You’re going to really enjoy this vintage Southern recipe for Fire and Ice Tomatoes. It’s a light, refreshing side dish or salad 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.
One of the best things about summer is, of course, all the fresh produce! And my personal favorite is probably ripe, juicy tomatoes. They’re the featured ingredient in this lovely side dish that goes with everything from fried chicken and pork chops to ribs and steak.
This vintage southern recipe comes from my mother and is a fabulous take-along for a picnic. The sweet-tart dressing that is poured over the vegetables has nearly the same flavor as the brine used for bread and butter pickles. You can make this a day or two ahead and keep it in the refrigerator, too.
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. My preference for this recipe is an heirloom variety, particularly if they’re homegrown.
- 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 a sweet-tart contrast.
- Salt and Pepper
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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 :-)
- Cut the tomatoes into wedges and the onions and peppers into rings.
- Place the prepared vegetables in a shallow dish.
👉 PRO TIP: Don’t you love the colors in there? Yellow or orange peppers would also be pretty.
- Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil and cook for one minute.
- Pour the hot marinade over the vegetables.
- Cover the dish and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Keeps in the refrigerator for several days.
How to Store
Store in the refrigerator in a container with a tight-fitting lid for up to 2 days. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
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Recipe
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Fire and Ice Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 large Vidalia onions sliced and separated into rings
- 6 tomatoes quartered
- 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 and the onions and peppers into rings.
- Place vegetables in a shallow dish.
- Bring remaining ingredients to a boil and cook for one minute.
- Pour the warm marinade over the vegetables.
- Cover the dish and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Keeps in refrigerator for several days.
Notes
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’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
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.
Looks so pretty!
Looks like a delicious dish, plus I like the name. :)
Lovely recipe! Yum
I love everything in this salad, including the intriguing additions of celery and mustard seeds. Considering what a bread and butter pickle fanatic I am — I eat them literally every day with lunch — I will definitely work this into my dinnertime salad rotation. I’m currently tapped out on garden tomatoes but am planting my fall vines this week!
LOVE THIS ONE… I’M GONNA’ USE IT THIS WEEKEND!
This looks so refreshing! Glad to hear that it is cooling down and becoming comfortable. I am in California and we have had a unseasonably cool summer – miss the warm nights we typically have. Enjoy your holiday weekend!
So good! I wish I had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with… I think I need to call my parents and have them deliver some to me this weekend!
Looks great! That’s fancier than my family’s version (no spices in ours), and I’m going to try this this weekend. By the way, my mom is Honey to my boys. Gotta love Georgia. :)
I like “Honey!” That’s a good one!
This looks so fabulous!! Beautiful photo!
Great mixture of vegetables. Looks amazingly good.
I love the sweet story about the origin of grandparents’ names in the south. These tomatoes look so fresh and sweet – the perfect end to summer.
I do love sharing little glimpses of Southern culture with people who come here to visit. And, yes, those tomatoes were fresh and delicious!
Another one with my name on it Lana. You know I like em easy and delicious.
It’s funny but I was brought up using Grandma & Grandpa & so were my kids. Interesting how you personalized it. I like that.
Well, you know we’re all kinds of quirky in the South :-)
What a colorful and bright side dish! Looks fantastic!
now this brings back a recipe from my hometown – I make a similar version now and yes, Vidalia onions for me too…. except when not available… :-(
This is such an easy thing to put together and so good with all of our summer cooking. Thanks for stopping by, Drick!
I had never heard of this recipe before until seeing it recently on a few websites and it really intrigues me. I love everything in it, and the name alone makes me happy. This is something I need to try.
Here in New York we have only just begun to get our fair share of tomatoes since our season starts later than you lucky folks down south. So this is going to be a must try for us. My plants are hanging with ripe tomatoes and a ton of green ones getting ready to go red. Can’t wait to try this.
PS: I love your mom’s name. So pretty.
Pam, I just know you’d like this recipe. It has just the right balance of sweet and tart. Our tomato season is just about done. Actually, for most varieties of tomatoes it was over at least a month ago.
And, thanks, I love my mom’s name, too. Starting with my grandmother we have four generations of Indias in our family :-)