Sun Dried Tomato Oil: What's in the Jar and What's in the Bottle
Sun dried tomato oil usually means one of two quite different things, and most of the confusion around it comes from that. It is either the deep red, herb-scented oil you are left with at the bottom of a jar of preserved tomatoes, or it is a bottled flavoured oil made deliberately, with dried tomato steeped into an olive oil base. The first is a by-product that happens to be very good indeed; the second is a product in its own right. They have different ingredients, different keeping rules and different jobs in a kitchen. This guide covers both — what is actually in the jar, whether the leftover oil is safe to use, and how to tell a good bottled one.
For our own oil, see our cold-pressed organic Marrakech olive oil.
The Short Answer
- Two products share the name. "Sun dried tomato oil" is either the oil drained from a jar of preserved tomatoes, or a bottled infused oil sold as a flavoured olive oil. Work out which one you are looking at before anything else.
- The oil in a supermarket jar is usually not olive oil. Saclà's Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Oil, for instance, declares sunflower seed oil as its second ingredient and extra virgin olive oil well down the list, after salt, acidity regulators, sugar and oregano.
- Yes, you can use the leftover oil. If the jar is in date and has been kept as the label says, that oil is food, and it is already seasoned. Treat it as a flavouring rather than a cooking oil.
- Sun-dried tomatoes are a genuine special case on safety. CSIRO's guidance on preserving vegetables in oil notes that drying concentrates the tomato's own acids and pulls the pH down — often close to 4.0 in a properly dried product — which is why tomato is treated differently from other vegetables in oil.
- The real risk is usually the garlic and the fresh herbs, not the tomato. Our guide to garlic infused olive oil carries the full storage and acidification guidance.
- Oil is not a preservative. It excludes air, which is exactly the condition Clostridium botulinum prefers. That is why commercial jars add acidity regulators rather than relying on the oil.
- Sidr & Stone does not make a flavoured oil. Ours is a single-estate Moroccan extra virgin, rain-fed and cold-pressed within hours of harvest — a base oil you flavour yourself, or use plain.
What "Sun Dried Tomato Oil" Actually Means
Two products, one name. The first is packing oil — the medium a jar of sun-dried tomatoes sits in, which takes on colour and flavour from the fruit and from whatever aromatics the packer has added. The second is a deliberately made infused oil, where dried tomato is macerated into an olive oil base and the result is strained and bottled as a flavoured oil in its own right.
The distinction matters because the two are made to different specifications. Packing oil is chosen for cost and neutrality; its job is to keep the tomatoes covered and stable, not to be the thing you buy. A bottled sun-dried tomato oil is sold on its flavour, so the base oil is usually better and the tomato is doing all the work.
| Jar packing oil | Bottled infused oil | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The oil the tomatoes are preserved in | A flavoured oil made and sold on purpose |
| Typical base | Sunflower oil, or a sunflower and olive blend | Olive oil, sometimes extra virgin |
| Also contains | Salt, acidity regulators, sugar, dried herbs, garlic powder | Macerated dried tomato or tomato extract; sometimes herbs |
| Colour | Deep red-amber, often cloudy with fine sediment | Red-tinged gold, usually clearer |
| Best used for | Dressings, marinades, finishing | Dressings, finishing, bread |
| Keeping | Refrigerate once opened; use within the label's window | Cool dark cupboard; use within a few months |
The Oil Left in the Jar: Can You Use It?
Yes. The oil left in a jar of sun-dried tomatoes is food, and it has taken on a great deal of flavour from the fruit and from the herbs packed alongside it. Provided the jar is in date and has been stored as the label instructs — refrigerated once opened, with the tomatoes kept submerged — the oil is as safe as the tomatoes were.
Two things confuse people. The first is cloudiness: a jar kept in the fridge will go thick and cloudy, and if there is olive oil in the blend it may partly solidify. That is temperature, not spoilage, and it clears on warming. The second is sediment, which is simply tomato and herb particles that have settled.
What we would not do is treat the jar as a permanent fixture. Topping it up with fresh oil to keep it going, or dropping in a clove of fresh garlic to "improve" it, turns a properly formulated commercial preserve into a home-made one that no longer has the manufacturer's safety barrier behind it. Use the oil, finish the jar, buy another.
What Is Actually in That Jar Oil
Reading the ingredients list is the fastest way to understand what you have. Saclà's Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Oil, a widely stocked UK jar, declares: partially rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, sunflower seed oil, salt, acidity regulators (lactic acid and citric acid), sugar, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, garlic powder, a firming agent (calcium chloride) and flavouring.
