9 Unusual Tomato Varieties You Need to Try
While classic red tomatoes will always have their place in the vegetable garden, there's a whole world of unusual varieties worth exploring. From striking striped patterns to unexpected colors and flavors, these unique tomato varieties will transform your garden harvest and impress at the dinner table.
Contents
If you’ve been growing the same trusty tomato varieties season after season, it might be time to branch out. The world of tomato cultivation has exploded with diversity in recent years, offering gardeners an incredible range of options beyond the standard red slicers and cherry types found in grocery stores.
Not only do these unusual varieties bring exciting new colors and patterns to your vegetable patch, but many also offer complex flavor profiles you simply can’t find in conventional tomatoes. Whether you’re looking for something sweet, smoky, tangy, or perfectly balanced, there’s an unusual tomato variety waiting to surprise your taste buds.
Here are 9 unusual tomato varieties that deserve a spot in your garden this season.
Chocolate Cherry
If you’re looking for a tomato that combines visual appeal with exceptional flavor, ‘Chocolate Cherry‘ is hard to beat. These small, round fruits develop a rich mahogany-brown color when ripe, with subtle green shoulders that gradually darken. The name might suggest sweetness, but these tomatoes offer much more than that with their complex, slightly smoky flavor profile.
‘Chocolate Cherry’ produces impressive yields throughout the growing season, making it invaluable for consistent harvests. The vigorous plants continue producing long after other varieties have slowed down, ensuring you’ll have plenty to enjoy fresh and preserve for later.
These tomatoes are perfect for snacking straight from the garden, but they also make stunning additions to salads where their unique color creates beautiful contrast with traditional ingredients. For an elevated appetizer, try threading them onto skewers with fresh mozzarella and basil for a twist on the classic caprese.
Pineapple
For gardeners who prefer a more dramatic touch, ‘Pineapple’ delivers on all counts. This stunning heirloom beefsteak variety produces large, ribbed fruits with a beautiful yellow base streaked with red marbling throughout the flesh. When sliced, they reveal a starburst pattern that makes them as much an ornamental variety as an edible one.
Despite their striking appearance, it’s the flavor of ‘Pineapple’ tomatoes that has secured their place in gardens worldwide. These tomatoes offer a sweet, fruity taste with low acidity and subtle tropical notes that actually do hint at their namesake fruit. The flesh is meaty yet juicy, with few seeds compared to other beefsteak types.
‘Pineapple’ tomatoes need a long growing season to reach their full potential, so start seeds early if you have a shorter summer. The plants can be slightly finicky, but the unique fruits make any extra attention worthwhile. For the best flavor display, serve these beauties simply sliced with just a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Artisan Bumble Bee
The ‘Artisan Bumble Bee‘ series brings a stunning visual element to cherry tomatoes. These small, round fruits come in several color variations—pink, purple, and sunrise (orange with red streaks)—all featuring prominent striping patterns that instantly draw the eye. The marbled appearance creates wonderful contrast in the garden and on the plate.
What makes the ‘Bumble Bee’ varieties particularly special is their balanced flavor. While many unusual tomatoes sacrifice taste for appearance, these cherry types offer a perfect blend of sweetness and acidity that satisfies even the most discerning tomato connoisseur. They’re also crack-resistant, a common issue with cherry varieties.
These compact indeterminate plants are ideal for containers or smaller gardens where space is limited. Their productivity is impressive, with clusters of fruits ripening throughout the season. Try mixing all three color varieties in the same salad for a rainbow-like display that’s sure to impress dinner guests.
Green Zebra
With so much color around, sometimes you need something truly unexpected, and ‘Green Zebra‘ delivers exactly that. This distinctive variety stays green even when fully ripe, developing amber-gold stripes and a slight softening to indicate readiness for harvest. The unusual appearance makes these tomatoes conversation starters in any garden.
The versatility of ‘Green Zebra’ makes it invaluable in the kitchen. These tomatoes offer a bright, tangy flavor with a perfect acid balance that works beautifully in fresh salsas and gazpachos. Their zesty profile pairs especially well with creamy ingredients like avocado or soft cheese, creating interesting contrast in both flavor and texture.
