Flaky, buttery, and bursting with flavor this fresh tomato galette is wonderful for brunch, lunch, or as an easy light dinner served with a simple garden salad. It’s a delicious savory treat that looks impressive but it’s super easy to make!
This savory tomato galette recipe features a homemade galette dough topped with shredded white cheddar cheese, ripe summer tomatoes, dried thyme, flaky salt, and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. If you love galettes check out my Spinach Tomato and Goat Cheese Galette next!
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Fresh tomato galettes are a wonderful way to use up ripe, juicy tomatoes overflowing from your summer garden! This is the best tomato and cheese galette and it’s my favorite go-to recipe for using up fresh tomatoes in an easy and delicious way.
Tomato galette is basically a fancy pizza. The major difference is that instead of a yeasted crust, we are making a flaky pie crust. My mom and sister love this recipe more than pizza and that’s saying a lot!
There’s really nothing like those flaky pie crust layers filled with dried thyme topped with melty cheese and juicy tomatoes. It’s just the best lunch, dinner, or snack!
What is a galette?
Galettes are a French freeform tart and they can be made with either a sweet or savory filling. Instead of using a pie pan galettes are cooked on a sheet pan or in my case a pizza stone! It’s naturally rustic looking so you don’t have to worry about making it perfect.
There are many different kinds of fillings that you can use inside the pastry dough to create a delicious meal or treat for your family!
When filled with savory ingredients, galettes can taste like a pizza. It is also common to fill it with cheese, deli meat, or a fried egg! My Spinach Tomato and Goat Cheese Galette is always a hit with my family!
When made with a sweet filling and served with a scoop of ice cream, fruit galettes are similar to pie but by using a freeform pie crust it’s much easier to create than a traditional fruit pie.
Recipe Ingredients
- Fresh tomatoes – sliced vine, heirloom, or cherry tomatoes.
- Galette pastry dough – all-purpose flour, dried thyme, salt, and butter.
- Cold butter – to create flaky buttery layers of the crust.
- Dried thyme – gives a nice herby flavor to the tomatoes.
- Extra Virgin Olive oil – drizzled over the tomatoes before baking.
- Flaky sea salt – a generous sprinkle to salt the tomatoes before baking. You can use Celtic salt or Kosher salt.
- Cheese – shredded sharp cheddar or mozzarella cheese creates a layer between the juicy summer tomatoes and the flaky galette crust so it doesn’t get soggy.
How to Make A Tomato Galette
All ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Making the galette dough. In a large mixing bowl add all purpose flour, salt, and dried thyme. Stir to combine. Then add the cubed butter. Using your hands or a pastry cutter work the butter into the flour until it looks and feels like wet sand. You’re looking for coarse crumbles.
- Starting with ¼ cup of water, sprinkle it over the flour then use a fork to combine. Use your hands to press the dough into a ball, if it doesn’t hold together sprinkle with a little water if needed one tablespoon at a time. The dough should be soft but still a bit firm and malleable. It shouldn’t be sticky at all.
- Fold the pastry dough over itself 2 times to create flaky layers then press the dough into a circular disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until it’s completely chilled and firm.
- Roll out the dough. Lightly dust your counter with flour and using a rolling pin roll out the dough until it’s roughly a 13-inch circle ¼ inch thick. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Fold the dough over itself to transfer it to a large sheet of parchment paper, this will make it easier to transfer the galette to the oven.
- Layer with cheese and tomatoes. Unfold the dough then sprinkle with shredded cheese leaving a 1 – 2 inch border all around. Next, layer the sliced tomatoes, then sprinkle with dried thyme, flaky sea salt, ground black pepper, and finally a drizzle of olive oil. Fold the edges of the crust over the tomatoes to create the rustic tomato galette shape.
- Bake. Use a pizza peel or cutting board to transfer the tomato galette to the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Let your tomato galette cool for at least 10 – 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Variations
- Serve or bake with fresh basil leaves
- Top with a few slices of red onion or sweet caramelized onions.