Every one of those ingredients is doing a job, and reading them in order tells you most of what you need to know.
| Ingredient on the label | What it is doing |
|---|---|
| Partially rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes | The product itself — and "partially" is the important word |
| Sunflower seed oil | The packing medium: neutral, stable and inexpensive |
| Acidity regulators (lactic and citric acid) | The safety barrier — they hold the pH down where it needs to be |
| Salt and sugar | Seasoning, with a modest contribution to preservation |
| Oregano, black pepper, garlic powder | Flavour — all dried, so they carry very little water |
| Extra virgin olive oil | Present, but well down the list: a flavour note, not the base |
| Calcium chloride (firming agent) | Keeps the tomato pieces from collapsing into mush |
This is why a jar front that says "in olive oil" deserves a glance at the back. Sometimes the olive oil really is the medium; often it is a minor component of a sunflower base. Neither is dishonest, and neither makes the product bad — but it does change what you are getting, and it is the same label-reading habit that our guide to olive oil blends asks for.
The Safety Question, Answered Precisely
The internet's answer to any vegetable-in-oil question is "botulism", and it is not wrong so much as imprecise. The mechanism is genuine. Oil excludes air, and Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobe: as CSIRO puts it, the oil's only real function is to prevent oxidation, and by excluding air it establishes exactly the conditions some dangerous bacteria prefer. Two serious outbreaks in Canada and the United States in the 1980s were traced to chopped garlic in oil.
Tomatoes, though, are treated as a special case. Fresh tomatoes sit just below pH 4.6; when they are dried, the natural acids concentrate and the pH falls further, often close to 4.0 in a properly dried product. That, CSIRO notes, is why the risk is very substantially reduced for genuinely dried tomatoes in a way it is not for other vegetables.
So where does the real risk sit? In three places, none of them the tomato itself.
- Fresh garlic, fresh chilli or fresh herbs added to the oil. These are low-acid, they carry water, and they are the classic botulism case.
- Tomatoes that were never properly dried, or that have been rehydrated in water and then covered in oil, which puts the moisture straight back in.
- Home-made jars kept at room temperature rather than refrigerated, and kept for months rather than days.
We have set out the full storage rules and the tested acidification method in our guide to garlic infused olive oil, and the wider picture in our overview of infused olive oil. Rather than repeat that guidance here, those are the two pages to read before you make anything at home.
How to Use Sun Dried Tomato Oil Well
The oil is intensely savoury, faintly sweet and slightly acidic, which makes it a seasoning as much as a fat. It works best where those qualities are the point.
- Vinaigrettes. Whisk it with red wine or sherry vinegar; it needs no further seasoning.
- Bean and pulse dishes. Stirred through warm white beans, chickpeas or lentils just before serving.
- Bread. Poured into a shallow dish for dipping, on its own or with a little of the jar's herbs.
- Marinades. For chicken, lamb or firm vegetables, where the acidity does useful work.
- Pasta. Loosened into a finished sauce off the heat, rather than used to fry the base.
- Dips. Beaten into hummus, whipped feta or a plain yoghurt dip.
- Roast vegetables. Tossed through after roasting, not before — the flavour compounds are volatile.
The one job it is not built for is high-heat cooking. A flavoured oil carries herb and vegetable particles that scorch, and the aromatics you are paying for disappear in the pan. For that, use a plain oil — our guide to olive oil for frying covers what actually happens to oil under heat.
Buying a Bottled Sun Dried Tomato Oil
A bottled sun-dried tomato oil is a small purchase where the label does almost all the useful work. The questions are the same ones you would ask of any flavoured oil: what is the base, how was the flavour got into it, and how fresh is it?
| What to look for | Why it matters | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| The base oil named as extra virgin | Grade sets the quality floor of everything else in the bottle | Front label and ingredients |
| Real tomato rather than "flavouring" | Macerated dried fruit tastes of tomato; an aroma compound tastes of the idea of one | Ingredients list |
| A short ingredients list | Oil and tomato is the product; a long list is usually a cheaper base being propped up | Back label |
| Dark glass or a tin | Flavoured oils oxidise like any other, and light accelerates it | The packaging itself |
| A small bottle | You use it in teaspoons, so a large bottle will go stale before it is finished | The shelf |
| A best-before well in the future | The nearest thing to a freshness date most flavoured oils carry | Neck or base of the bottle |
For a fuller walkthrough of the signals worth checking on any bottle of oil, see our guide to choosing a quality olive oil.
The Honest Limits of a Flavoured Oil
Three objections are worth taking seriously, and we would rather raise them than have you find them later.
The first: isn't a flavoured oil often a way of selling a poor base? Frequently, yes. Strong tomato, garlic and herb notes will cover a tired or characterless oil very effectively, and some producers rely on that. It is the honest reason to check the base grade before the flavour claim.
The second: if the jar oil tastes better than a good extra virgin, why bother with the good oil? Because they are not competing. The jar oil is a seasoning built from salt, acid, sugar and herbs; a fine extra virgin is a single ingredient whose flavour is the fruit. A kitchen wants both, in different bottles, for different plates.
