Dip tomatoes in boiling water for about 1 minute or until the skins split to peel easier. Place the whole tomatoes on clean cookie sheets and freeze. Once frozen, transfer the tomatoes from the cookie sheets into freezer bags or other containers. Seal tightly and freeze.
To successfully freeze fresh raw tomatoes, you can: Slice tomatoes into at least 1/2-inch slices. Put slices on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours. Remove slices and put them into freezer bags or containers.
Tomatoes can be frozen whole or diced, and raw or blanched.
Before freezing your fresh tomatoes, think about how you plan on using them as well as when you plan on using them. Raw tomatoes don't last as long as blanched tomatoes in the freezer.
Peel and Freeze the Tomatoes
If desired, halve, slice, or chop tomatoes (you can also freeze whole tomatoes). Spoon the tomatoes into freezer containers or bags, leaving 1-inch headspace. Seal and label the container or bag. Freeze for up to 10 months.
Lay the tomatoes out on a flat freezer-proof sheet, in a single layer and not touching, and place in your freezer. Once they're fully frozen, transfer your tomatoes to sealable plastic bags and return to the freezer where they'll keep for six months or more.
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! —and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like.
Make sure you keep the temperature of the freezer at 0°F or below to ensure proper freezing. Frozen tomatoes will retain their flavor for 12 months. This gives you plenty of time to thaw them to use in your favorite sauce, stew, or soup recipes.
Tomatoes can be frozen raw or blanched first. Freeze tomatoes by washing them, scoring them, and blanching them in boiling water. Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet in the freezer until completely frozen—typically a few hours. Then store the flash-frozen tomatoes in freezer bags or air-tight freezer containers.
Disadvantages to freezing tomatoes
Tomatoes lose their texture when thawed and get mushy. Freezing breaks down the pulp fibers (they contain water) and expands them when they freeze. The result is soft and watery. Freezing tomatoes reduces their flavor.
Peel and quarter tomatoes, then pulse in a food processor until crushed. Tomatoes can be frozen up to 6 months.
Recipes with Frozen Tomatoes
Because freezing and thawing tomatoes affects their texture, we don't recommend using them raw. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of delicious ways to enjoy them. Frozen tomatoes can be grated for instant pasta sauce or thawed completely, chopped, and added to soups, stews, or sauces.
After freezing and defrosting, the texture changes in a way that makes them less-than-ideal to eat raw. However, frozen tomatoes are excellent to use in soup, stew, sauce, chili, or for canning later.
Freezing is a terrific method to lock in the seasonal flavor and nutrients of tomatoes over several months. Tomatoes contain potassium and lycopene which have multiple health benefits such as a reduced risk of developing certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
Ripe tomatoes should still be kept at on your counter, uncovered, if you are going to enjoy the tomato in the next day or two. But any longer than that – the recommendation is to refrigerate. A so-so tomato is much better than a rotten, moldy tomato. Refrigeration will slow down the decay.
Store in the freezer for up to one year. To use the tomatoes, simply pull out as many as you need at a time and thaw them or put them frozen into your soup pot or crock pot. Use frozen whole tomatoes just like canned whole tomatoes in your recipes.
Do I need to add citric acid or lemon juice to frozen tomatoes? No you don't. While canning or bottling tomatoes require citric acid or lemon juice to acidify the tomatoes to be able to water bath preserve them safely, frozen tomatoes do not require this.
Tomatoes can be preserved by canning, drying, freezing, or pickling. They can also be used in creating fruit spreads like jams, jellies and marmalades. Raw tomatoes or raw tomato products can be kept refrigerated (below 40 degrees Fahrenheit), but will spoil over time due to bacteria, yeasts, and molds.
Pack tomatoes into two hot sterilised preserving jars (each 1 litre/4 cups), fitted with rubber rings. Combine juice, salt and sugar in small saucepan; bring to a boil. Slowly pour boiling juice over tomatoes until jars are filled to within 1cm of top; seal immediately with lids and clips.