- Other delicious cheese options would be goat cheese, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, or shredded gruyere cheese.
- Spread a layer of basil pesto on the bottom of the crust before adding the cheese.
- You can brush the edges of the crust before baking with an egg wash so it looks nicely golden brown and glossy.
Tips and Tricks
- Add a little bit of water to the dough at a time. We don’t want to add too much water otherwise the dough will become too wet and we won’t have flaky layers.
- The dough won’t form a ball when mixed with a fork. After you added most of the water, use your hands to press the dough into a slightly firm but soft and malleable dough.
- Make sure you are working with cold butter, otherwise, it can melt too much while we are working with it causing your galette crust to be tough and chewy.
Frequently Asked Questions —
I always sprinkle the cheese on the bottom before adding the sliced tomatoes. This helps to create a barrier between the crust and the juicy tomatoes so we don’t end up with a soggy bottom.
Yes, this dough is pretty much the same. The only difference is that the galette dough is a free-form dough while the pie dough stays inside a pie pan and looks a little more structured.
This would depend on if your galette is sweet or savory. Fruit galettes are delicious warm or cold, and savory galettes are best served hot!
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Tomato Galette Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Large pizza stone or baking sheet with parchment paper
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Pastry cutter to combine butter with flour
Ingredients
Galette Dough
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick, cold and cubed
- ¼ cup – 1/2 cup cold water
Toppings
- 8 ounces shredded cheese white cheddar or mozzarella
- 2 – 3 medium tomatoes thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon flaky salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Drizzle olive oil
Instructions
- Start by adding into a large-mixing bowl all-purpose flour, salt, and dried thyme. Stir until combined.
- Cut the cold butter into the flour with a fork, or pastry cutter or work it in with your hands. You are looking for coarse crumbles of butter and the flour has the texture of wet sand.
- Add 1/4 cup of cold water and stir to combine with a fork. Then press the dough together into a ball. It should be soft but slightly firm and malleable. It shouldn’t be crumbly or sticky at all.
- Fold the dough over itself once or twice to create the flaky layers in the dough, then press it into a circle and wrap it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes – 1 hour or until it’s completely chilled and firm.
- Next, preheat a pizza stone or sheet pan in a 400F degree oven.
- Roll out the dough to about a 13-inch circle, 1/4 inch thick. It’s ok if the circle is not perfect. Transfer the dough to parchment paper to make it easier to transfer to the oven later.
- Layer cheese onto the dough, leaving about a 1 – 2 inch border all around.
- Layer the tomatoes over the cheese.
- Sprinkle dried thyme, flaky salt, and freshly ground black pepper over the tomatoes, ending with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Fold the crust over the tomatoes, to create the rustic galette shape.
- Transfer the tomato tart to the preheated pizza stone and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the crust and cheese are lightly golden brown and bubbly.
- Let it cool for at least 10 – 20 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
Notes
How To Store/ Make Ahead/ Reheat
- Storing. Cut the galette into slices, wrap in plastic wrap then store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or several weeks in the freezer inside a freezer baggie.
- Make ahead. You can make the galette pastry dough up 2 days in advance. Keep in the refrigerator tightly wrapped with plastic wrap.
- Reheat at 400 degrees with a little ghee/ or vegetable oil on the bottom until heated through, 10 minutes.
Tips and Tricks
- Add a little bit of water to the dough at a time. We don’t want to add too much water otherwise the dough will become too wet and we won’t have flaky layers.
- The dough won’t form a ball when mixed with a fork. After you added most of the water, use your hands to press the dough into a slightly firm but soft and malleable dough.
- Make sure you are working with cold butter, otherwise, it can melt too much while we are working with it causing your galette crust to be tough and chewy.
Nutrition
All nutrition information is automatically generated and should be only used as a rough estimate. This recipe card may contain affiliate links.
