When it comes to the top colored tomato varieties, heirlooms are the way to go. These are tried and true favorites that offer much more than beauty that only runs skin deep. The tomato varieties selected here were chosen for their fantastic color and culinary flair, but for their taste and performance, too.
Several of these can be found on other top lists, like the best dual- and multi-purpose tomato varieties.
Jump to:
- 20 Top Colored (Other than Red) Tomato Varieties
- 1. Gold Medal
- 2. Cherokee Purple
- 3. Black Krim
- 4. Lucky Tiger
- 5. Blush
- 6. Bumble Bee Tomatoes (Sunrise, Pink, Purple)
- 7. Atomic Grape
- 8. Colored Brandywine Varieties (Black, Pink, Yellow)
- 9. Black Angus
- 10. Green Zebra
- 11. German Green (Aunt Ruby’s German Green)
- 12. Berkeley Tie Dye Green
- 13. White Wonder
- 14. Nebraska Wedding
- 15. Orange Jazz
- 16. Amana Orange
- 17. Big Rainbow
- 18. Mr. Stripey
- 19. Kellogg’s Breakfast Tomato
- 20. German Pink
- Tomato Taste by Color
- Mixes Can Save You Time and Money
20 Top Colored (Other than Red) Tomato Varieties
We’ve chosen a cross-section of large and small varieties, though you will find that often, the best of the best colored tomato varieties are round slicing and beefsteak types or cherry type tomatoes. However, these are versatile fruits that work well in all sorts of dishes, from fresh eating to canning and everything in between.
1. Gold Medal
| Flavor: | Very good; mild, sweet, low acid, heirloom flavor |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Yellow with orange blush |
| Size: | Very large, 1 to 3 pounds each |
| Uses: | Multi-purpose slicing, fresh eating, roasted, sauces, salsa |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all regions; continues to produce well when nighttime temperatures cool |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent; Excellent resistance to Early and Late Blight, and reviewers report performance through other diseases, too |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 75 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Gold Medal Tomato Seeds:
The beautiful yellow to orange colors of Gold Medal make it one that shines in salads, bruschetta, and fresh dishes. It is a large tomato, coming in between one and three pounds per fruit. The tomatoes have meaty flesh and feature low acidity with sweet heirloom flavor. One of the biggest benefits of Gold Medal is that the plants are disease resistant, and they are known as plants that can overcome and outpace both early and late blight. They continue to produce after other tomatoes have succumbed to the diseases.
2. Cherokee Purple
| Flavor: | Excellent: sweet, juicy, rich, full tomato flavor |
| Type: | Slicer, beefsteak |
| Color: | Dark purple-brown, dark green on shoulders, brick-red flesh inside |
| Size: | 10 to 13 ounces (5 by 3 inches, average) |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating, salads, sandwiches, toppings, juicing, canning, saucing |
| Climate Notes: | Suitable to all climates, resilient in cold |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; concentric cracking is normal and expected; avoid pruning to prevent sun scald |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 to 85 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Cherokee Purple Tomato Seed:
Cherokee Purple is a treasured heirloom tomato variety. It makes an excellent multi-purpose tomato, well suited to all kinds of fresh eating, saucing, and canning. It is also among the highest yielding tomato varieties. Cherokee Purple boasts deep flavor in a stunning, striking package of dark, reddish purple-brown with dark green on the shoulders. Really a beautiful and useful old tomato!
3. Black Krim
| Flavor: | Very good; sweet, rich, juicy, classic tomato |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Dark red/maroon with green-tinged shoulders |
| Size: | 8 to 10+ ounces |
| Uses: | Fresh eating: salads, slicing, sandwiches, toppings, juicing |
| Climate Notes: | Good for all regions; well suited for hot areas; heat tolerant |
| Disease Resistance: | Fair: crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Black Krim Tomatoes:
Black Krim is similar to Cherokee Purple in looks. It has a red to green-brown color that graduates up toward the stem. Originally from Russia, Black Krim tolerates a range of climate and growing conditions and is also known to be heat tolerant and well suited for growing in hot areas. Its tenacity and indeterminate nature put it high on the list of high-yielding tomato varieties. Black Krim is a little smaller than Cherokee Purple, and as a slightly smaller tomato, it is more crack-resistant.
4. Lucky Tiger
| Flavor: | Excellent; sweet, fruity, tangy |
| Type: | Elongated cherry |
| Color: | Green striping with yellow coloring and red blush |
| Size: | 2 inches |
| Uses: | Snacking, salads, fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all areas; bred for vigorous growth in tough conditions |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; growers do report issues with cracking and splitting |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages); good for greenhouse growing, too |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 to 75 |
| Yield: | Medium |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Lucky Tiger Tomato Seeds:
Lucky Tiger is an elongated small tomato, about two inches long. Its claim to fame is beautiful coloring – green stripes with a red and yellow blush and marbled red and green interiors. It is also known as a flavor burst of a tomato that is quite sweet with bursts of fruity tang. Suited to various types of growing, including in the field and in high tunnels and greenhouses.
