Preserving Fresh Garden Tomatoes Made Easy

Preserve Tomatoes, With or without skins, In a flash!

You may have previously thought that preserving tomatoes take a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be! This year’sgarden is in full swing and producing lots of Beefsteak, Roma and grape tomatoes.

There are tomatoes coming out of our ears! No sweat though – preserving tomatoes doesn’t require a day-long, expensive canning process like it used to.

Follow along to learn the best way to freeze tomatoes!

Preserving fresh garden tomatoes is even easier than you think! These step-by-step instructions show you how to freeze your tomatoes in a flash.

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One thing I try to do to preserve our fresh organic goodness is freeze them, both whole and diced. On a recent Google search, I found that the first two search results pages made freezing tomatoes sound like a LOT of work. With just one or two exceptions, all recipes recommended you first blanch, peel, then either roast, saute or boil the tomatoes before freezing. Say wha?

That is the old method to preserving tomatoes. Let’s drive into the new (and tenfold easier) way to freezing fresh tomatoes!

Here’s the super simple way to do it without double cooking all the rich nutrients (and taste) out of these garden fruits.

Freezing with skins

Freezing fresh tomatoes is the very easiest way to preserve them – and is completely safe. In fact, it can be as easy as:

  1. Washing and drying the tomatoes
  2. Placing them in a freezer safe bag and
  3. Freezing them. Skins and all.
  4. When you’re ready to use them, just run them under warm water to make skin removal easy, then dice or core and pop them into your soup, stew or chili.

How simple is that?! I do this year after year, and can attest to how great these taste in recipes.

This truly is the best way to freeze tomatoes since it’s so easy!

freezing diced tomatoes

I use a lot of recipes that call for diced tomatoes, so I freeze a lot of this, too. This recipe is a bit more involved, but still EASY. In fact, if you don’t mind skins in your diced tomatoes, you can even skip steps 2-3 and go straight to step 4:

  1. Wash tomatoes
  2. Place in boiling water for 1 minute. The cook time is so short because we’re not trying to cook or even blanch them – we’re just trying to peel the skins off easily.
  3. Place tomatoes in a bowl of ice water, long enough to cool. Then, slip the skins right off of the tomato.Preserving fresh garden tomatoes is even easier than you think! These step-by-step instructions show you how to freeze your tomatoes in a flash.
  4. On a deep welled cutting board, chop the tomatoes to desired size. Save the juice – we’ll use that later!Preserving fresh garden tomatoes is even easier than you think! These step-by-step instructions show you how to freeze your tomatoes in a flash.
  5. Measure approximately 1 1/4 C. diced tomatoes (the approximate equivalent of a 14.5 oz. can). It’s okay to include the juice that transfers with the tomatoes!
  6. Pour the measured portions into a freezer safe bags  – don’t seal them yet, we’re not done!
  7. Pour a little of the remaining juice into each bag – I pour approximately 1/4-1/2 C. per bag.
  8. Finally, seal the bags, removing excess air, and lay flat on a cookie tray to freeze. This makes them easier to store once they are frozen.Preserving fresh garden tomatoes is even easier than you think! These step-by-step instructions show you how to freeze your tomatoes, with or without skins, in a flash.

The whole freezing tomatoes process is quick and easy. The whole process is super quick. In fact, I prepared seven bags from start to finish in less than 30 minutes! Now, you can just pull them out when a recipe calls for a can of diced tomatoes. I use these for soups, stews, chilis, and our favorite homemade Chipotle Burrito Bowl knockoff recipe.

If you’re planning to preserve your garden goodies year after year, I can’t recommend the FoodSaver enough. It keeps foods airtight and they last much longer without any freezer taste. The only change to the processes outlined above is that I first freeze the food item, then transfer it to a FoodSaver bag so the air can be vacuumed out while the liquids are frozen.

We use our FoodSaver to preserve garden beans, tomatoes, corn and more!

Preserving fresh garden tomatoes is even easier than you think! These step-by-step instructions show you how to freeze your tomatoes in a flash.

What is your favorite way to use garden tomatoes? I’d love to hear your favorite recipes in the comments below!

 

4 thoughts on “Preserving Fresh Garden Tomatoes Made Easy

    • fivemarigolds says:

      I just made a batch of sauce, too! So many sites recommend you simmer the sauce, but there is no need to cook out all of those nutrients twice! Just pop those de-skinned tomatoes in the blender and portion them in to freezer bags. Then, use the sauce like you would a typical can of tomato sauce. Enjoy!

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