“Nutrition facts” sounds like a fixed thing, numbers stamped permanently on a label. A fresh cherry tomato carries no label at all, so cherry tomatoes nutrition here means something looser.
It means a set of reference values pulled from federal food composition data instead. Those values shift slightly with variety, ripeness, and growing conditions, unlike a printed label.
Calories and macros in a cup of cherry tomatoes
A cup of cherry tomatoes, about 149 grams, runs close to 27 calories. That figure comes from standard USDA composition data for raw tomatoes, the reference most trackers apply to cherry sized fruit too.
Protein sits under two grams per cup. Fat is close to zero.
Carbohydrate runs around six grams per cup. Most of that is natural sugar, not starch.
Fiber adds up to roughly two grams per cup. That is a modest but real contribution against a full day’s fiber target, not a rounding error.
None of those numbers make a cherry tomato a serious protein or fat source. Its case in the cherry tomatoes nutrition conversation rests almost entirely on vitamins, potassium, and low calorie density instead.
Vitamin C: the number most people ask about first
A cup of cherry tomatoes carries roughly 20 milligrams of vitamin C. Adults need 90 milligrams a day for men and 75 for women, according to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.
That puts one cup close to a quarter of a full day’s target. It is a meaningful contribution.
It falls well short of a citrus fruit’s share, but it is far from negligible either. Small, steady amounts across a week add up.
Eating cherry tomatoes raw preserves more vitamin C than cooking them does. Heat degrades this particular vitamin steadily.
A salad or a snack bowl keeps more of it than a simmered sauce does. Anyone chasing the vitamin C angle of cherry tomatoes nutrition should reach for them raw.
Vitamin A and the orange pigment connection
Cherry tomatoes carry vitamin A mainly through beta carotene. That is the same pigment family behind carrots and orange peppers.
A cup provides roughly 63 micrograms RAE, a small slice of the daily target. The NIH lists adult needs at 900 micrograms RAE for men and 700 for women.
A cup of cherry tomatoes covers well under ten percent of that target on its own. It is a supporting player here, not a headline nutrient.
Red skinned varieties lean more on lycopene than beta carotene for their color. Yellow and orange cherry types often carry more of the carotenoids tied to vitamin A instead.
That color difference is not just cosmetic. It reflects a real shift in which pigments dominate the fruit.
Potassium, an underrated number
Potassium is where cherry tomatoes quietly earn their place in a produce bowl. A cup carries roughly 353 milligrams.
That is more per calorie than most people expect from a fruit this small. The Daily Value used on nutrition labels sets potassium at 4,700 milligrams. That figure is the reference behind every percent shown on a package.
The NIH’s own adult recommendation runs a bit lower than that, around 3,400 milligrams for men and 2,600 for women. Either way, most American diets fall short of the target by a wide margin.
A cup of cherry tomatoes will not close that gap alone. Stacked with other produce across a day, though, it adds up faster than most people track.
That steady, unglamorous contribution is a real part of what cherry tomatoes nutrition means in practice. Small amounts, repeated often, do more than one large dose.
Vitamin K, the quiet one
Vitamin K rarely gets asked about directly. Cherry tomatoes still carry a small, steady amount of it.
A cup runs close to 12 micrograms. Adult needs sit around 120 micrograms for men and 90 for women daily, per NIH guidance.
One cup covers a modest slice of that. It matters more to someone tracking total weekly intake than to any single meal.
Vitamin K needs are usually met through leafy greens rather than tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes contribute a small, steady amount without being anyone’s primary source of it.
Where the vegetable subgroup fits in a day’s plate
Federal dietary guidance sorts vegetables into subgroups. Tomatoes land in the red and orange category.
The MyPlate guidance asks adults to work through five vegetable subgroups across a week rather than hit every one daily. Cherry tomatoes fill the red and orange slot easily.
They sit alongside carrots, peppers, and squash in that grouping. A snack bowl of them counts the same toward that weekly target as a cooked serving does.
MyPlate sets a general daily vegetable target that runs up to three cups for active adult men. Women and less active adults need somewhat less.
Cherry tomatoes count toward that target raw, with no cooking step required to hit the serving size. That ease of use is part of the appeal.
Sodium, cholesterol, and where cherry tomatoes fit a restricted diet
Fresh cherry tomatoes carry essentially no sodium and no cholesterol. Both numbers round down to nothing on a standard nutrition label.
