So August has hit and your tomatoes are starting to turn. It’s such an exciting time, but…. What do you do with too many tomatoes?!
Whether your garden is overflowing or you scored a great deal at the farmers’ market, these versatile fruits (yes, fruits!) offer endless possibilities. From preserving their summer-fresh flavor to creating delicious meals, here are some tasty and practical ways to use up your tomato surplus.
Preserve the Flavor
First up, preserve your tomatoes for later use, I feel like a lot of food preservers get their start with tomatoes! Tomatoes are very versatile fruits that lend themselves to most preservation methods, let’s talk about ideas for each.
Canning
Of course, canning is a great way to utilize too many tomatoes. Since there are inconsistent pH levels in tomatoes, they must be acidified first, then hot water bath canned or pressure canned.
A list of canning options includes:
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Crushed tomatoes
- Tomato apple chutney, served with cheeses or meats
- Creole sauce, a sauce ready to make a quick weeknight fish meal
- Dilled green tomatoes
- Bloody mary mix
- Tomato juice
- Tomato soup
- Salsa
- Beans, greens and tomato soup
- Ketchup, simple, but very useful
Fermenting
Tomatoes are a great introduction to fermentation.
- My all time favorite is fermented salsa! A really simple 2-3 day ferment.
- Also try fermented cherry tomatoes
Freezing
I typically do not freeze tomatoes, I tend to reserve my freezer space for other things. However, you can do one of two things.
- Freeze whole, washed tomatoes for processing and canning when your entire crop is ready. This works great and I do it every season! See my video here about freezing tomatoes before canning.
- Alternatively, you can freeze quartered tomatoes for chilis and other soups or stews.
- Freeze sauce, paste and the like, just like you would can them.
Dehydrating
Another timeless option is sun-dried tomatoes. Or simpy, dehydrated tomatoes in olive oil.
As you can see the options to preserve tomatoes are really endless. Now let’s talk about recipes that you can eat tonight with your fresh vine ripened tomatoes.
Tomato Harvest Recipes
- Avocado Toast with Tomatoes
- Calzones with Marinara
- A great accompaniment to any pasta, or pesto dish
- Bruschetta
- Gazpacho
- Tomato Galette
- Caprese salad (hint: use burrata, not mozzarella – I learned this from my cousin’s wife who is from Italy, and oh my gosh, so good!)
- Bruschetta
- BLT – (extra crisp) bacon, lettuce and tomato on really good sourdough bread
- Shakshuka
- Or just eat them whole with a pinch of salt and really good balsamic vinegar, yum!
And honestly, so many more that this list could go on forever. Since tomatoes can be sweet, tart, tangy, smokey and balanced, they really are versatile and go in dishes around the globe.
So what’s your favorite way to tackle too many tomatoes?!