You’re going to really enjoy this vintage Southern recipe for Fire and Ice Tomatoes. It’s a light, refreshing side dish composed of sweet Vidalia onions, ripe tomatoes, and bell peppers marinated in a sweet-tart vinegar solution. It’s a great choice for all your summer meals.
This recipe has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. It came from my mother’s mid-1950s home economics textbook! I now have what’s left of that book, with both covers missing and a good number of pages gone, in my own collection, and I treasure every page that’s still there.
I particularly like this recipe because it works just as well with grocery store tomatoes in the middle of January as it does with vine-ripened summer tomatoes in July. That’s all down to the marinade, which can take those winter tomatoes and transform them into something delicious. If it can do that, you know it has to be incredible when they’re in season!
This sweet-tart marinade is very similar in flavor to a bread and butter pickle brine and works perfectly with the tomatoes, bell peppers, and Vidalia onions. If you like a good marinated vegetable dish, you’ll also want to try my Sweet and Sour Cucumber and Vidalia Onion Salad and Old Fashioned Copper Pennies, which are based on the same delicious principle.
Recipe Snapshot: Fire and Ice Tomatoes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Cuisine: Southern, Vintage
Cooking Method: Stovetop
Primary Ingredients: Tomatoes, green bell pepper, Vidalia onions, vinegar, spices, sugar
Skill Level: Easy
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What Makes This Recipe Special
Fire and Ice Tomatoes is a well-loved Southern marinated salad with fresh tomatoes, sweet Vidalia onions, and bell pepper strips coated in hot, sweet-tart brine, then refrigerated until cold and fully flavored.
The marinade does all the work here. The sharp tang of the vinegar plays against the sugar, the sweet mildness of the Vidalia onion, and the natural acidity of the tomatoes in a way that makes the finished dish far more complex than the ingredient list might suggest. It genuinely improves with time in the refrigerator, which makes it a great make-ahead side dish to have in your repertoire.
Ingredient Notes
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- Vidalia Onions – Vidalia onions are one of Georgia’s most well-known agricultural products. They’re only grown in a specific area where the soil composition produces very sweet, mild onions.
- Tomatoes – Choose any tomatoes you like, but make sure they’re perfectly ripe. If using in-season tomatoes, I prefer an heirloom variety like Cherokee Purple or Mortgage Lifter. If it’s the off-season, I would choose grocery store Roma tomatoes.
- Green Bell Pepper – I typically use all green bell peppers, but a mixture of colors is nice, too.
- White Vinegar – Nothing fancy, just plain ordinary vinegar.
- Celery Seed and Mustard Seed – This combination adds a little pickling vibe to the brine.
- Sugar – Creates the sweet-tart contrast.
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Sweet onion substitution — Vidalia onions are my first choice, but they’re only available from late April through mid-September. Any sweet onion, such as Walla Walla or Texas Sweet, works for the rest of the year. I would avoid standard yellow onions, which I believe are too sharp for this dish.
- Bell pepper colors — Any color of bell peppers works here. A mix of red, yellow, and orange, alongside the green, makes a very pretty dish.
- Add a little heat — This recipe, as written, doesn’t include any “heat,” which is why the “fire” in the name is a bit of a mystery. If you’d like a little spice, add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the marinade mixture.
How to Make Fire and Ice Tomatoes
Pro Tip
Be sure to use Vidalia onions for this dish. Their sweet, mild flavor just can’t be beat! I’m not even going to try to get into the Vidalia vs. Walla Walla debate here. I’m just going to say flat out that Vidalias are the best 😊.
STEP 1. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and the onions and peppers into rings.
STEP 2. Place the prepared vegetables in a shallow dish.
STEP 3. Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil and cook for one minute.
STEP 4. Pour the hot marinade over the vegetables.
STEP 5. Cover the dish and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Keeps in the refrigerator for several days.
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Recipe Tips
- Choose firm tomatoes. A tomato that’s too soft will break down in the marinade and turn mushy. You want ripe but still firm.
- Don’t skip cooking the marinade. The one-minute boil isn’t just to dissolve the sugar. It also helps draw out the flavors of the celery and mustard seeds that wouldn’t happen in a cold marinade.
- Resist serving too soon. A few hours in the refrigerator is the minimum, but overnight is even better.
- Use a slotted spoon to serve. I normally use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to a bowl for serving. If serving from the original container, be sure to include a slotted spoon so guests aren’t dipping out so much marinade that it runs all over their plates.
