Staples, Food FoundationsStephanie DeMarrTomatoes, preservation, freezing

How to Freeze Tomatoes-Food Foundations

Staples, Food FoundationsStephanie DeMarrTomatoes, preservation, freezing
How to Freeze Tomatoes-Food Foundations

Summertime has many great things to offer. Swimming, lazy days, longer evening sunsets and most of all the fresh,bountiful produce at your market, farmers market, or in your backyard!

For the past few days I have had the great fortune to be able to wander out to my garden and pluck some fresh, red, ripe tomatoes off the vines. This year I am growing a Roma variety and a few different varieties of cherry tomatoes along with some herbs and cucumbers. My neighbors and family have always been generous with the standard slicing tomato varieties so I did not get crazy with growing those this year.

But if you get lucky, tomatoes are a type of plant that once they get going they will produce! This year in particular my vines as well as the vines of my family and neighbors have just given and given until they are piled up all over the kitchen. What a wonderful problem to have, right?

But even the freshest of the fresh can get old. When I have made all the fresh tomato recipes I can handle (like this one Tomato Mozzarella Bread simple and AMAZING!!), it's time to turn toward preserving this harvest for a later time when freh tomoates will feel like the gift they truly are. There are so many preservation methods out there and I have tried many, but I usually come back to the freezer method because it is simple, fast, and I don't have to stand over a hot canning pot on a triple digit day. In exchange for the bit of work I get yummy tomatoes to use all fall and winter in my favorite cool weather stews, casseroles and sauces. I find this little taste of summer a wonderful relief when the chill of winter makes it so I cannot feel parts of my body and reminds me to all seasons pass.

Below you will find a step by step guide on how to prepare your tomoates for freezing. This is great for small batches of tomatoes that you don't want to go bad before you can use them or anytime you want to fill your freezer!

Note

  • The texture of tomatoes will change with freezing so they are best used in cooked dishes such as sauces, casseroles, stews and soups.
  • If you make my Simply Tasty Pasta Sauce or any other from scratch pasta sauce from fresh tomatoes I highly recommend 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste and give yourself more time to make it as even with the paste it will need more time to get to a thicker sauce like consistancy.
  • The tomatoes should keep in the freezer for approximately 3-6 months. They will still be edible after that but may begin to take on a bit of "freezer flavor" and will lose some flavor.

How to Remove Tomato Skin for Freezing

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes plus chilling time

Equipment

  • Large pot
  • salt
  • good knife
  • large bowl
  • ice
  • cutting board

Instructions

  1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
  2. While the water is on, clean all tomatoes and make a small X on the bottom (non-stem) end of each one.
  3. When the water comes to a boil, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water.
  4. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add salt (a few shakes of the salt shaker) and tomatoes. Be sure not to crowd them. I will do about 6 tomatoes per batch to ensure I can get them all out quickly and the tomatoes have room.
  5. Boil tomoatoes for 30-35 seconds, then carefully remove and immediately submerge all tomatoes in large bowl of ice water. A good tip is to place the bowl of ice water as close to your stovetop as you can to ensure they are plunged in the ice bath as soon as they come of of the water.
  6. Allow tomatoes to chill in water until cool to the touch, then remove and place cooled tomatoes on a cutting board. Repeat with remaining tomatoes, replenishing the ice and cold water as needed.
  7. Find the X you made on the bottom. Gently tug on the skin (it should be loose around the X) and slowly peel the skin off, discarding for compost. Once you have all the skins off, chop or dice tomatoes to your preferred size/shape.
  8. Divide the tomatoes into into portions and add to freezer bag or freezer friendly container container. 2 cups of tomatoes is about equal to one standard sized 15 oz can of tomatoes so I typically do 2 cups in each container. I'm most often substituting the fresh tomatoes for a can in my recipes anyway and this way I don't have to measure out tomatoes months down the road.
  9. Place the containters of tomatoes in the refrigerator first and leave them in there overnight. Giving them time to fully cool down before you freez them lessens the chance of creating icicles and freezer burn on your bounty.

Now not only do you have fresh summer tomatoes to enjoy during the long freeze, you were able to save food from going bad or being tossed. You also learned a new skill and are one step closer to full scratch cooking. Nice work!