Freezing Tomatoes
People often talk about canning tomatoes but did you know you can freeze them, too? If like me, you’re more comfortable with freezing than canning, this is definitely a technique worth exploring. One of the benefits of this approach is that nothing is added to the tomatoes allowing the flavor to remain as close to that of a fresh tomato as possible.
Also, if you don’t mind having bits of tomato skin and seeds in your sauce, you can skip the blanching, peeling, and deseeding, and simply cut up and puree your tomatoes. The below process will take 2-3 hours depending on the amount you are freezing but will feel well worth it when enjoying those summer flavors in the middle of winter.
Process Steps
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat
- Fill a large bowl with ice water
- Wash the tomatoes and mark the bottom with an X using a sharp knife
- Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for 2 minutes
- Remove the tomatoes from the water with a slotted spoon and place in the bowl of ice water
- Once cooled, peel the tomatoes
- Remove the stem portion with a sharp knife
- Over a sink, pierce into the tomato with your fingers and remove the seeds. This step is optional and can be skipped if you don’t mind seeds in your tomato sauce
- Place the deseeded tomatoes in a blender and puree
- Distribute the puree into portion sized zip-lock bags or other freezer safe containers and store in the freezer
