My Favorite Ways To Preserve Tomatoes
Gardening is a lot of work, but so rewarding! The baskets full of tomatoes are so delicious and exciting. Join me as I share a couple of my very favorite (and easy) ways to preserve tomatoes. And if you haven’t checked out my blog post about my first year canning experience, you can find that here.
Canning Crushed or Diced Tomatoes
I love having garden tomatoes preserved to use all year! Canned tomatoes are perfect for chilis, soups, salsas, and many other recipes. You just can’t go wrong with canned tomatoes!
My preferred method for canning crushed or diced tomatoes is water bath canning. Although the processing time is a little longer, I just feel like it is a more relaxed way to can. Here is my favorite and safe recipe for canning crushed/diced tomatoes. And don’t forget to acidify those tomatoes!
This process is extremely simple! Wash, remove skins, quarter, heat, crush, acidify and can! I like to prep my jars and lids while I begin boiling water to give my tomatoes a quick dip to slip off the skins and remove the cores. Don’t forget to save those tomato skin/cores for your chickens. My chickens love having tomato skins as a treat!
Canning Tomato Sauce
Who doesn’t love pasta? Spaghetti or lasagna usually shows up on our monthly meal rotation a few times a month. This tomato sauce is so simple and oh so delicious! Here is the recipe and processing time I use, but I have simplified it and will share those tips below.
I found that processing tomato sauce took forever! Like literally the entire day. I decided to simplify this process by leaving the skins on my tomatoes, not running them through a sieve, and baking my tomatoes before blending. Then I finish up on the stove before canning. It still takes a bit, but when baking, I do not have to babysit the tomatoes constantly, which frees up some time to work on other things.
Simplified quick steps
- Line multiple baking trays (I used 4 for the recipe above).
- Wash and prep all vegetables.
- Remove the cores of the tomatoes and quarter and place onto baking sheet in a single layer.
- Roughly chop other vegetables and place them onto the baking sheet as well.
- Add spices.
- Bake for 90 minutes on 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from the oven, let cool and blend.
- Pour blended sauce into a dutch oven or large pot and heat.
- Add your sauce, per recipe instructions, to your jars. Don’t forget to wipe the rims before placing your lids.
- Process jars in a pressure canner, cool for 12-24 hours, check seals, and store away until ready to use.
Freezing Tomatoes
Freezing tomatoes is a simple way to preserve tomatoes if you do not have a canner. In all honesty, I have found that my tomatoes come out pretty watery when freezing, so it is best to only freeze tomatoes that you will be using in soups, chilis, things like that. Here is a simple guide to properly freezing tomatoes.
The basic process to freeze tomatoes are to wash the tomatoes, removing skins (if desired), core the tomatoes, package and freeze. It’s really simple.
Conclusion
Preserving tomatoes is super simple! And it is so nice to have delicious tomatoes to use in the winter months when you can’t have your fresh tomatoes from the garden.
Enjoy!
