Here's my blog post on how to freeze tomatoes that will walk you through the process step-by-step! www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/09/how-to-freeze-tomatoes.html
I just wash and dry the tomatoes and throw the whole thing into a ziplock, then into the freezer. When I need a tomato for a stew, pull it out, cut it and throw it in! You can also throw the frozen tomatoes into some warm water and the skin peels off super easy, then proceed with your recipe or canning!
I’ve thrown them straight into the freezer whole, in a baggy. Then take them out as needed. Thawing them for a minute on the counter let’s the skins slip right off, then drop into soup or whatever. They will break apart pretty easily while cooking.
Thank you for your videos and tips,I love them.Like you I like to make my pickles and preserves from my garden, I have even faster and easier recipe for tomato sauce,which I made out of the tons of cherry tomatoes I grow(you can make it from normal tomatoes as well,just the cherries are so many....). Here it is: fill the oven tray with cherry tomatoes,washed and prepared,put in salt,sugar,balsamic vinegar,olive oil,bunch of basil,onion powder,garlic powder-all to taste.Roast until the water evaporate and you feel they are ready,Then you can put them in jars as they are,or put in the food processor and make sauce.I boil the jars after that for 10-15 min,so they last longer.Enjoy :)
I do rough dice of tomatoes, then into a flip top sandwich baggie, 2 baggies to a quart freezer bag. That way can take out the amount needed and they stack awesome. Do the same with blanched green beans. Love to rough dice peppers and freeze on cookie sheets so can easily take what is needed, again, two baggies to a quart freezer bag.
I started doing this last summer but no need to de-seed them! They cook down perfectly to make sauces with both skins and seeds. Just like crushed tomatoes would be. Thx for the video!
All I do is wash, stem and put in freezer, in bags. I easily slide skin off while they defrost. I don't remove seeds but this can be done when they are semi defrosted, by halving them between stem and base and scoop out.
I cant believe how much faster it is to freeze tomatoes when bypassing the peeling. I’m with you. The skin doesn’t bother me at all. When I can my tomatoes or make salsa I always leave the skins on. Its not a big deal at all because they cook down in the processing. I don’t bother flash freezing either. Pull a bag out of the freezer and roast them with some yummy seasonings and garlic! Easy peasy.
I have done that in the past. I was overwhelmed with lots of tomatoes, so I washed and froze them, cutting out any bad spots. Then in the winter, thawed and cooked them down on the wood burning stove, then canned them into juice. I just put them through the Foley food mill. Worked just fine. Grandma Sue in central Indiana and Izzi Too
I core the tomato and cut out bad spots. Wash them and put them on a tray and stick them in the freezer whole. After they freeze i put them in bags. When i take them out to use i either throw them in the pot still frozen or i put them in a pan of hot water first to get the peelings off. Very quick and simple and works for me.
I have learned to ferment my tomatoes. 4 days... the juice separates, pulp floats to the top. The skins will slip. And blending in a Vita Mix takes care of skins anyway. Don't even need to add juice. Hot packing to can. The juice can be frozen and its delicious. Heating up the sauce or stewing tomatoes is the only cooking. I dried the skins in the car!!
hello i too deseeded my tomatoes before freezing i even peeled them by hand. anyway my brand of tomtatoes i planted are mostly brandy wine heirloom, they are huge it is easy to fill up a gallon size ziploc freezer bag. Thank you for sharing your ideas very helpful.
You must have been reading my mind. I was literally just thinking of how best to freeze the excess of tomatoes we have currently. Our plants are producing a bumper crop like it’s going out of style; my family is giving away their excess tomatoes to us since they have so many- ah! Will definitely do this. Seems like home grown produce also goes bad more quickly, but small price to pay :)
That's more work than I put into them. I knock the green stem off, but don't cut out the core. I wash them off, put them on a cookie sheet and freeze. When the outsides are good and frozen (I usually leave them overnight), they get transferred to gallon or quart bags, depending on how many I have. I don't cut any of them unless there's a bad spot.
Jill, I like your thinking. Why spend time preparing tomatoes for freezing if you don't have to. Hey, I'm a crummy cook, but the stuff I turn out is edible. That's all I want anyway. I even froze my tomatoes whole like no busted tomato juice so far! I'll thaw them a little rip the skins off if it's needed then make an incredible sauce maybe. But no matter what the sauce will still have a great red color!