For a striking monochromatic salad, try combining ‘Green Zebra’ tomatoes with cucumber, avocado, and fresh herbs dressed simply with olive oil and lemon juice. The tomatoes’ tartness provides the perfect counterpoint to the other mild ingredients.
Cream Sausage
‘Cream Sausage‘ has a color that’s difficult to describe but impossible to forget. The elongated, paste-type fruits have a unique ivory-yellow shade that stands out dramatically against green foliage. Their pale appearance brings a sunset-like quality to the vegetable garden, especially when planted alongside darker varieties.
These tomatoes are some of the most reliable garden performers, with determinate plants that produce heavy yields in a concentrated period. ‘Cream Sausage’ is no exception, with strong disease resistance and impressive productivity that stands up well to summer conditions.
The meaty texture makes these tomatoes perfect for sauces and pastes, where they create a milder, less acidic base than traditional red paste tomatoes. For a striking culinary presentation, try using them to make a pale yellow tomato sauce that will surprise and delight dinner guests.
Chocolate Sprinkles
‘Chocolate Sprinkles‘ tomatoes look as delicious as their name suggests. These cherry tomatoes produce red fruits with prominent dark striping that resembles their namesake dessert topping. The visual appeal alone makes them worth growing, but they also offer exceptional flavor that combines sweetness with just enough acidity.
This hybrid variety has an early bloom time, often producing harvestable fruits earlier than many other cherry types. While many unusual varieties can be finicky, these begin their display when garden harvests are most needed in early summer.
Their vigorous vines require sturdy support but reward the extra effort with enormous yields throughout the season. ‘Chocolate Sprinkles’ also has impressive crack resistance, ensuring that fruits remain perfect even after summer rains. They can be tough to get your hands on, so order seeds early if you spot them.
Pork Chop
This variety is one of the most elegant yellow tomatoes you’ll find in summer gardens. The medium-sized fruits are a shining bright yellow, resembling miniature lemons. The impressive fruits develop gradually, allowing you to enjoy their evolution from pale green to vibrant golden yellow as they ripen on the vine.
‘Pork Chop‘ flowers in mid-season when many early varieties have established themselves. Their sweet, mild flavor and meaty texture make them particularly valuable for sandwiches and fresh eating, where their low acidity is appreciated by those with sensitive stomachs.
The brilliant yellow color is the perfect complement to traditional red tomatoes in summer salads. They’re particularly effective when planted alongside purple or blue vegetables like eggplant, where their bright color creates stunning contrast in both the garden and on the plate.
Indigo Rose
Combining elegance with a touch of the exotic, ‘Indigo Rose’ delivers on all counts. These medium-sized tomatoes develop an almost black-purple color on the portions exposed to sunlight, while the shaded areas maintain a rich red hue. The result is a two-toned fruit that looks almost too beautiful to eat.
‘Indigo Rose’ has experienced a surge in popularity among garden designers for its artistic appearance and nutritional profile. The dark purple coloration indicates high levels of anthocyanins, the same antioxidant found in blueberries and other “superfoods.”
These tomatoes are particularly effective when allowed to fully ripen on the vine. The flavor continues developing even after the purple color appears, eventually reaching a balanced, complex taste that combines traditional tomato flavor with subtle berry notes. They make stunning additions to cheese plates where their striking appearance and unique flavor profile can be fully appreciated.
Red and Yellow Pear
Few tomatoes make as charming a statement in the summer garden as ‘Red and Yellow Pear‘ varieties, particularly when grown together. The tiny, perfectly pear-shaped fruits in bright red and glowing yellow create an undeniable focal point wherever they’re planted. Their naturally sweet flavor makes them perfect for snacking straight from the vine.
At peak production, a single ‘Red and Yellow Pear’ plant can produce hundreds of fruits. They inherited the best qualities of their heirloom parentage: vigorous growth, generous production, and extended harvesting period.
What sets these pear tomatoes apart from other cherry types is their distinctive shape and exceptional sweetness. These tomatoes remain in peak condition on the vine for days rather than hours, gradually developing their full flavor without splitting. You can count on their display lasting through weather fluctuations and seasonal transitions, making them reliable garden performers season after season.
