My absolute favorite thing to grow is tomatoes. I love that there are literally thousands of varieties to try. I love the flavor of homegrown tomatoes – store bought tomatoes just cannot compare. I even love the smell of tomato plants – which don’t really smell very good, but I love them anyway. So, for canning tomatoes I use a no-waste approach.
I know most people will blanch tomatoes before canning them to remove the skins and they’ll remove most of the seeds. And that fine, that’s the “proper” way of canning tomatoes. For the most part, I’m anti-blanching and anti-peeling, because it takes so much longer and I don’t think the benefit is worth the effort. If you do, then by all means, blanch and peel.
When I first started canning tomatoes I blanched and removed seeds and it was fine until I had a big bowl full of “waste” at the end of the day. I decided then that I wasn’t growing tomatoes to use as compost or to feed the chickens, they were for my family.
The next year I tried to get away without peeling the tomatoes at all and just diced the tomatoes before canning them. That didn’t go over so well, and all year I heard complaints about the tomato skins. Tomato skins can be tough and a bit bitter, so while you don’t have to remove the skins before canning tomatoes. I suggest you do.
And I have super simple way of removing tomato skins and using them that doesn’t involve blanching.
How to Easily Remove Tomato Skins
When we bring our tomatoes inside, the first thing we do is cut the “belly button” off (most people call this the stem) and any bad parts and then cut the tomato in half if it’s large, if it’s a smaller paste tomato we leave it whole. We put the tomatoes in plastic gallon size ice cream pails or zip lock bags and put them in the freezer.
I do this for two reasons, the first is that it’s not always convenient to process the tomatoes when we get our biggest harvests, in fact, it is almost never convenient to process them at the height of harvest season. The second reason is that they are so much easier to peel once they have been frozen.
I take tomatoes out of the freezer the night before I’m going to can them. I put them in large bowls and pans and let them thaw out. The next morning I take the ones that are the most thawed and dump them out of the zip lock bags into a large roaster pan (I use this because my strainer is oblong and it fits into the lid of the roaster pan.)
The tomato peels come right off the thawed out tomato.
In the middle are the thawed tomatoes. I put the peels in a bowl (see photo below), the pulp in the strainer and I pour all the juice into a big pot.
I can the tomato juice separately to use in rice or soups. I like doing it this way so that I don’t have to let my spaghetti sauce or salsa cook down for hours. I have a friend who cooks down the juice all day to make it more concentrated. You can do whatever works best for you.
Eventually the peels go into the blender with a little of the juice and get turned into “sauce”. I add this to the spaghetti sauce or salsa that I’m making that day to help thicken it up a little.
You can also dehydrate the tomato peels and then blend them up into a powder; I do this with cherry tomatoes to get used in soups or rice, it’s super good.
The Ultimate Guide to Preserving Vegetables
If you you’re looking for more preserving inspiration, I know you’ll love The Ultimate Guide to Preserving Vegetables. In this book I share how to can, dehydrate, freeze and ferment almost every vegetable. I also share 100 favorite recipes for preserving the vegetables in fun way that will save you time and money later. Get your copy here. Get your copy here.
So there you have it, a way to use every bit of the summer goodness of tomatoes. How do you preserve summer goodness?
Menolly
Thursday 31st of March 2022
Hi, Ami ! I just bought your preserving guide on Amazon. I am just starting the pressure canning journey. I have a question about tomatoes in recipes. Because of a condition (diverticulitis) I can only eat strained tomatoes. Can we safely substitute an equivalent amount of Passata (or strained tomatoes) to the fresh tomatoes volumes in your recipes? Obviously I will still add the written amounts of acid listed in the recipes, treating it as if the passata/strained tomatoes were fresh. For example, your chicken cacciatore recipe calls for 6.1 kilos of peeled tomatoes. Can I use 6.1 kilos of Passata/Strained tomatoes instead?
Thank you! So many recipes call for tomato, and I love tomatoes, I just can't eat fresh ones.
God bless,
Menolly
Angi Schneider
Tuesday 5th of April 2022
Yes, you can strain the tomatoes. It will be just fine. Thanks for buying my book!
Melissa Jennings
Thursday 19th of July 2018
OMG! You're a lifesaver with these tips!! Talk about a timesaver!
I can my own spaghetti sauce (sans meat thus far), salsa, peppers & hot sauce & am trying your chili recipe this week! I finally bit the bullet & splurged on that pressure cooker/canner I have wanted for years!
I digress...these tips are wonderful! I canned 16 quarts of salsa last week when I had enough peppers to tomatoes from the garden. There was almost as much "waste" as there was "processed" tomatoes.
Thankfully, I already have a dehydrator that I rarely use & was feeling guilty about the $$ on the shelf gathering dust - not anymore! I plan on adding the peels to pesto, salad dressing (I also make my own), on pizzas, oh the plans I have now!! I'm super jazzed about it! I also have the FoodSaver system so storing the dehydrated peels will be super compact!
The main thing I'm so excited about is all the time saved by NOT coring, blanching, peeling & then freezing until I have everything from the garden to do whatever &/or whenever I feel up to it!
I have rheumatoid arthritis & a VERY bad back after a fall from my 2 story home's roof while cleaning gutters (in between husbands, raisin kid, working 4 jobs & still broke-yep, no child support :/. So yeah, when I think of all those huge pots of water I have hauled to & from the sink & stove alone, my joints feel much better! Then there's the time, again, I can't stress that enough! I have about 20 lbs of tomatoes in a FoodSaver bag in the freezer that I've already "processed". I intend to use them for your/my chili & when I think about all that waste, it all but makes me ill!!
I'm SO glad that I tripped upon your site whilst looking for a chili recipe for canning! I am definitely going to enjoy checking it ALL out, if for nothing else but to find neat little tips like this!
I promise to click into whatever I can to help support your efforts, time is NOT free, contrary to popular belief, especially when you still have kids at home! We're empty nesters (each of our second marriages) & added to my no longer being able to work, the garden, canning, freezing, dehydrating are very necessary. He plants, cares for & picks the garden & I do 98% of the rest. I have saved a ton of money over the past 8yrs, enough to pay for all of my "toys" meant to make it easier, lol.
Thanks again! I honestly think I love you! Hahaha but not in a creepy, stalker-like way, just adoration from a far!
Angi Schneider
Thursday 19th of July 2018
Melissa, you have made my day! Thank you so much for your sweet words, I can't tell you how much they mean to me. I hope your family likes the chili, it's so nice to have home canned soups available.
Debi King
Tuesday 15th of November 2016
Umm... I do that with orange peels too (scrape off most of the white, dry the peel and grind them up for flavouring cooking with, or pop them into rum with some sugar. Unfortunately I can't grow oranges here, hopefully we might move to a bigger place soon, can't wait to have a go at aquaponics
Angi Schneider
Tuesday 15th of November 2016
Thanks so much for sharing! We also do that with our citrus. I've been hearing good things about aquaponics, hope it goes well for you.
tessa
Thursday 9th of July 2015
I didn't know they were easier to peel after they'd been frozen! Thanks for the tip!
Suzi
Sunday 14th of September 2014
We dehydrate and grind up the peels too. I have never tried adding them to rice. I'll have to try that next time. I am thinking, to take the use of everything further, that when you cut them in half to freeze them, you can scoop out some seeds for replanting next year too.
Angi Schneider
Sunday 14th of September 2014
Great idea! We do keep seeds from our heirloom tomatoes but I usually do it when we're eating them fresh. They could easily be done when preparing for the freezer. Thanks for sharing!