Have you ever froze your tomatoes and then tried to dehydrate them afterwards? Curious if this would work if power goes out for an extended period of time.
I never remove the seeds. After the sauce is cooked, it then gets pulverized in my food processor, and I see no trace of seeds. I don't waste any part of the tomato... it's all nutritious! This year I grew San Marzano paste tomatoes and they don't have many seeds to begin with.
How is the flavor after thawing? I recall an Alton Brown Good Eats episode about tomatoes where he said something gets lost once tomatoes go below 50 degrees which is ONE of the reasons store bought tomatoes taste blah.
I needed this, I've got tomatoes about to explode on the vines.... Thxs I read somewhere (Dr. Gundry) about tomato seeds not being good for us...especially men. Mmmmm....not sure about this.
I do this every year but never remove the insides of mine. When ready to use I just open the freezer bag run hot water in it and pop them out as the start to thaw and you can easily pull the peel off with your fingers at this time also if you don't like the peel. We use them i sauces, soups and chili during the Winter.
You can aso probably toss them in the freezer bag, and before they become frozen just take the bag out and break them up in the bag every now and then…so lay the bag flat, it will be like flash freezing them without doing the cookie sheet thing😬
We pull our green tomatoes just before the freeze and place them in a shallow box lined with newspapers. We make sure the green tomatoes don't touch and of course we don't pile them on top of each other. Store them in a place away from sunlight like the pantry or a closet and they will over time start turning red...we actually have fresh ripe tomatoes until Christmas...Good luck and have fun!
Ah. I wish I had seen this before! I've had to feed an embarrassing amount of tomatoes to the pigs that went bad before I had a chance to process them this year. Not that they minded. They looove tomatoes!
I am ashamed: I realize this morning that in my dehydration machine, I forget peppers really dehydrated (135’F for 24 hours!) but still in the closed machine since 3 days. After the cycle, I look and they were really dry: I went to see my husband and said to myself: I will come back!!! I take care of my husband that has a phase 4 pulmonary cancer. So, sometimes I forget !! Is my peppers still good ?? Or have I to throw away?
I prefer to cook the tomatoes first for better flavor and to get more Lycopene, but if it's "use or lose it" time, this girl is going to freeze it if I don't have the energy to do more. Last year I froze my tomatoes whole in freezer bags (removing air with a straw to prevent ice) because I didn't have enough to process with each picking. When I did process them, all I did was dump them in a colander to defrost and run water over them. The skins literally fell right off! This year I am roasting my tomatoes whole... the skins come off so easy, but I leave them on for certain recipes. (I made a batch of marinara last night that contained the charred skins. 😋) Both methods are much less work. I do not remove the seeds, either... it all gets pulverized in my food processor, so there are no pieces of anything. I had a plethora of cherry tomatoes last year that got frozen on cookie sheets, then stored in freezer bags (removing air with a straw). I pulled them out a bag at a time to make oven roasted salsa using an amazing Chef John recipe. 😋
Here's my blog post on how to freeze tomatoes that will walk you through the process step-by-step! www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/09/how-to-freeze-tomatoes.html
I just wash and dry the tomatoes and throw the whole thing into a ziplock, then into the freezer. When I need a tomato for a stew, pull it out, cut it and throw it in! You can also throw the frozen tomatoes into some warm water and the skin peels off super easy, then proceed with your recipe or canning!
I wash, cut off stems & bad spots, stab them & put on a tray to freeze then bag them.
What happens when your freezer can't run????
I’ve thrown them straight into the freezer whole, in a baggy. Then take them out as needed. Thawing them for a minute on the counter let’s the skins slip right off, then drop into soup or whatever. They will break apart pretty easily while cooking.
I didn't know that you could freeze tomatoes. Now that I do I will have to try it. Thank you for the information.