5. Blush
| Flavor: | Excellent; bright, sweet, fruity, and complex |
| Type: | Elongated cherry/small paste |
| Color: | Golden yellow with a red blush that turns to striping as it matures |
| Size: | 2.25 by 1.25 inches |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, snacking, paste, saucing, canning |
| Climate Notes: | Grows anywhere; tolerates a range of conditions from high heat to cool and wet |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent; crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 65-70 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate (may be semi-determinate) |
Where to Buy Blush Tomato Seeds:
Blush is like a burst of sunshine in color and in flavor. It repeatedly beats out similar varieties for taste. It is a gorgeous little fruit, a small paste/elongated cherry type about two and a quarter inches in length and one and a quarter inches wide. Its color is golden yellow with a red blush that deepens and turns to stripes when mature. The bush is determinate but seems to be somewhat semi-determinate in nature and doesn’t get too tall (about three to five feet). It can make a suitable container variety.
A big advantage of growing Blush is its performance in any growing conditions (Park Seed says it will grow anywhere) and its resistance to cracking.
One other nice feature? It’s popular enough that you shouldn’t have a hard time finding this seed!
6. Bumble Bee Tomatoes (Sunrise, Pink, Purple)
| Flavor: | Very good; sweet and tangy |
| Type: | Cherry |
| Color: | Striped bicolor tomatoes: yellow with red/orange stripes, pink with yellow, purple with green |
| Size: | 2 ounces, 1 ½ inches |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, salads, snacking |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; bred for vigorous growth |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent; bred for vigorous growth and survival; crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 days |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Bumble Bee Tomato Seeds:
They say no two Bumblebee tomatoes are alike. These are colored cherry tomatoes that are most often sold in a mixed packet (though you can find individual colors sold separately, too). They are known for three things: beauty, rich flavor, and plant vigor. They are one of the Artisan (TM) heirloom series that have been selected for growth and successful growing most anywhere. Each one has a base color with contrasting stripes, such as yellow with orange stripes (Sunrise), pink with yellow stripes, and purple with metallic green stripes.
7. Atomic Grape
| Flavor: | Very good; sweet, tangy |
| Type: | Elongated cherry reaching plum size |
| Color: | Changeable color ranging from green with blue, purple, and red/brown stripes to red with green stripes |
| Size: | 2 to 3 inches |
| Uses: | Salads, fresh eating, snacking |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; noted as rugged and hardy |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good; hardy plants, crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 75 days |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Atomic Grape Tomato Seeds:
Brad’s Atomic Grape tomato is a color-changing tomato. It is a large, long cherry type that gets big enough to be considered plum-sized. The colors change throughout the growth and ripening cycle, starting out with lavender and purple stripes and ending up in technicolor green with red, brown, and blue, which will mature into a more red and green fruit. They’re loved for their sweet and tangy taste, too, and plants are described as “rugged” and prolific producers. Tomatoes grow in clusters and hold well on the vine.
8. Colored Brandywine Varieties (Black, Pink, Yellow)
| Flavor: | Excellent, classic tomato |
| Type: | Beefsteak, slicer |
| Color: | Pink, Yellow, Black (dark purple-red with darker shoulders) |
| Size: | 1 to 2 pounds |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, slicing, crushed tomatoes, salsa |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good; blight resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 to 90 |
| Yield: | Moderately high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Colored Brandywine Tomato Seeds:
Brandywines are a classic and favorite old beefsteak variety, known for their hardiness and disease resistance. These are colored varieties of the heirloom favorite. Some growers do note that the tomatoes can be variable in shape, in some years being quite smooth-sided and others showing some ribs. All agree they are meaty and delicious and make excellent tomatoes for slicing and fresh eating as well as being great in salsas and as crushed or canning tomatoes.
9. Black Angus
| Flavor: | Very good |
| Type: | Slicing, beefsteak |
| Color: | Purple, black, red with green shoulders |
| Size: | 6 to 12 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates but does not set fruit well in high heat |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; not well noted; often grown in protected culture or separately in containers |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, dwarf variety good for containers; staking is helpful |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 to 80+ days |
| Yield: | Moderate |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Black Angus Tomato Seeds:
Dwarf Black Angus is a relative newcomer of a tomato variety. It is a red-black with green-black shoulders. It is a dwarf variety that does well in containers. Growers note that this new seed may not be completely stabilized yet, and sometimes ripe fruits are green with red. It is an attractive and nicely sized tomato for container and small space growing.
