Name: Sourdough Tomato Cobbler
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 20 g Olive Oil; 3 Garlic Cloves ((roughly chopped)); 150 g Red Onion ((1 medium onion or half a large onion)); 600 g Tomatoes ((see notes)); 340 g Cherry Tomatoes; 30 g Butter; 5 g Salt; 3 g Pepper; 30 g All Purpose Flour; Fresh Thyme ((I've stripped the leaves off a few twigs of thyme).); 330 g All Purpose Flour; 20 g Baking Powder ((yes this is correct - it's approx. 1 tbsp)); 3 g Salt; 3 g Garlic Powder ((1 tsp)); 113 g Butter ((salted or unsalted, must be very cold, grated, see notes)); 180 g Cheddar Cheese ((shredded)); 200 g Sourdough Starter ((or sourdough discard)); 160 g Buttermilk ((plus a little extra for brushing - see notes for alternatives)); Fresh Herbs ((chives, parsley etc - as much as you like)); 20 g Butter ((melted)); 1.5 g Garlic Powder ((1/2 tsp))

This summery sourdough tomato cobbler makes a delicious lunch or supper and is a wonderful way to use up a glut of homegrown tomatoes in the summer. I've used Roma and cherry tomatoes (simply because I had them in the garden), but you can really use whatever tomatoes you have on hand.

If you're looking for other summery sourdough recipes then make sure you check out this sourdough bruschetta recipe and this homemade pizza sauce.

A black baking dish with sourdough tomato cobbler topped with fresh garlic and herb butter. There is a basket of red and yellow tomatoes in the background.

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

Savory Twist on a Sweet Classic - while cobbler is almost always sweet, this is a savory twist and combines tomatoes with my popular sourdough cheddar biscuits to create this delicious supper.

Use Up Summer Tomatoes - this is a wonderful recipe to use up that glut of summer tomatoes, whether they're Roma, cherry, red, yellow or anything in between. This recipe is fantastic in that you can pretty much use any tomatoes you like.

A shallow bowl with a single serve of sourdough tomato cobbler served out. You can see the red and yellow tomatoes of the filling oozing out from underneath the biscuit topping. You can see the rest of the sourdough tomato cobbler in the black baking dish in the background.

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter - you can use either active sourdough starter or sourdough starter discard for this recipe - the choice is yours! Because the leavening for the biscuit topping comes from baking powder, rather than the yeast in your sourdough starter, it doesn't have to be super bubbly!
Olive Oil - good quality extra virgin olive oil is best for this dish.
Garlic - I've used garlic cloves and garlic powder in this recipe. You can use one or the other if you prefer, but I love using a combination of both!
Red Onion - the summery combination of red onions and tomatoes is just chef's kiss!
Tomatoes - I've used a combination of Roma and cherry tomatoes. We grow a variety of tomatoes in the summer. Many are self sown, so it's really a "pick and mix" if you will. You can literally use whatever tomatoes you like, slice the big ones, leave the cherry tomatoes whole, whatever you like!
Butter - I've used salted as always, but you can use unsalted if you prefer. The butter in the biscuit topping must be very cold and grated. You'll also need some melted butter for the topping.
Buttermilk - if you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can use whole milk with a little vinegar added (this will thicken and sour the milk to be like buttermilk). This is a good alternative when you don't have buttermilk.
Salt and Pepper
Baking Powder - this is the leavening agent for the biscuit topping of this savory cobbler. Make sure your baking powder is fresh and within date to give your sourdough tomato cobbler the best lift!
All Purpose Flour - you don't need bread flour for this recipe, regular all purpose flour is perfect.
Cheddar Cheese - you'll get the best results from shredding your own cheddar cheese.
Fresh Herbs - I've stripped the leaves off a few twigs of thyme, as well as some chives and parsley for the garlic butter topping. You can use dried herbs if you prefer, but given this is a summer recipe, there's bound to be fresh herbs growing in your garden or in abundance at your local market.

How To Make Sourdough Tomato Cobbler

There are a lot of ingredients to make this sourdough tomato cobbler, but it's really very simple. Each step is straight forward and there's nothing overly complicated about the recipe. It's actually a joy to make, especially when the tomatoes release their gorgeous aroma!

Preheat your oven to 200C and grab a 9 x 13" baking dish.

Prepare the Sourdough Cheddar Biscuit Topping

Add the all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and garlic powder to a large bowl. Whisk until well combined. Then add the cold, grated butter and cut this into the flour using your finger tips or a pastry cutter.

Gently fold the shredded cheese through the mixture. Make a well in the centre and set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the sourdough starter and buttermilk and whisk together. Now pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold together until you form a dough. If the dough is too dry, you can add a splash more buttermilk.

Set this aside while you prepare the tomato filling.

Prepare the Tomatoes

Slice the red onion and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Add the olive oil to a skillet and fry this off on a medium heat until they just start to cook down.

While the onion and garlic is frying, roughly chop the tomatoes and add these to the pan (keep the cherry tomatoes aside for now).

Move the tomatoes around the pan for around about a minute before adding the butter, salt, pepper, thyme leaves and all purpose flour. Add the cherry tomatoes on top and then mix everything around, ensuring it's all coated in flour and butter.

4 process photos showing cooking down the onions, tomatoes and adding the flour to thicken the sourdough tomato cobbler base mixture.

Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13" baking dish.

Now take the sourdough cheddar biscuit dough you prepared earlier and give the dough a quick mix with your hands. It's fairly sticky and this is ok!

Take handfuls of the dough and form into rough rounds and place on top of the tomato mixture. I don't place these evenly, I like to have some of the tomato filling bubbling out around the dough, but you can do it however you like.

A photo of the base of a sourdough tomato cobbler in a black baking dish. There a hand holding the sourdough cheddar biscuit topping as it's being added to the base.

Brush the tops of the sourdough cheddar biscuit topping with buttermilk and bake at 200C for around 45 minutes or until the biscuit topping is brown and tomato filling is bubbling.

A sourdough tomato cobbler that has been topped with sourdough cheddar biscuits that is ready to be baked in the oven.

While the sourdough tomato cobbler is baking, mix the melted butter, fresh herbs and garlic powder together in a bowl. Set this aside for when your cobbler is baked.

Brush the top of the sourdough tomato cobbler with the garlic butter you prepared and serve while warm.

Sourdough tomato cobbler that has been baked until golden brown and topped with garlic and herb butter.

Recipe Variations

This recipe is absolute perfection in its simplicity, but like most recipes, there's always a few ways you change things up! Here are a few ways I vary this recipe, depending on my mood or what time of the day I'm serving this!

Zucchini - if you have a glut of zucchinis along with your tomatoes, you can also add some chopped zucchini along with the tomatoes to the base of the cobbler.
Bacon - we love adding bacon to the biscuit topping when baking this as a summer supper. It's absolutely delicious! I fry the bacon off first, and allow it to cool, before adding to the dough.
Spinach - fresh spinach is also a lovely addition to the fresh tomato base of this savory sourdough cobbler.

How to Store + Freeze

I don't recommend freezing this dish, it's a summer dish best eaten freshly baked.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. I generally leave them in the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil and place into the fridge. I dish out a portion and reheat as needed.