Thank you for your videos and tips,I love them.Like you I like to make my pickles and preserves from my garden, I have even faster and easier recipe for tomato sauce,which I made out of the tons of cherry tomatoes I grow(you can make it from normal tomatoes as well,just the cherries are so many....). Here it is: fill the oven tray with cherry tomatoes,washed and prepared,put in salt,sugar,balsamic vinegar,olive oil,bunch of basil,onion powder,garlic powder-all to taste.Roast until the water evaporate and you feel they are ready,Then you can put them in jars as they are,or put in the food processor and make sauce.I boil the jars after that for 10-15 min,so they last longer.Enjoy :)
I do rough dice of tomatoes, then into a flip top sandwich baggie, 2 baggies to a quart freezer bag. That way can take out the amount needed and they stack awesome. Do the same with blanched green beans. Love to rough dice peppers and freeze on cookie sheets so can easily take what is needed, again, two baggies to a quart freezer bag.
I started doing this last summer but no need to de-seed them! They cook down perfectly to make sauces with both skins and seeds. Just like crushed tomatoes would be. Thx for the video!
All I do is wash, stem and put in freezer, in bags. I easily slide skin off while they defrost. I don't remove seeds but this can be done when they are semi defrosted, by halving them between stem and base and scoop out.
I cant believe how much faster it is to freeze tomatoes when bypassing the peeling. I’m with you. The skin doesn’t bother me at all. When I can my tomatoes or make salsa I always leave the skins on. Its not a big deal at all because they cook down in the processing. I don’t bother flash freezing either. Pull a bag out of the freezer and roast them with some yummy seasonings and garlic! Easy peasy.
Some people have issues with lectins in the skin and seeds. I am one of them 😭
Thanks. I have a small garden and get to many tomatoes to use up immediately, but not enough to make sauce. Now I can save them up an make sauce.
I have done that in the past. I was overwhelmed with lots of tomatoes, so I washed and froze them, cutting out any bad spots. Then in the winter, thawed and cooked them down on the wood burning stove, then canned them into juice. I just put them through the Foley food mill. Worked just fine.
Grandma Sue in central Indiana and Izzi Too
I core the tomato and cut out bad spots. Wash them and put them on a tray and stick them in the freezer whole. After they freeze i put them in bags. When i take them out to use i either throw them in the pot still frozen or i put them in a pan of hot water first to get the peelings off. Very quick and simple and works for me.
Thank you so much! I wanted another method (lazier) than canning. Too hot in NC to can right now! You are adorable and I love all of your videos.
I have learned to ferment my tomatoes. 4 days... the juice separates, pulp floats to the top. The skins will slip. And blending in a Vita Mix takes care of skins anyway. Don't even need to add juice. Hot packing to can. The juice can be frozen and its delicious. Heating up the sauce or stewing tomatoes is the only cooking. I dried the skins in the car!!
hello i too deseeded my tomatoes before freezing i even peeled them by hand. anyway my brand of tomtatoes i planted are mostly brandy wine heirloom, they are huge it is easy to fill up a gallon size ziploc freezer bag. Thank you for sharing your ideas very helpful.
We have orange cherry tomatoes in abundance! Glad to know we can freeze the whole in a freezer bag!!!
You must have been reading my mind. I was literally just thinking of how best to freeze the excess of tomatoes we have currently. Our plants are producing a bumper crop like it’s going out of style; my family is giving away their excess tomatoes to us since they have so many- ah! Will definitely do this. Seems like home grown produce also goes bad more quickly, but small price to pay :)
Love timing like that! Tis definitely the season for tomato overload!!
How did I not know it was possible to freeze tomatoes?! Thanks for the tips, hopefully I can try this this year!
Love you kitchen.. btw!
That's more work than I put into them. I knock the green stem off, but don't cut out the core. I wash them off, put them on a cookie sheet and freeze. When the outsides are good and frozen (I usually leave them overnight), they get transferred to gallon or quart bags, depending on how many I have. I don't cut any of them unless there's a bad spot.
Jill, I like your thinking. Why spend time preparing tomatoes for freezing if you don't have to. Hey, I'm a crummy cook, but the stuff I turn out is edible. That's all I want anyway. I even froze my tomatoes whole like no busted tomato juice so far! I'll thaw them a little rip the skins off if it's needed then make an incredible sauce maybe. But no matter what the sauce will still have a great red color!
awesome! Great hacks ;)
Have you ever froze your tomatoes and then tried to dehydrate them afterwards? Curious if this would work if power goes out for an extended period of time.
