What to Do With
Too Many Tomatoes

Freezing whole tomatoes is the lowest-effort preservation method available. No peeling, no blanching, no cooking. Toss them on a baking sheet, freeze until solid, then transfer to bags. The skin slips off effortlessly after thawing.

Sauce, soup, stew, and chili — any application where texture doesn't matter. Frozen whole tomatoes cook down beautifully. Not ideal for slicing or fresh eating after thawing.

Tomato sauce is the highest-return preservation project for a home grower. Simmer tomatoes down with olive oil, garlic, and salt, pass through a food mill, and freeze in portions. One pot of sauce from a 10-pound harvest will feed you through December.

Any paste or sauce variety — Roma, San Marzano, Striped Roman. But any tomato works. Mix varieties for a more complex flavor. The food mill removes skins and seeds automatically, so no peeling required.

Water bath canning uses boiling water to create a vacuum seal in glass jars. Properly canned tomatoes are shelf-stable for 12 to 18 months. It requires more equipment and attention than freezing, but the result is a pantry that feeds you all year without using freezer space.

Whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Tomatoes are borderline acidic for water bath canning — always add lemon juice or citric acid to every jar to ensure safe acidity levels. This is not optional.

Slow-roasting tomatoes in the oven with olive oil and salt concentrates their sugars and deepens their flavor dramatically. The result is halfway between fresh tomato and sun-dried — deeply flavorful, slightly caramelized, endlessly versatile. Freeze on sheet pans and store in bags.

Works brilliantly with any variety, but especially with plum and cherry tomatoes. Excellent for pasta, pizza, bruschetta, grain bowls, and egg dishes. The roasting liquid in the pan is liquid gold — don't discard it.

Dehydrating removes moisture from tomatoes until they are leathery (semi-dried) or fully dried and brittle. Dehydrated tomatoes are intensely flavorful and store at room temperature in airtight containers for up to a year. A food dehydrator is the most reliable method — oven drying works but is slower and uses more energy.

Plum and paste varieties for classic sun-dried style. Cherry tomatoes dehydrate beautifully and become intensely sweet. Use in pasta, pizza, salads, grain dishes, and as a snack. Rehydrate in warm water or olive oil for 30 minutes before use.

Lacto-fermentation uses naturally occurring bacteria on the surface of tomatoes to preserve them in a saltwater brine. The result is a tangy, complex, probiotic-rich product with a flavor profile that's completely different from any other preservation method. Think: bright, funky, alive. Cherry tomatoes ferment exceptionally well.

Cherry tomatoes, small paste tomatoes, or diced larger varieties. Fermented tomatoes are excellent as a condiment, on eggs, in grain bowls, alongside cheese, or eaten straight from the jar. Store in the fridge for up to 6 months once fermentation is complete.