How to Freeze Tomatoes

The tomato is one of the most loved vegetables around the world. Tomatoes can be found in many recipes, eaten raw with salt and pepper, or even sliced with mozzarella cheese on top – all delicious ways to eat tomatoes. Freezing tomatoes is a great way to keep some fresh produce in your home without having to worry about going to the store or spending a lot of money on produce that has been shipped from across the country, so that’s why learning how to freeze tomatoes could save you some time and money. This freezing process takes a few simple steps and comes in handy for recipes later on.

Freezing tomatoes is an excellent way to meal prep, mainly because it retains its flavor so well. You can freeze your tomatoes in different ways depending on how you want to use them in the future. For example, you could freeze them diced for easy use in your soups and stews or even freeze them whole to have some flexibility for when you use them. This blog post aims to introduce you to all the possibilities of freezing tomatoes.

What you Need for Freezing Tomatoes

Tomatoes

You can freeze any variety of tomatoes that you prefer. However, tomatoes with a higher percentage of pulp to seeds like Roma tomatoes will give the best results when frozen. It may be essential to note beforehand that frozen tomatoes work really well in sauces, soups, stews, and any other dish that may require you to cook the tomatoes. If you are looking for your frozen tomatoes to have the bite that fresh tomatoes have, it will be hard to find that in the frozen ones.

Freezer Safe Jars or Bags

Depending on how you freeze your tomatoes, whole, diced, or as juice, you can use either freezer-safe jars or bags to preserve your tomatoes. If you are freezing the tomatoes whole without peeling them, you can use freezer-safe bags, but it is better to opt for freezer-safe jars in case of diced or tomato juice. Pint-size or quart-size jars that are usually used for canning can be used here as well.

Straw or a Vacuum Sealer

You will need a straw or a vacuum sealer if you end up using freezer bags for storing your tomatoes. The straw is a simple alternative to the vacuum sealer to suck the air out of the freezer bags before you seal the bags. Removing the excess air from the bags will help limit the exposure to air and thus keep your tomatoes fresher longer.

The first step when freezing tomatoes is cleaning them. Wash your tomatoes with plenty of water to eliminate any dirt and bacteria that may be present on them.

Freezing Whole Tomatoes

You can freeze whole tomatoes either with or without the skin. Freezing the tomatoes whole will give you more flexibility when deciding how to use your frozen tomatoes.

Freeze Whole Unpeeled Tomatoes

• Pat your clean tomatoes dry using a kitchen towel.
• If the cores bother you, you can use a small paring knife to core the tomatoes.
• Once all your tomatoes are prepared, add them to your freezer bags so that they lay in a single layer.
• If you have a vacuum sealer, you can use that to seal your bags or simply seal the bag as you usually would using your fingers, leaving just enough space on one end for a straw to fit through.
• Poke your straw through the opening and suck out as much air to create your vacuum seal.
• Once your bags are all sealed, you can put them in your freezer to freeze.

Tomatoes frozen this way can last up to a year. Simply pull out as many as you need from the bag, seal the rest, and store in the freezer again. You can use these tomatoes as they are, or you can dip them in some warm water for a few minutes, which will cause the skin to peel off.

Freeze Whole Peeled Tomatoes

• Cut a small “x” in the bottom of your tomatoes. If you are using cherry tomatoes, you can skip over this step.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove. Blanch a few tomatoes at a time until you see the skin curl away from where you scored them.
• When the tomatoes are done blanching, remove them from the hot water and transfer them to some ice water to stop their cooking process.
• Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove them from the water and peel their skins by pulling away from the pieces that have started to curl. You may notice some of the juice from the tomatoes coming out as you peel them, so do this step over a bowl to catch all that juice.
• Pack the peeled tomatoes in the freezer jars tightly, leaving about 1 inch of headspace. You can also add the extra liquid from the bowl to the jars. As you push down the tomatoes to pack them, they will release some of their liquid which is perfectly fine.
• Once all the tomatoes are packed, use a debubbler if you have one or else a clean knife to move the tomatoes around to release any air pockets that may have formed.
• Close the jars and set them in your freezer to freeze.

These tomatoes will last up to 6 months in your freezer.

Freeze Tomato Juice

• Once your tomatoes are all clean,  chop them up into quarters.
• Add your chopped tomatoes to a saucepan and let them simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.
• Place a sieve over a bowl to capture the tomato juice. Once your tomatoes are done simmering, add them to the sieve and press them with a wooden spoon to get as much liquid from them as possible.
• Once you have gathered all the tomato juice in the bowl, let it cool down to room temperature.
• Add the cooled tomato juice to your freezer jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
• As an optional step, you can also add one teaspoon of salt to each quart of tomato juice.
• Close the lids to the jars and place them in your freezer for storage.

This frozen tomato juice works great in soups, lasagna, and stews!

Freeze Strewed Tomatoes

Stewing your tomatoes before you freeze them is another option when freezing tomatoes.

• Score your tomatoes by marking an  “x” at the bottom of all your tomatoes.
• Add the tomatoes in batches to a pot of boiling water to blanch them.
• Once the skin starts to peel off, transfer them using a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water. When the tomatoes have cooled, you will be able to peel them easily.
• Cut your now peeled tomatoes into quarters and add them to a saucepan. Cover the saucepan with a lid and let the tomatoes cook for 15 – 20 minutes on a medium-low flame.
• When the tomatoes are tender, turn off the heat and let them cool to room temperature. Once cool, you can add these tomatoes to your freezer jars. Make sure all the tomatoes are covered completely with their juice. You can use a debubbler or a clean knife to remove any air pockets that may have formed.
• Once all your jars are ready, close their lids and put them in the freezer for long-term storage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to freeze tomatoes for canning?

If you want to freeze tomatoes to can them sometime in the future, you can freeze them whole without removing their peels. Just follow the steps described for freezing whole unpeeled tomatoes and store them in your freezer until you are ready to can them. Then, when you do want to can the tomatoes, remove them from the freezer bag and add them to a bowl of warm water for 3 -5 minutes, and this will loosen their skin and make peeling them super easy. You can now use them in your canning recipes!

How to freeze green tomatoes and cherry tomatoes?

YOu can freeze any variety of tomatoes that you like using the methods that we have described above. If you are blanching the tomatoes, you don’t even need to score them in the case of cherry tomatoes. Just blanch them in some water and simply pinch their skin to peel them. However, if you are blanching the green tomatoes, you do need to score them to make peeling them easier.

How to freeze diced tomatoes?

You can use the freeze whole unpeeled tomatoes method to freeze diced tomatoes. Once you have finished blanching the tomatoes, dice them up before adding them to the freezer jars. Tomatoes will release a lot of liquid when you dice them, so take care that you don’t waste any of the fluid that escapes.

Conclusion

Freezing tomatoes is an excellent way to preserve your excess tomatoes and also to meal prep. You can reduce your recipe time to a great extent by using some of these simple techniques to freeze your tomatoes. You can also check out some of our other freezing guides here.