Graceful Little Honey Bee

10 Ways to Use Tomatoes

by 15 Comments

If your a gardener, then you probably have a widow sill or two piled high with ripe red tomatoes right now. And if your like me and don’t really have enough to can, then you might be wondering how your going to use them all up before they get too mushy!
 
Today, I’m gonna make a list of ways (as motivation and a reference for myself mostly) to use them up.
10 Ways to Use Tomatoes
 
1. Give them away!Gardeners are notorious for being extra generous. 😉
 
2. Slice a few up at every meal and add a little salt. Delicious.
 
3. Make BLTs. This is one of my FAVORITE ways to eat homegrown tomatoes.
 
4. Crush and simmer on the stove until you have tomato sauce for pizza or pasta. Add Italian seasoning and your good to go!
 
5. Mix some cherry tomatoes in with a pasta salad (or green salad, or potato salad, or any kind of salad!)
 
6. Make Salsa. Enough said.
 
7. Slice and let dry on the dash of your car for sun dried tomatoes. 
 
8. Freeze them to enjoy later! (Instructions here.)
 
9. Make stuffed tomatoes. Hollow out and make mixture of rice, peppers, cheese, corn or what ever you like.
 
10. If you have enough, can them! There are MANY ways to can tomatoes: whole, diced, stewed, crushed, as a sauce, as soup, etc. (Instructions here.)
 I hope you’ve enjoyed this!
Well, I’m off to make lunch (full of tomato-ey goodness, of course.)
 
What are you favorite ways to use tomatoes?
 

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  1. make sauce! My italian grandmother had a huge garden full of tomatoes and she would make and can sauce and give away to us :-) LOVED IT!

    Also we would just sit on her back porch a salt shaker in one hand and a huge tomato in the other and snack on her tomatoes :-)

    I had no idea thats how you made sun dried tomatoes!!!
    Reply

    • I've never tried drying tomatoes this way, but it's an alternative if you don't have a dehydrator and you don't want bugs eating them. Your car may end up smelling like tomatoes though. :)
      Reply

  2. Great list! We use most of ours up faster than they produce, lol! And that is because we do most of the things on your list! :) We are always making fresh salsa! This would be great to share at our link party - Home is Where the Heart is! :) http://www.homesteadsimple.com/home-is-where-the-heart-is-link-it-up-wednesdays-1/
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  3. well done love! i am a big fan of summer caprese salads as well as panzanella salad. i also tend to make a ton of bruschetta with my summer tomatoes. i had planned on planting 6 extra plants this year so i could can baby can! unfortunately we've decided to move to another city = no tomatoes this year. bah! thank goodness for farmer's markets!

    As Erika did above, I'd like to invite you to another linky party...I am co-hosting a new linky party called Fresh Foods Wednesday - i would love it if you'd come share this post (or any other CSA collections, farmer's market hauls, garden harvests, seasonal recipes or related food rants) with us. Hope to see you there!
    Reply

  4. Great list! We have a ton of green ones so far, and it won't be long until we're over run. I'd love to can some but not sure if I will yet. I do know I will be making as much fresh pizza and pasta sauce as I can and I will be freezing it for later use!
    Reply

  5. I love love love tomatoes. Actually me and my kids love tomatoes all summer. The ones from your garden taste so amazing. We make quite a bit of tomato salad.. I have 29 plants going right now lol. My cousin thinks I will be canning 500 quarts of tomato sauce haha..
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  7. I don't have a garden this year, but I plan to attempt it again next year! I have an easier way to freeze tomatoes. I just cut out the cores and put them in a freezer bag. I lay them flat until the tomatoes are frozen, then the bags can be stacked. During the winter, I pull out a tomato or two to add to chili, spaghetti sauce, goulash, or whatever my family is craving. Just run warm water over the tomato and gently rub the skin off. Then add it to the pot...the tomatoes break apart in the sauce and add the same garden-fresh flavor as during the summer!
    Reply