How To Use The Extra Tomatoes From Your Garden
Produce gardens are a fantastic way to have fresh and delicious food at your fingertips all summer long. You can plant dozens of different fruits and vegetables, and tomatoes are one of the most popular and bountiful varieties you can grow. If you end up with more tomatoes than you can eat, you’ll want to find various ways to use them before they spoil.
If you have a lot of ripe tomatoes in your garden, consider freezing them to use later. You can also make salsa or pasta sauce and put your canning skills to good use. Using a dehydrator, you can make dried tomatoes or even tomato powder. Homemade tomato soup or juice is another great way to utilize tomatoes, or invite loved ones over to enjoy an Italian feast.
Having too many tomatoes is a great problem to have, but it’s also one you need to address quickly before these tasty fruits begin to rot. If you planted a lot of tomatoes and now find yourself with a large harvest, then keep reading. Below is a list of all the best ways to use your leftover tomatoes before they go bad.
Ways To Use And Preserve Tomatoes From Your Garden
1. Chop And Freeze
One of the fastest and easiest ways to prevent leftover tomatoes from going bad is to freeze them. This preserves their freshness while giving you weeks or months to consume them. There are many ways to freeze fresh tomatoes, but the easiest is to chop them, drain the excess liquid, and store in airtight freezer bags. Portion the chopped tomatoes so you can grab one bag at a time for soups, sauces, and stir-frys. Tomatoes are a fruit that can stay fresh for many months in the freezer.
2. Make Pasta Sauce
Pasta sauce is a great way to use tomatoes. You can put a nice amount of tomatoes in a single batch of sauce, and by using fresh ingredients, you are sure to have a delicious final product. If you love to make preserves, you can jar some of the sauce and keep it for months. Garden-made pasta sauce is also a great holiday gift, and something that can be enjoyed throughout the fall and winter.
3. Dehydrate Them
Drying is a process used for decades to preserve fresh produce for later use. If you own a dehydrator, consider using it to preserve some of your ripest tomatoes for later use. When you dehydrate tomatoes, you mimic the process used for classic sundried tomatoes, and will keeps your crop fresh for much longer.
4. Slow Roast
If you’re interested in freezing tomatoes but want to ensure they taste as delicious as possible when you use them months later, slow-roasting is a wonderful option. This method helps concentrate and shrink these fruits, removes excess liquid, and adds more robust flavors. After roasting tomatoes in the oven, let them cool, place them in airtight containers or bags and freeze for up to 6 months.
5. Shelf-Stable Salsa
Salsa is a fantastic way to use tomatoes, especially if you also have a lot of extra jalapenos. Fresh salsa makes a great dip and is the perfect accompaniment to a Mexican-themed dinner. It is also another great product for canning, if you have the skills and equipment. Homemade garden salsa is a perfect DIY gift to bring to a dinner party, especially around the holidays.
6. Tomato Jam
If you prefer sweet over spicy, tomato jam is a wonderful option. Popular in Portugal and Southern cuisine, tomato jam is a sweet-and-savory spread you can use in many meals. It involves pureeing and boiling down tomatoes until they are very concentrated, then adding sugar and other ingredients. Tomato jam lasts several weeks in the fridge, and you can also freeze it to extend its shelf life.
7. Tomato Paste
Tomato paste is a key ingredient in recipes, used to boost flavors, add umami notes, and thicken sauces. While it’s easy and cheap to purchase it, nothing beats the homemade variety. To make tomato paste, slowly simmer tomatoes and remove almost all the water. Once the paste is finished and cooled, you can freeze it in ice cube trays so you can have serving-size amounts of this fresh flavor booster ready to go.
8. Tomato Juice
Tomato juice might not be as popular as it was in the 1950s, but it still has appeal and many uses. It’s a healthy beverage to enjoy in the morning, and it is also the most important ingredient when making Bloody Mary cocktails. If you're consuming tomato juice or hosting a boozy brunch or holiday cocktail party in the near future, homemade tomato juice is a wonderful and easy way to use up some of your leftover garden tomatoes.
9. Tomato Powder
This is another great way to utilize and preserve fresh tomatoes for many months. To turn tomatoes into powder, fully dehydrate it. Once all moisture is removed, grind it into a fine powder. With tomato powder, you can make tomato paste or use it as a flavor enhancer in various soups and sauces. The powder can stay fresh for more than a year if properly stored.
10. Have An Italian Feast
Of all the cuisines in the world, Italian food relies heavily on tomatoes in many recipes, incorporating large quantities of this red fruit in salads, sauces, main courses, and even some desserts. If you love hosting gatherings at your home, use your surplus of tomatoes as an excuse to host a feast. You’ll be amazed at how many tomatoes will be used when hosting a large Italian-themed dinner party.
11. Gift Them Away
One of the easiest and most thoughtful ways to use your tomatoes is to give them away to friends and neighbors. Most people like tomatoes and will be very appreciative of these homegrown fruits. To elevate the gift, look for cheap baskets at thrift stores or online, and attach a recipe card with your favorite recipe that includes tomatos.
12. Tomato Salads
Summer is the season of salads. While many contain mostly lettuce and other greens, there are several tomato-based salads you can enjoy when you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with. Caprese and panzanella are two examples where the primary ingredient is tomatoes. Greek salads also feature a lot of tomatoes. Making these salads when you have a surplus of tomatoes is a great way to enjoy a healthy garden-to-table meal.
13. Fried Green Tomatoes
If you live somewhere with a short growing season, you're likely to have to pick a lot of tomatoes before they are ripe. While green tomatoes lack the sweet flavor and soft texture ripe versions, they still have various culinary uses. The tastiest way is to make fried green tomatoes. The high acidity and firm texture make unripe tomatoes perfect for battering and frying. Best of all, after frying the tomato slices and letting them cool, you can freeze them to eat later.
14. Soup
Make something you can enjoy in the winter and crave a comforting and warm food. Tomato soup is one of the best and most nourishing meals to enjoy on a cold winter’s day. You can make tomato soup with fresh tomatoes and herbs, and then freeze it for several months. It will taste just as refreshing when you heat it up months later.
Wrapping Up Ways To Use Leftover Tomatoes From Your Garden
As your vegetable garden begins peaking in late summer, you might find yourself with more tomatoes than you know what to do with. To preserve them for later use, you can freeze or dehydrate them. If you have canning skills, make fresh pasta sauce or salsa and give it as a gift.
You can also make homemade tomato paste or powder, juice, or even tomato soup. Consider hosting an Italian-themed dinner party to use leftover tomatoes and make fried green tomatoes with any underripe fruit.
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Tom Gaffey is an expert writer who currently resides in Washington D.C. Tom has a passion for real estate and home improvement writing, as well as travel and lifestyle writing. He lived the last twelve years in Hawaii where he worked closely with luxury resorts and event planners, mastering his knowledge of aesthetics and luxury products. This is where he found his passion for home improvement and a keen interest in DIY projects. Currently, Tom resides in Washington D.C, and also working on his debut fiction novel.
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