How to Serve
Serve Fire and Ice Tomatoes alongside grilled or smoked meats, fried chicken, pork chops, or pulled pork. The cool, tangy flavor is a natural contrast to anything rich or smoky.
It’s also a good choice for a picnic spread or a covered dish supper, since it travels well and is even better after sitting for a while. Pair it with Creamed Field Corn and a simple green vegetable for a classic summer plate. For another tomato-based side, my Southern Tomato Cracker Salad is worth having in your rotation as well.
How to Store
Store leftovers in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days. The flavors will continue to develop, so don’t be surprised if it tastes even better on day two or three. Serve cold or at room temperature. This dish cannot be frozen, as the tomatoes would break down completely when thawed.
Questions About Fire and Ice Tomatoes
That’s a darn good question, and, honestly, I don’t know. I think that the most likely explanation is the technique itself, in which a hot brine is poured over cold vegetables, and the finished dish is thoroughly chilled. But your guess is as good as mine.
There are several versions of this recipe online that do include cucumbers, but I don’t recommend that. Cucumbers in the acidic marinade tend to break down and become soft and unappealing after a day or so in the refrigerator.
No, I’d recommend against it. The skin helps the tomato wedges hold their shape in the marinade. Without it, they could become mushy.
You can, though I’d cut them in half first for two reasons. First, halving them gives the marinade a way to get into the tomatoes and flavor them. Leave them whole, and the marinade simply sits on the outside. And, second, it’s really hard to eat a whole cherry tomato gracefully. Have you ever tried to chase a marinade-covered cherry tomato around your plate, spear it with a fork, and then get it to your mouth? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. So, take a minute to cut them!
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Recipe
Fire and Ice Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 6 tomatoes quartered
- 2 large Vidalia onions sliced and separated into rings
- 1 large green bell pepper cut into strips
- ¾ cup white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons celery seed
- 1 ½ teaspoons mustard seed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into wedges, the onions into rings, and the peppers into rings.6 tomatoes, 2 large Vidalia onions, 1 large green bell pepper
- Place vegetables in a shallow dish.
- Bring remaining ingredients to a boil and cook for one minute.¾ cup white vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoons celery seed, 1 ½ teaspoons mustard seed, ½ teaspoon salt, ¾ cup water, 2 tablespoons sugar, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Pour the warm marinade over the vegetables.
- Cover the dish and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Keeps in refrigerator for several days.
Notes
- Use firm, ripe tomatoes. Overripe tomatoes will break down too quickly in the marinade.
- A glass or ceramic dish is required. Metal reacts with the acidic brine and affects the flavor.
- Pour the marinade over the vegetables while it’s still hot.
- Overnight refrigeration produces the best flavor. A few hours is the minimum; the next day is better.
- Vidalia onions are ideal when in season. Any sweet onion works well the rest of the year.
- Serve with a slotted spoon to drain excess liquid.
- Keeps in the refrigerator for up to three days. May not be frozen.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
I made this with my own home grown tomatoes which JUST came in! I couldn’t get a Vidalias at my store right now time of year so had no choice but to sub. Still great. If you enjoy food history, here’s a fascinating article about the onion which actually comes from Texas, but something about that Georgia soil might have been the trick. https://gonursery.com/the-legend-of-the-texas-sweet-onion/
I lived in Texas many years though, and Texas sweets are what you get there. You gotta go with what you can get— they are not Vidalias, but they are really delicious.
Sure, any sweet onion is fine in this. We do love our Vidalias in Georgia!
Vidalias are the best of the best of the sweet onions, for sure!
Fire & Ice always a favorite salad around here in the summer especially now with an abundance of produce here. Also on the list for summer dining our favorite family recipe for Italian style marinated tomatoes and both salads on the menu plan along with so many other tomato projects
I’m going to try this recipe, but I do not see anything in the ingredients that would account for the “Fire”? Did I miss a ingredient?
No, you didn’t Frank. Honestly? I have no idea why it’s called “fire and ice” except that’s what my family has always called it :-) If you want a little fire, though, a pinch of red pepper flakes would work very nicely.
I too wanted a little heat. I’ve made this recipe several times and now I and add about 6-12 pickled jalapenos slices, depending on your taste, and sometimes a little juice from the jar. It brings if from a good to great!
Good idea, Ryan.