How To Preserve Tomatoes

Do you have an overabundance of cherry or other tomatoes this year in your garden? It took mine a long time to start ripening, but when they did the overabundance was real! How to preserve cherry tomatoes was now on my “to do” list to save as many as possible!

In fact, other types of tomatoes on those plants were in need of preserving.

Enjoying cherry tomatoes on a salad or bruschetta have always been a favorite. But, there were too many to consume ripening in the garden.

How to Preserve Cherry Tomatoes

That became my focus…and quickly!

Roasted cherry tomatoes in olive oil and seasonings are always a favorite, but how could I expand what I do with them to have them last through the winter months.

Here’s My Ideas for Preserving Tomatoes–

1. Roast and Freeze them.

It was soooo easy to do and so here’s the recipe that I created–

Freezing Roasted Tomatoes

A fast and easy way to save the taste of roasted tomatoes to have for casseroles, soups, and bruschetta during the winter months.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course freezing vegeables

Cuisine American

Equipment

• oven
• baking sheets with sides
• parchment paper
• knife
• garlic press, optional
• basting brush
• ziplock storage bags or freezer containers

Ingredients

  

• cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half OR other tomatoes, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 C olive oil
• salt and pepper and other seasonings, if desired

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Line half sheet baking pans with sides, with parchment paper.
  
• Add olive oil and minced garlic to microwave safe container and heat for 30 seconds to infuse oil.

  Feel free to add fresh minced basil and other seasonings to infuse with the garlic.
  
• Cut cherry tomatoes in half and lay out on the parchment lined pan. If using larger tomatoes, slice in even slices.
  
• Drizzle infused oil or spread with silicone basting brush over the tomatoes.
  
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Roast for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven until tomatoes have caramelized and are roasted to desired consistency.
  
• At this point, you can add these beauties to bruschetta, salads, casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, risotto…you name it!
• If you want to add the roasted tomatoes to the freezer…continue reading!
• Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes.
  
• Once cooled, place the baking sheet into the freezer to freeze.
• When frozen, add them to a ziplock bag or freezer container and label and date.

  TIP: Adding parchment paper into between layers keeps tomatoes from sticking together.
  
• TIP: Consider what you will use the tomatoes for when roasting. If they will be added to an Italian dish or bruschetta, I add garlic and or basil when infusing the oil. To have just plain roasted tomatoes, leave out the garlic.

  Don't forget to label bags with what flavors were added when roasting so you will know which ones fit which recipes later when you are cooking.

Notes

A great way to save the flavors and bounty of the summer tomatoes to have for recipes during the winter months.

Add roasted tomatoes to:

Bruschetta, casseroles, risotto, pasta dishes, pizzas, soups, chili, and omelets. Enjoy!

TIP: Keep making the infused oil oil to brush on until all of your tomatoes have been roasted.

Keyword Freezer Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Freezing Cherry Tomatoes, freezing roasted tomatoes, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, roasting tomatoes

So many great uses for them! Be sure and label what seasonings you add to them when you roast them. You may want garlic added if making pasta, bruschetta, pizza or Italian dishes; while plain roasted cherry tomatoes might be better in soups and casseroles.

2. Simply add them to a Ziplock in the freezer.

I know! I had not done this either! I’m giving this one a try by flash freezing them and then adding the small cherry tomatoes to a freezer bag with the air removed. Make sure you label with date and fresh cherry tomatoes on the outside so you can see how to handle them. This will be my FIRST time attempting this…so I’ll let you know how it works when I pull out a few to use.

3. Make tomato juice out of those cherry tomatoes.

The juicer has been put away for the season so that won’t be how I preserve these cherry tomatoes;but, it certainly is a great way to preserve them if you have an overabundance of cherry tomatoes in your garden.

You can find my recipe for canning tomato juice here.

4. Marinara Sauce

If you have a lot of tomatoes, marinara is one of my favorite ways to preserve them. If you need the recipe, here you go!

5. Salsa.

That salsa recipe that I shared with you would be great added to jars and processed in a water bath canner according to the size jars that you are canning. OR you can add it to freezer containers.

Hope I have helped to answer that question of what to do with those tomatoes.

All of them make me happy!

Enjoy the last weeks of summer bounty…they are ending quickly for sure.

If you need to know what to do with those herbs in your herb garden, here are a few more ways to preserve them:

• Harvesting Herbs
• Harvesting Herb Seeds