That makes them an easy addition to a sodium restricted or heart focused eating plan. The real concern with tomatoes usually shows up later. It is the sauce, salt, or dressing added around them, not the fruit itself.
Canned and jarred tomato products often carry added salt during processing. A fresh cherry tomato straight off the vine avoids that entirely.
Net carbohydrate, the number some low carb trackers watch instead of total carbohydrate, comes out low here too. Subtracting roughly two grams of fiber from six grams of total carbohydrate per cup leaves about four grams net.
That places cherry tomatoes comfortably inside most low carb eating patterns. Few fresh fruits offer that much flavor and volume for so little carbohydrate impact.
Naturally low sodium, essentially no fat, and no cholesterol together explain why cherry tomatoes show up so often on restricted diet lists. It is one of the rare snacks that fits almost every dietary pattern without modification.
No prep changes any of that math. A tomato pulled straight off the vine keeps the same profile as one bought at a store.
Why cherry tomatoes read differently than a slicing tomato’s numbers
Per gram, cherry tomatoes and larger slicing tomatoes are close in composition. Both are the same species at different fruit sizes.
Per piece, the picture looks very different. A single cherry tomato weighs a fraction of a slicing tomato.
Its individual calorie and vitamin count looks tiny by comparison, purely because of that size gap. That is a serving size effect, not a real nutritional difference between the two fruits.
Anyone comparing cherry tomatoes nutrition against a beefsteak tomato’s numbers should compare by weight, not by piece count. A cup of either, weighed the same, lands close to the same profile.
Readers curious how cherry varieties differ from each other can check the site’s own cherry tomato variety guide for specific picks. Color and size vary more between cherry varieties than nutrition does.
What the tomato specific pages add beyond this table
These numbers only tell part of the story. The site’s own breakdown of what lycopene actually does in the body goes deeper into the antioxidant most associated with tomatoes.
Potassium gets its own dedicated treatment too. The full potassium in tomatoes page covers the mineral across every tomato size, not just cherry.
Anyone weighing a daily habit rather than an occasional snack has a direct answer waiting. The site’s page on eating a tomato every day covers the frequency question this article does not.
A broader look at tomatoes and health sits at the site’s tomato health benefits page. It covers claims beyond the vitamin and mineral table here.
Cherry tomatoes nutrition is one slice of that larger picture. The vitamin and mineral numbers are the part that a table can actually show.
A practical way to use cherry tomatoes nutrition numbers
Treat a cup of cherry tomatoes as a low calorie, moderate vitamin C, decent potassium snack. It is not a nutritional powerhouse on its own, and it does not need to be.
Its real value shows up in how easily it gets eaten raw, whole, with no prep at all. That ease is worth more than any single nutrient number.
Stacking cherry tomatoes with other red and orange vegetables across a week builds toward federal targets faster than any single food can. Vitamin C and potassium both respond well to that kind of repeated, small daily intake.
For the fuller nutrition picture across the whole tomato category, the site’s complete tomato nutrition facts guide is the next stop. It covers macros, vitamins, and minerals across every common size and color, not just the cherry sized end of it.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories are in a cup of cherry tomatoes?
A cup of cherry tomatoes, about 149 grams, runs close to 27 calories based on standard USDA composition data for raw tomatoes. That makes it one of the lower calorie fresh produce options by volume.
Are cherry tomatoes a good source of vitamin C?
A cup provides roughly 20 milligrams, close to a quarter of the daily target for adults. It is a real contribution, though smaller than a citrus fruit’s share.
How much potassium is in cherry tomatoes?
A cup carries roughly 353 milligrams of potassium, a meaningful amount relative to its low calorie count. Most American diets fall short of the daily potassium target, so produce like this helps close that gap gradually.
Do cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes have different nutrition per gram?
Not meaningfully. Per gram they are close in composition, since both are the same species at different fruit sizes. Most of the difference people notice comes down to serving size, not the fruit itself.
Is it better to eat cherry tomatoes raw or cooked for nutrition?
Raw preserves more vitamin C, since heat degrades that vitamin steadily during cooking. Cooking does the opposite for lycopene, making it easier for the body to absorb. The better choice depends on which nutrient matters most for the day.