The third: people have made oil preserves at home for generations without incident, so isn't the safety advice overdone? The honest answer is that botulism is genuinely rare, and that rarity is exactly why the advice matters — the cases that do occur are severe, and the conditions that produce them are invisible. Following the guidance costs you very little.
Why Sidr & Stone
We do not make a flavoured oil, and we have no plans to. What we make is the base — a plain, single-estate extra virgin that is worth tasting on its own, and good enough that you can infuse it yourself if you want to. Everything we do is aimed at what is in the bottle before anything is added to it.
- Single-estate — one family-owned grove on the plains outside Marrakech, Morocco, with no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed — no irrigation; the trees take what the season gives them.
- Organically grown — no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides.
- Single harvest — a small, limited batch; once the season's pressing is gone, it is gone until next year.
- Cold-pressed within hours of harvest — to preserve flavour, aroma, and polyphenols.
- Unfiltered extra virgin — minimally processed, and it may show a little natural sediment, which is normal for an honest unfiltered oil.
- 100% natural — a single ingredient, with nothing added.
- 500 ml dark glass with a gold label — protective packaging in a size built to be finished fresh.
- Halal certified, with 10% of profits to charity — a commitment that applies to every Sidr & Stone product.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
We will not tell you Sidr & Stone is the best olive oil — that would be the very claim this article warns against. What we will say is that our oil is single-estate Moroccan, rain-fed, organically grown, and cold-pressed within hours of harvest, and that if you are going to build a flavoured oil at home, the base is the part worth spending your attention on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sun dried tomato oil?
It is one of two things: the flavoured oil left in a jar of preserved sun-dried tomatoes, or a bottled infused oil in which dried tomato has been macerated into an olive oil base. Both are used as seasonings rather than as cooking oils.
Can you use the oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes?
Yes, provided the jar is in date and has been stored as the label says. It is food, it is already seasoned, and it is excellent in dressings, marinades and over pulses. Refrigerate the jar once opened and finish it rather than topping it up.
Is the oil in sun-dried tomato jars olive oil?
Often not, or not mainly. Many UK jars use sunflower oil as the packing medium with a smaller quantity of olive oil for flavour — Saclà's Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Oil lists sunflower seed oil second and extra virgin olive oil several places further down. Check the ingredients rather than the front label.
Can sun-dried tomatoes in oil cause botulism?
Properly dried tomatoes are treated as a special case, because drying concentrates the fruit's own acids and pulls the pH down. The greater risk in these preserves comes from fresh garlic or fresh herbs added to the oil, from insufficiently dried or rehydrated fruit, and from home-made jars kept at room temperature.
How long does the oil from a sun-dried tomato jar keep?
Follow the jar's own instruction, which is normally to refrigerate after opening and use within a few weeks. The oil does not have a separate life of its own once the jar is open, and it will pick up any staleness the tomatoes develop.
Can I make sun dried tomato oil at home?
You can, with fully dried tomatoes, dried rather than fresh aromatics, sterilised jars and refrigerated storage. Read our guidance on garlic infused olive oil first, because the acidification and storage rules there are the ones that matter, and fresh garlic is the ingredient most often added by mistake.
Which olive oil should I use as a base for infusing?
A plain extra virgin with a flavour you like on its own. There is no benefit to infusing a poor oil, since the base is most of what you taste once the aromatics fade. Sidr & Stone's single-estate Marrakech olive oil is available to pre-order, with fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US. First harvest, estimated shipping from November 2026.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Sun dried tomato oil is one of those small kitchen questions that turns out to have a precise answer rather than a vague one. The oil in the jar is not a mystery liquid and it is not a hazard; it is a formulated preserve with a stated ingredients list, an acidity barrier and a storage instruction, and if you follow that instruction you can use every drop of it.
The place to be careful is the moment you start improvising — adding fresh garlic, topping the jar up, leaving a home-made batch on a warm shelf. That is where the real risk lives, and it has almost nothing to do with the tomato. Read the label, keep it cold, finish the jar.
And if you are infusing your own, spend your attention on the base. A flavoured oil can only be as good as the oil underneath it. Our cold-pressed organic Marrakech olive oil — single-estate, rain-fed, organically grown, and cold-pressed within hours of harvest — is available to pre-order, with fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US. First harvest, estimated shipping from November 2026.
Pre-Order Sidr & Stone Organic Marrakech Olive Oil — Limited First Harvest →
Disclaimer: This article describes commercially available sun-dried tomato preserves and flavoured oils, and the published food-safety guidance relating to vegetables preserved in oil, at the time of writing; product formulations, label declarations and official guidance may change, and readers should check current sources and follow the instructions on their own packaging. References to named brands describe publicly available product information and are not affiliated with or endorsed by those brands. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.