20-30mins, until they are noticeably softer. You want them to be able to crumble under the pressure of a fork but not be fully cooked yet.
  • Meanwhile, make your pesto by blending all of the ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender.
  • Take the potatoes out of the oven and turn the heat up to 200C (400F).
  • Use a spatula to mix the potatoes around and flip them over. Arrange the tomatoes on top of the potatoes and sprinkle more salt and the sliced garlic on top.
  • Put the dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes. I like to go in about halfway through and press down on the tomatoes to squeeze some of the juices out.
  • It’s ready when the tomatoes are starting to caramelize and release their juices.
  • Optional : if you would like a crispier topping, place under the grill / broiler until browned.
  • Spoon the pesto on top and serve.

Notes

* I use a mix of whatever fresh and tasty tomatoes are available. Plum, San Marzano, heirloom / heritage plus a few cherry and grape tomatoes. I slice larger tomatoes in half and place them face up, while leaving smaller cherry tomatoes whole. I don’t like to use 100% cherry tomatoes, because I like the way the larger tomatoes can get lots of juices squezed out of them to flavor the potatoes – but you could do all smaller tomatoes if that is what you have.
Serving: 1g, Calories: 310kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g, Sodium: 230mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 5g