There are loads of different ways to preserve tomatoes. I don’t know if there is another vegetable that is as versatile when it comes to canning as the homely tomato. While I may be largely falling out of love with gardening the more I raise my own meat, there are a few staples that I will always grow for storage and/or preserving. Onions and potatoes for storage, corn for freezing, and tomatoes for canning.
My Nana is the one who taught me how to make sauce several years ago, and to this day I still do it the way she taught me. Like pretty much everything else in my life, I have taken the foundations I was taught and expanded upon them. This has led me to new varieties of tomatoes as well as new preparations for me to preserve.
I preserve different tomato types in different ways depending on which they are best suited for. Some make better sauce, others hold their shape better for diced, whole peeled, etc. You will find what varieties you enjoy growing most and for what purpose. Like anything else worth doing, it’s as lot of work, but having shelves full of every type of tomato style you need in the dead of winter cannot be beat!
This post is not a “how to preserve” post that tells you how to can every different type. But, a post to highlight some different ways to preserve tomatoes. Hopefully this gives you some new ideas you have never tried before
Types of Preserves
- Sauce: I would say that this is the most versatile of ways to preserve tomatoes. For sauce, I reserve my family heirlooms for their tenderness, incredible sweetness and flavor, as well as paste types for added thickness. I can my sauce plain/unflavored that way I can use it for whatever I want. Spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, lasagna, goulash, ratatouille, soup, the possibilities are endless! Sometimes you want it spicy, sweet, or a little acidic. I don’t want to box myself into a flavor profile off the bat! Not to mention tomatoes are not the same year after year. Depending on the garden season’s weather, sometimes they’re naturally sweeter, other times they’re more acidic. There is no “one size fits all” recipe that will work year after year. Also, flavors develop as they sit on the shelf in the jar, and I may not like what I get. I prefer to incorporate fresh flavors after I’ve cracked that jar open and taste as I go depending on what I’m making.
- Diced: Another pantry staple for everyone, diced tomatoes come in handy for anything and everything (read versatile!). Rice dishes, slow cooked meats, soups, stews, or even a chunkier sauce can all use diced tomatoes. For these, a firmer tomato is ideal, as it will hold its shape during the dicing and canning process.
- Crushed: Now, this is where things get a little tough on distinction. Crushed versus puree, well, I don’t see the difference with store-bought . Some say crushed are chunkier, whereas puree is well, pureed! But, I have had my fair share of “crushed” tomatoes that are a distinct pureed consistency, much like my sauce. So in my world crushed = chunky. Whole peeled tomatoes, cooked down and pulverized with the potato masher into a chunky, yet soft consistency. Crushed can be used in many of the same dishes as diced, so I used the same tomatoes with a few family heirlooms thrown in the mix. The crushed aren’t as firm as the diced, and are a saucier consistency rather than the distinct diced tomato pieces. Think somewhere between a sauce and diced.
- Whole Peeled: Whole peeled definitely have their own place in certain dishes where you want the distinct whole tomato intact. I use mine in thick stews, pulled chicken, certain pasta dishes, and mexican rice. For whole, San Marzano or another type of paste tomato is ideal because they are firm, have minimal seeds and gel, and don’t break down when canning. They hold their shape and hold up well to all the handling and heat through the blanching and canning process. They are a pantry must!
- Salsa: Salsa is much more than just a delicious dip for tortilla chips. It can also be added to burrito bowls, as well as pulled chicken or turkey!
- Soup: I absolutely love tomato soup. Combined with grilled cheese in the dead of winter, it makes for one of my all time favorite comfort foods. I have a very particular taste for it though, and I don’t like it “vegetably”. For me, tomato basil soup is the only way to go. I have always made it in the middle of winter as I need it for dinner, but the problem always is I don’t have fresh basil in the middle of winter! Which means I have to go to the store for just basil (because everything else is a pantry staple!) which is just annoying. So this year I thought, why not make a big batch and can it now while basil is abundant and save the headache later? Well I did, and I am so glad I did!!
This is far from an all inclusive list of all the ways to preserve tomatoes. I didn’t even touch on dehydrating ( I don’t do it) but I know people are a huge proponent of it. Hopefully, I highlighted a different preserves you never thought to try before that you can experiment with this canning season!
Happy Preserving,
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