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Home » Food

Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

Modified: Jan 14, 2023 by Vanessa Beaty · This post may contain affiliate links · 22 Comments

It’s that time again – time to drag out the old canner and get started putting up foods for winter.

tomatoes diy preservation

Even if you have never canned a day in your life, we have some great recipes and methods for you to try.

Our list of tomato canning methods gives you loads of easy ways to store those tomatoes even if you don’t have a canner or prefer not to do your own canning and preserving.

Jump to:
  • Canning Tomatoes the Old-Fashioned Way
  • Freezing Tomatoes for Future Use
  • Freezing Cherry Tomatoes
  • Make Tomato Paste
  • Easy Sun-Dried Tomatoes
  • Make Your Own Ketchup
  • Can Tomatoes without a Canner
  • Freeze Your Own Herb Tomato Sauce

Canning Tomatoes the Old-Fashioned Way

If you have tomatoes coming out of your ears from a full garden or even if you just want to purchase a bushel or so from your local farmer’s market, learning to preserve or “put them up” for winter is a great way to keep fresh foods in your home even when the weather outside turns frightful.

Choose your favorite canning method or if you have one that we haven’t listed, let us know about it. We’d love to hear your favorite way of preserving foods.

Canning Tomatoes the Old-Fashioned Way - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter


Canning can be very fun and very rewarding. Because tomatoes contain natural acids, they don’t have to be pressured canned. Instead, you can use a water bath canner which is much easier.

You just have to be sure that you prep your tomatoes and your jars and lids before you begin.

Once you have the tomatoes and jars ready, you just need to add a little lemon juice and a pinch of salt to the jars before you add the tomatoes. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and place the lids on.

Be sure that you leave enough room at the top for sealing.

Boil your tomatoes in a water bath canner for about 40 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts.

When your time is up, just remove the jars and ensure that all of them sealed correctly. Just push on the center of the lid. If it is properly sealed, it won’t budge.

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You can store your home-canned tomatoes in a dark area for up to one year so you can enjoy them until it’s time to can again next year.
Techniques and recipes - Momprepares

Freezing Tomatoes for Future Use

Freezing Tomatoes for Future Use - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

If you don’t have a canner or you prefer to freeze your foods, you can easily freeze tomatoes. You can skin the tomatoes before you freeze them by simply dropping them into a pan of boiling water.

Cut a small slot in the bottom of each before boiling them. You will notice that the skins begin to split once the water starts to boil. When this happens, just remove them from the boiling water and drop them in cold water to stop them from cooking any further.

The skins will simply slide off.

Once you have the skins removed, you can cut the tops off and remove the seeds if you want. If you are working with larger tomatoes, you may want to cut them into quarters.

This is entirely up to you. You can simply cut them up and add them to freezer bags or if you want stewed tomatoes, you can just cook them in boiling water for about 15 minutes. Cool them thoroughly before adding them to your freezer bags.

As you add the tomatoes, be sure that you squeeze out as much air as possible so that they taste better when you use them in the future.
Techniques and recipes Canyoufreeze - Deepsouthdish and Makeithomemade

Freezing Cherry Tomatoes

Freezing Cherry Tomatoes - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

Cherry tomatoes are so small that it really makes little sense to peel them. Instead, you can simply freeze them whole just as they are.

This is a really fast process that does not require blanching and freezing them whole helps to retain the nutrients that are found in the skins.

To freeze cherry tomatoes – or other smaller types of tomatoes- just wash and dry them thoroughly and lay them out on a cookie sheet.

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Place the entire cookie sheet filled with tomatoes into your freezer for just a couple of hours until the tomatoes are frozen solid.

Laying them out like this eliminates the risk of them freezing together into clumps. When they are frozen through, just add them to a gallon-sized freezer bag or other freezer container and you are finished. You can freeze tomatoes for up to a year at a time and enjoy them anytime you want.