10. Green Zebra
| Flavor: | Very good; sweet, tangy |
| Type: | Salad/saladette |
| Color: | Green when ripe with an apricot tinge |
| Size: | 4 to 5 ounces |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, salads |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to growing in all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good; Late Blight, variable reports regarding Septoria leaf spot resistance |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Green Zebra Tomato Seeds:
Green Zebra is a green when ripe tomato that starts a darker green and softens into lighter green with apricot orange blushing. It contrasts nicely in salads and dishes with varied colored tomatoes. The fruit is smooth skinned, remains unblemished, and firm and meaty throughout. The flavor is a sweet and tangy tomato. Well suited to all styles of growing and resistant to late blight.
11. German Green (Aunt Ruby’s German Green)
| Flavor: | Very good; spicy, sweet |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Green |
| Size: | 12 to 16 ounces |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, slicing, sandwiches, Salsa Verde, fried green tomatoes |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Fair; not well noted |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 to 85 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato Seeds:
Aunt Ruby’s German Green is an heirloom green-when-ripe tomato. It has excellent flavor, described as spicy and sweet. This is a large beefsteak that makes excellent fried green tomatoes (even though green is its ripe color) and is perfect for Salsa Verde. Grows one-pound fruits.
12. Berkeley Tie Dye Green
| Flavor: | Excellent, complex |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Green with red and yellow stripes |
| Size: | 8 to 16 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Fair; not well noted |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 days |
| Yield: | Fair to good |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Berkeley Tie Dye Green Tomato Seeds:
Berkeley Tie Dye Green is stunning in color and flavor. It’s said that each of its three colors imparts its own flavor, resulting in a tomato with complex flavors of bright, sweet, tangy, and spiciness. This tomato is green when ripe but striped with reds and yellows. It’s a medium-large beefsteak that produces earlier than most and keeps going until frost. That said, its production is considered fair to good, and it isn’t quite the yielder as many others in its beefsteak category are. There are other color varieties of the Berkeley Tie Dye, including a pink version.
13. White Wonder
| Flavor: | Very good, mild |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | White |
| Size: | 8 to 16 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating, canning, soups, saucing |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; not well documented |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 90 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy White Wonder Tomato Seeds:
White Wonder is a beefsteak tomato that is very light in the flesh and has light meat. It is almost snow-white. This is a mild tomato with low acid and a pleasant mild tomato flavor. It can be used for anything from fresh eating to saucing and canning (add acid because it is a low-acid variety). You can even use it to make a cream-colored cream of tomato soup! The seeds can be harder to find, and sometimes they are on the pricier side, but these are an old heirloom variety (dating back to the mid-1800s), and the seeds can be saved.
14. Nebraska Wedding
| Flavor: | Very good, heirloom flavor |
| Type: | Beefsteak/Slicer |
| Color: | Orange |
| Size: | 4 inches, 8 to 16 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating, roasting, canning |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates, does well in cool, windy areas |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; not well documented; crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, support recommended (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 85 to 90 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Nebraska Wedding Tomato Seeds:
Nebraska wedding traces its history back to the 1800’s and early 1900’s. It is said the seeds were given as gifts to brides on the American frontier. This is an heirloom known for its superior flavor in a pretty apricot-orange-colored package. Said to do well in all climates, but particularly in cold, windy locations like its native Nebraska. The plant grows on the shorter side, between three and five feet tall, so it can be a good candidate for small gardens and containers. It will benefit from staking, though.
15. Orange Jazz
| Flavor: | Excellent; sweet, fruity, peach notes |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Orange with yellow stripes |
| Size: | 1 pound |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, slicing, sauces. salsas |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; does well in moist areas prone to fungus and blight |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent; bred to resist blight and fungal disease |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, large plants grow continuously and need strong support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 85 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Orange Jazz Tomato Seeds:
Orange Jazz is the whole package – stunning color, bred for disease resistance, and a prolific producer that’s full of flavor. The tomatoes are large orange beefsteak types with yellow stripes. The flavor is sweet and fruity with notes of peach. There are other color varieties of “Jazz,” too, including a pink variety.
16. Amana Orange
| Flavor: | Very good; sweet, tropical |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Orange |
| Size: | 1 to 2 pounds each |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating, sandwiches |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates, developed in the U.S. state of Iowa in the U.S. Midwest |
| Disease Resistance: | Fair, not well documented |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, good support is recommended to support giant fruit (stakes or cages); plants reach 5 to 7 feet tall |
| Days to Harvest: | 90 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Amana Orange Tomato Seeds:
Amana Orange is a giant tomato that weighs one to two pounds per fruit. It is a pretty orange in color, and its flavor is fruity and tropical. This is also an heirloom variety whose seeds can be saved.
