34 Tomato Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (2024)

FAQs

What to make with an abundance of tomatoes? ›

Overripe tomatoes are perfect for sauces and soups as their softer texture is easily masked when blended with other flavors. You could also roast them and use it as a side dish.

Fresh tomatoes contain an abundance of liquid, and a can of tomatoes contains more juice than solids; draining simply jump-starts the flavor concentration process since the tomatoes will break down and create a thickened sauce much faster when not swimming in liquid from the start.

Tomatoes go with everything! Toss cherry tomatoes or halved slicers on the grill and serve as a side dish. Make a mixed tomato salad, caprese, or bruschetta. Chopped fresh tomatoes plus some fresh basil and crumbled feta is a perfect no-cook summer pasta topping — dinner's ready in a flash and tastes amazing.

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.

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.

Don't Refrigerate Tomatoes

The standard rule is to keep tomatoes out of the refrigerator. It all comes down to science: It's in the genes: Tomatoes contain an enzyme that reacts to cold temperatures, causing the cell membranes to break down and leaving you with a piece of fruit that's mushy and mealy.

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.

Ultra Epsom Salt treatments at the beginning of their planting and throughout their seasonal life can help to prevent and remedy magnesium deficiency in your tomato plants. Simply add one or two tablespoons of Epsom salt for tomatoes to the area before planting seeds or transplants.

How do you get the highest yield on tomatoes? ›

Tomato plants love the sun, so you'll get the best results by growing them somewhere with as much direct sunlight as possible. While tomato plants can survive on 6 hours of direct sun per day, they'll be happiest with 7–8 hours.

Avoid cooking acidic foods like tomatoes, vinegar-based sauces, and wine in carbon steel pans as they can damage the pan's seasoning. Sugary and strongly flavored foods should also be avoided to maintain the quality of the cookware. Delicate proteins and frozen foods are better off cooked using other kitchen tools.

Look for plump tomatoes with smooth skin and a sweet smell. They should feel slightly firm. Avoid buying tomatoes that are mushy, bruised or have broken skin.

The water activity (0.99), nutrients and pH (4.2-4.8) of tomatoes support the growth of Salmonella spp. at temperatures above 5°C (41°F).

The easiest way to preserve tomatoes is to freeze them. You don't need to blanch them, you don't need to peel them. Just rinse, dry, core, and put them on a small tray or plate in the freezer.

Make Pesto or Chimichurri

One of our top recipes to use up lots of vegetables: Roast a whole sheet pan of root vegetables (such as sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets), then drizzle with a punchy sauce using the leafy greens, fresh herbs, and olive oil.

Tomatoes contain a large amount of malic acid and citric acid, which will trigger gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In addition, eating too many tomatoes can also cause other gastrointestinal problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).