Techniques and Recipes - Gardenbetty

Make Tomato Paste

Make Tomato Paste - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

Tomato paste is a kitchen essential for many dishes and although it is not terribly expensive in stores, there is nothing better than your own homemade tomato paste when preparing tasty foods in the kitchen. Tomato paste is also very easy to make and can be frozen for up to six months or so before the taste begins to change.

To make your own tomato paste, just peel tomatoes and remove the seeds.

Chop into relatively small pieces so that they will break down easier. If you want a rich tomato flavor, you can actually leave the seeds and peelings intact although you will need to strain them through a sieve before you freeze or can.

Cook the tomatoes over medium to low heat and add half a teaspoon of salt for every 5 or so tomatoes that you are going to cook.

You just have to continue cooking until you get a pasty consistency. Once you see this, you can cool the tomatoes and add them to ice cube trays for freezing. Once they are frozen, simply remove them from the trays and store them in a freezer bag.

Techniques and Recipes - Thekitchn

Easy Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Easy Sun Dried Tomatoes - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

You don’t necessarily have to have a dehydrator to make your own sun-dried tomatoes.

You can use an oven or allow them to dry out in sunlight. By adding a few spices such as oregano, salt, thyme, and basil, you can make delicious dried tomatoes and the process is much easier than you may think.

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Whatever method you use to dry out your tomatoes, you will need to ensure that you scar the underneath side of the core and cut the tomatoes either in half or in quarters.

Remove as many seeds as possible without disturbing the pulp and then add your spices.
It takes about 12 hours to dry tomatoes in the oven or about 8 hours in a dehydrator. If you want to dry them out in direct sunlight, make sure that humidity levels are low.

You will need 3 days for drying time and you need to have a place where the tomatoes can lay in direct sunlight without actually laying on the ground. Be sure to arrange them so that each one gets plenty of sunlight and turn them after the first day and a half to ensure that both sides get plenty of drying time.

Techniques and Recipes - Food.com

Make Your Own Ketchup

Make Your Own Ketchup - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

Making ketchup is a bit more complicated than simply canning or freezing tomatoes but it is not so difficult that you can’t do it. You will need to remove the skins from the tomatoes by first boiling them and soaking them in ice water.

This ensures that skins slip off easily. Once you have the skins off, you will need to remove the seed and squeeze each tomato portion to ensure that excess water comes out.

You can actually save the liquid that you get from the tomatoes for use as tomato juice or simply throw it out.

Ketchup requires a few seasonings and you can add them with your tomatoes to a pot of boiling water or simply put them in cheesecloth and add that to the pot.

Add in onions, sugar, and a few other key ingredients and simmer and allow your ketchup to thicken. You can preserve ketchup in a water bath canner and store it for later.

Techniques and Recipes - Pickyourown

Can Tomatoes without a Canner

Can Tomatoes without a Canner - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

So, you want to preserve those tomatoes but don’t have a canner? Believe it or not, not everyone who cans tomatoes actually uses a canner. You can do it without one. You will need to peel the tomatoes which is a simple process.

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You simply have to boil them for a few minutes and then drop them in ice water to loosen the skins. Once you have done this, fill your sanitized jars to within about ½ inch of the rim.

You can then fill the jars with boiling water, and a little lemon juice to add acidity, and then clean off the rim and place the lid. You should ensure that there are no air bubbles so use a spoon to move the air out before putting the lid in place.

Instead of a canner, you can simply use a large stockpot that will act as a water bath canner which is the perfect way to preserve tomatoes. Just boil the tomato filled jars for about 85 minutes and they should seal perfectly.

Techniques and Recipes - Prudentbaby

Freeze Your Own Herb Tomato Sauce

Freeze Your Own Herb Tomato Sauce - Top 8 Most Popular Ways to Preserve Tomatoes for Winter

Whether you prefer canning or freezing, you can easily make your own herb-flavored tomato sauce that will be delicious on those snowy evenings. You just have to peel the skins from the tomatoes, remove the seeds and chop the tomatoes into relatively small pieces.

The sauce has olive oil, garlic and onions along with tomatoes and your favorite herbs and only has to cook for about two hours before processing.