17. Big Rainbow
| Flavor: | Excellent; classic heirloom tomato flavor |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Yellow gold with red striping |
| Size: | 2 pounds each |
| Uses: | Slicing, sandwiches, sauces |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates and does exceptionally well in humid areas and crowded gardens or with overhead watering |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent; resistant to blights, foliar diseases, Bacterial Leaf Spot, Bacterial Speck, Botrytis, Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew, Septoria (Leafspot) |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, good support is recommended to support giant fruit (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 90 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Big Rainbow Tomato Seeds:
This is another “whole package” colored heirloom with a deep, rich heirloom tomato flavor. It is a large tomato that grows on disease resistant vines, yellow gold with red stripes. The plant will bear heavily even if you don’t do any pruning, and will still pump out large, colorful fruits.
18. Mr. Stripey
| Flavor: | Excellent; sweet, low acid, high sugar content |
| Type: | Beefsteak |
| Color: | Yellow with red |
| Size: | 1 to 2 pounds each |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, slicing, sandwiches, salads |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; originally from Virginia in the U.S. |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; not well documented |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 days |
| Yield: | Moderate to High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Mr. Stripey Tomato Seeds:
Mr. Stripey is an old-time favorite heirloom from the eastern seaboard of the United States. It boasts a high sugar content and sweet, delicious flavor. The color is yellow with red stripes and blush. They say no two of these tomatoes are ever the same in appearance, so they’re an eye-catching variety. Tomatoes are large beefsteaks perfect for salads and slicing.
19. Kellogg’s Breakfast Tomato
| Flavor: | Excellent |
| Type: | Giant Beefsteak |
| Color: | Orange |
| Size: | 1 to 2 pounds each |
| Uses: | Slicing, fresh eating, salads, sandwiches, salsas |
| Climate Notes: | Suite to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; not well documented |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs strong support (trellises, stakes, or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 days |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Kellogg‘s Breakfast Tomato Seeds:
Kellogg’s Breakfast tomato started out in Virginia in the U.S. and was perfected in Michigan, which gives it a wide range of proven growing conditions and climates. It grows giant orange tomatoes, described as the color of fresh-squeezed orange juice. It is meaty and juicy with great flavor. Vines are prolific growers (and prolific producers) that need good support.
20. German Pink
| Flavor: | Very good; sweet heirloom |
| Type: | Beefsteak, slicer |
| Color: | Pink |
| Size: | 1 to 2 pounds each |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, salads, canning, juicing, saucing (multi-purpose tomato) |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; crack resistant, may offer some fungal disease resistance (variable reports) |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 85 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy German Pink Tomato Seeds:
German Pink is a lighter red/pink tomato that is one of the first varieties that started the heirloom Seed Savers Exchange. It is an excellent all-around tomato, useful for all fresh eating, saucing, and canning. The tomatoes weigh between one and two pounds and have few seeds, so they’re almost all meat. The variety does offer fair disease resistance, too.
Tomato Taste by Color
Colored Tomatoes aren’t only set apart by their looks. The color tells you something about the flavor, too. For the most part, you can tell how the tomato will taste by its color. This is helpful when you’re trying to decide which type of tomato (or tomatoes) to grow.
In general, this is how you can expect each different color of tomato to taste:
- Purple tomatoes: acidic and complex
- Black tomatoes: similar to purple, acidic and complex
- “White”: mild, fruity, delicate in flavor
- Red: balanced between sweet and acidic
- Green: bright, tangy, acidic
- Yellow: fruity, sweet, milder than darker tomatoes
- Orange: similar to yellow, fruity and sweet, usually a bit deeper in flavor
Mixes Can Save You Time and Money
It can be overwhelming – and expensive – to choose between all the different varieties of colored tomatoes. Seed mixes of colored tomato varieties are a good solution. They typically include many of the old favorites in an interesting variety of shapes, flavors, and colors.
Many seed companies offer them as a solution to not being able to choose and not being able to buy 10 different seed packets to get that mix and match of varieties for your garden.
When you grow them, you won’t necessarily know exactly what plants you are growing until later in the season, but you're sure to get excellent variety, and buying one seed pack can save you a lot. (That said, some companies do separate the varieties in separate envelopesor color code the seed when they build their mixes, while others mix all the seeds together in one.)
This is a great way to enjoy an attractive (and delicious!) array of colored tomatoes without overplanting or breaking the bank on buying seed.
