17 Garden-Fresh Tomato Recipes That Showcase This Garden Staple (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with lots of fresh tomatoes? ›

Storing and Handling Guidelines

Tomatoes stored at refrigeration temperatures below 41 °F will have approximate shelf life of 5 days. Tomatoes stored at temperatures under 75 °F will have approximate shelf life of 1 to 2 days. Storing tomatoes above 75° F is not recommended.

Tomatoes may be frozen raw or cooked, whole, sliced, chopped, or puréed. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched before freezing. Frozen tomatoes are best used in cooked foods such as soups, sauces and stews as they become mushy when they're thawed.

Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes insanely easy to peel!

Watering tomato plants every day will prevent them from developing a strong root system and sitting in wet soil is an invitation for root rot and other soilborne diseases.

Water newly planted tomatoes well to make sure soil is moist and ideal for growing. Early in the growing season, watering plants daily in the morning. As temperatures increase, you might need to water tomato plants twice a day. Garden tomatoes typically require 1-2 inches of water a week.

And here's the other thing to know: The refrigerator is not great for tomatoes—it can degrade their texture and dampen their flavor—but it's far more harmful to lower-quality and underripe tomatoes than it is to truly ripe, delicious ones.

If the tomatoes are not yet ripe, they are best stored on the counter for a few days until they ripen. (You'll know they're ripe when they're fragrant and give a little bit to the touch.) Once they're ripe, either consume them or go ahead and put them in the refrigerator to preserve their freshness.

What do I do with too many fresh tomatoes? ›

Freeze 'em

It's a great way to preserve them when you have too many tomatoes. If you are planning on using them for a sauce or stew later, freezing whole raw tomatoes is a fine way to preserve them without putting the work in up front to cook them.

The standard size of these buckets allows for at least two tomato plants per bucket. This makes them an efficient use of space in small gardens or balcony spaces.

Canning tomatoes are the classic way of turning fresh, ripe tomatoes into something you can enjoy all year long. Whole peeled tomatoes are perfect for turning into sauces, using on pizzas, and adding into stews. All you need is tomatoes, a large pot, sealable jars, and some time.

The fridge is your friend, not your foe in this scenario. Supermarket tomatoes have already been refrigerated in their journey to you, so a little more chill-out time won't hurt them. And unless you're eating them immediately, ripe, locally grown tomatoes will also last longer in the fridge; eat within a few days.

Levy recommends storing ripe tomatoes upside down (stem-side down) on paper towels in an open container such as Tupperware, a shoe box, or a cardboard flat. Ripe tomatoes should last for a few days, but we recommend eating them as soon as possible.

How to substitute fresh tomatoes in place of canned or purees - Quora. All your really need to do here is skin your tomatoes and cook them down a bit longer than you would with canned. To skin them, just cut a small x in the bottom of each tomato (only needs to cut through the skin, not too deep).