Do you have to remove the seeds? For many tomatoes the pulp around the seeds is where a lot of the flavour is so it seems a shame to lose all that.
You don't have to remove the seeds. What a waste.
I never remove the seeds. After the sauce is cooked, it then gets pulverized in my food processor, and I see no trace of seeds. I don't waste any part of the tomato... it's all nutritious!
This year I grew San Marzano paste tomatoes and they don't have many seeds to begin with.
How is the flavor after thawing? I recall an Alton Brown Good Eats episode about tomatoes where he said something gets lost once tomatoes go below 50 degrees which is ONE of the reasons store bought tomatoes taste blah.
And just in time! Thank you! I'll give the seeds to the pigs. They adore tomatoes!
I needed this, I've got tomatoes about to explode on the vines.... Thxs I read somewhere (Dr. Gundry) about tomato seeds not being good for us...especially men. Mmmmm....not sure about this.
I do this every year but never remove the insides of mine. When ready to use I just open the freezer bag run hot water in it and pop them out as the start to thaw and you can easily pull the peel off with your fingers at this time also if you don't like the peel. We use them i sauces, soups and chili during the Winter.
You can aso probably toss them in the freezer bag, and before they become frozen just take the bag out and break them up in the bag every now and then…so lay the bag flat, it will be like flash freezing them without doing the cookie sheet thing😬
Noooo,the seeds are the best part 😳
I know huh! Save the skin but not the pulp???
100% agree about the skins!
What do you do with the green tomatoes cuz it’s beginning to almost freeze during the night? Do you have a recipe of green tomatoes ketchup?
We pull our green tomatoes just before the freeze and place them in a shallow box lined with newspapers. We make sure the green tomatoes don't touch and of course we don't pile them on top of each other. Store them in a place away from sunlight like the pantry or a closet and they will over time start turning red...we actually have fresh ripe tomatoes until Christmas...Good luck and have fun!
Ah. I wish I had seen this before! I've had to feed an embarrassing amount of tomatoes to the pigs that went bad before I had a chance to process them this year. Not that they minded. They looove tomatoes!
Oh no! Well, at least you have happy pigs-- and you know for next year! :)
Is it a must to remove seeds?
The best way to freeze tomatoes is to remove the gunk on the inside.
didn't catch it, what do you do with the seeds?
She said give'em to the chickens.
I cant hear this blog post...
That's what I use to do to ours too. We dry most of ours :)
turn up the volumn can't hear it.
I am ashamed: I realize this morning that in my dehydration machine, I forget peppers really dehydrated (135’F for 24 hours!) but still in the closed machine since 3 days. After the cycle, I look and they were really dry: I went to see my husband and said to myself: I will come back!!! I take care of my husband that has a phase 4 pulmonary cancer. So, sometimes I forget !! Is my peppers still good ?? Or have I to throw away?
What a Good Little Helper You have !!! :}
She's always right there in the middle of everything ;)
I prefer to cook the tomatoes first for better flavor and to get more Lycopene, but if it's "use or lose it" time, this girl is going to freeze it if I don't have the energy to do more. Last year I froze my tomatoes whole in freezer bags (removing air with a straw to prevent ice) because I didn't have enough to process with each picking. When I did process them, all I did was dump them in a colander to defrost and run water over them. The skins literally fell right off!
This year I am roasting my tomatoes whole... the skins come off so easy, but I leave them on for certain recipes. (I made a batch of marinara last night that contained the charred skins. 😋) Both methods are much less work. I do not remove the seeds, either... it all gets pulverized in my food processor, so there are no pieces of anything.
I had a plethora of cherry tomatoes last year that got frozen on cookie sheets, then stored in freezer bags (removing air with a straw). I pulled them out a bag at a time to make oven roasted salsa using an amazing Chef John recipe. 😋
I don't like throwing out any part of my tomatoes, if it requires taking the insides out then i won't do it
So where is the post on sun dehydrating them?
she left a link in the comments. You may have to click "show more" to expand it
Yeay no Blanching
volume is really low on this one
You leave the skins on???????????
You blanch to kill any bacteria or bug poo , eggs
Sound is bad
Very soft audio; can barely hear you! Gave up