Best types of tomatoes to grow | Australia's Best Recipes

Round tomatoes

These medium-sized tomatoes are ideal for a range of purposes and are a good variety to stock at all times. They usually have thick skin and can be flavourless, which is often a result of them being picked green and left to ripen off the vine. They also have a thick skin that needs to be removed before they are added to many dishes.

Varieties include: Father Tom, Mama's Delight, Grosse Lisse
Best for: general purpose cooking; sauces, soups and stewing

Cherry tomatoes

These small, round tomatoes are very sweet and are ideal for salads or for snacking on. Due to the work involved in growing them, they tend to be expensive. They are the easiest tomatoes to grow at home, needing very little work and producing a prolific crop.

Varieties include: Tiny tim, Tommy Toe, Tom Thumb, Sweet Bite, Sweet 100
Best for: snacks, salads and oven roasting

Beef tomatoes

These massive, heavy tomatoes are making a comeback in home gardens and farmers markets. They are full of flavour and come in a wide range of colours, sizes and shapes.

Varieties include: Oxheart, Grosse Lisse, Mortgage Lifter, Marmande
Best for: sandwiches, slicing, bruschetta, salads, grilling

Hollow tomatoes

These beautiful tomatoes get their name from their hollow internal compartments that make them easy to stuff. They often look like a capsicum, with their seeds forming in a cluster in the middle of the fruit. They have good, thick walls that make them ideal for baking. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours.

Varieties include: Golden filler, Burgess, Striped Cavern, Zapotec
Best for: stuffing

Plum tomatoes

These elegant, elongated tomatoes are the variety of choice for cooking and sauce making. They have a robust tomato flavour, deep red colour and thin skin that in easy to remove. They're also much softer than round tomatoes, which can make them tricky for slicing or using in sandwiches.

Varieties include: Roma, San Marzano
Best for: soups, sauces, drying