If you are planning to can your sauce, be sure that you follow instructions for canning tomato sauce that contains oil.

A water bath canner is not safe for products containing oil so if you want to can these, you will need to use a pressure canner.

You can, however, freeze the sauce by simply putting it in freezer bags or containers after it has cooled. Be sure to leave about ½ inch from the top of any container when filling and date all of your frozen foods so that you know when you preserved them.

Techniques and Recipes - Simplebites

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  1. Florence

    July 03, 2015 at 7:38 am

    i loved this pin

    Reply
  2. Oluwatobiloba

    September 13, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    I need more methods

    Reply
    • Janet Parrott

      July 11, 2020 at 4:32 pm

      Fermenting tomatoes is super easy and great way to preserve them!

      Reply
  3. Darlene

    September 29, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    Why do you need to put lemon juice in canned tomatoes don't they already have enough acid?

    Reply
    • RHIll

      July 24, 2016 at 8:44 pm

      Just my opinion, of course,but you don't, unless if course you're using a low-acid variety of tomato. Then you definitely would. Some people add the lemon with regular red tomatoes as an extra precaution, but I've been canning tomatoes successfully for almost 50 years and never used lemon. I also use half the salt (1/2 tsp per quart). We Americans always seem to salt things too much. You can always adjust it in whatever you're cooking, so why start with all that salt in the jar?

      Reply
  4. samuel ugoagha

    October 09, 2015 at 9:06 pm

    how can i preserver a larger quantity tomato for commercial purposes

    Reply
    • TzuMama

      July 31, 2016 at 5:58 pm

      Use half gallon jars and get yourself one BIG canner...

      Reply
      • Nancy Fuqua

        August 02, 2019 at 2:33 am

        How long should you can tomatoes in half gallon jars cold water bath canner

        Reply
  5. Kaakyire

    December 20, 2015 at 9:54 am

    Without freezing how can I do this in large quantities

    Reply
    • Mary

      September 02, 2020 at 11:15 pm

      How to save tomatoes in large amount in container with salt for all winter?

      Reply
  6. mD SHAHANEWAZ MILON

    December 24, 2015 at 7:20 am

    I WANT TO BEST TOMATO FREEZING METHOD FOR UN SEASON,

    Reply
  7. faustina

    January 03, 2016 at 7:26 am

    can I preserve tomato by grinding it with pepper, onion and ginger,,,, then boil it till it dry and then leave it in the pot for weeks....can it be preserved that way?....I don't want to pit in refrigerator

    Reply
    • AWOLU THEO

      January 31, 2016 at 7:28 am

      Can i preserve pepper the same method with tomato?

      Reply
      • Phelix

        October 21, 2016 at 8:05 pm

        the preservation of most vegetable crops goes hand in hand so peppers can also be preserved the same way though it is not as delicate as tomatoes

        Reply
  8. sheila farmer

    April 02, 2016 at 1:05 am

    sounds good

    Reply
  9. sheila farmer

    April 02, 2016 at 1:06 am

    sounds good love maters

    Reply
  10. Oloni Atinuke Folashade

    September 25, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    I need to learn how to package fresh tomatoes using traditional methods of packaging for the purpose of selling it. Who can help
    me with ideas

    Reply
  11. pada musa

    July 13, 2018 at 11:48 am

    i will seriously want to learn more about canning tomatoes
    in a more larger quantity
    how long it can last
    an can it be done in a more conventional method

    Reply
  12. Stephanie

    November 20, 2018 at 5:22 pm

    Thank you for the instruction and rationale. I was also wondering why lemon juice was needed. But it's not.

    Reply
  13. obieze OKORRO

    January 24, 2019 at 11:17 am

    Wonderful site ! I am more interested in preserving whole tomatoes at farmstead level for like a month.

    Reply
  14. Anonymous

    September 19, 2019 at 6:47 pm

    Put it in the freezer. Laughing

    Reply
  15. Tope

    January 18, 2020 at 6:19 am

    How can I get glass jar to buy in Nigeria

    Reply

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