How to Freeze Tomatoes

Learning how to freeze tomatoes is one of the easiest ways to preserve a windfall of tomatoes—no blanching or peeling required! Just freeze and go. The tomatoes that come out of the freezer work perfectly in place of canned tomatoes in soups, stews, and casserole dishes.
Freezing tomatoes is also perfect for when you are trying to stockpile enough tomatoes for canning. As you harvest tomatoes, pop them in the freezer, and once you have enough for a batch of tomato puree or spaghetti sauce, you bring them out and get to canning! Let’s freeze some ‘maters!
How to freeze tomatoes

Step 1: Prepare the tomatoes for freezing.
Prepping your tomatoes for freezing is way less labor-intensive than preparing for canning tomatoes. After you give them a rinse and pat them dry, there’s only one step! Grab a small, sharp knife and cut around the top of the tomato at an angle to remove the core at the stem end. That’s it!
Protip: No need to peel the tomatoes!
Freezing makes it super easy to get the skins off when it is time to cook, so why spend the time trying to peel them beforehand? Instead, when you are ready to use your frozen tomatoes, just rinse them in water for about 10 seconds, and the peels should slip right off!
Step 2: Flash-freeze the tomatoes.
Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and freeze until solid.
Step 3: Transfer to freezer containers or bags.
There are lots of ways to store your frozen tomatoes! Here are four of my favorites:
- Glass Food Storage Containers—While these take up a fair amount of space, they are reusable and stack nicely in a chest or upright freezer.
- Glass Canning Jars—While I often use straight-sided mason jars (these are the safest for freezing!) to freeze fruits and vegetables, they aren’t my favorite for freezing regular tomatoes whole. Because bigger tomatoes like Romas don’t pack well in a jar, there is just too much air space left in the jars to retain the tomato quality. This would work well for cherry tomatoes, though!
- Zip-top Freezer Bags—Freezer bags are easy to find, affordable, and save a lot of space compared to glass. But they are also a single-use plastic, so I try to balance out my bag use with some of the reusable glass containers.
- Vacuum Sealing Bags—This is by far the most space-efficient storage option for frozen tomatoes, though you will need to buy a vacuum sealer first.
Want to save this recipe?

How long do frozen tomatoes last?
Without vacuum sealing, you’ll want to use your tomatoes within about 8-12 months. If you have vacuum sealed your maters, you can get as much as 2-3 years out of them!
When you’re ready to thaw the tomatoes, just place them in a bowl on the counter or in the fridge and let thaw. The skins will slip right off, and you can then dice or smash the tomatoes to use them. Make sure to toss the juice into whatever you are making—that’s packed full of flavor!
Can I use them frozen?
Sure can! There are lots of recipes where you don’t even need to thaw the tomatoes before using them! Just run the frozen tomatoes under cool water for about 10 seconds to slip off the skins, and then toss them whole (and still frozen) into soups, stews, or sauces. Depending on how you’re cooking them, the tomatoes may fall apart, or you might need to smash them with a spoon or potato masher.

How to use frozen tomatoes:
Now that your freezer is stocked with vine-ripened tomatoes, let’s put them to good use. We love tossing them in wherever you’d use canned tomatoes. Here are some of our favorite options:
- Turkey Taco Chili. Frozen tomatoes work perfectly in place of the canned diced tomatoes in our turkey taco chili recipe.
- Instant Pot Jambalaya. Skip the diced tomatoes in this pressure cooker recipe, and instead drop in your frozen tomatoes.
- Easy Vegetable Beef Soup. This pantry staple soup is a great use for frozen tomatoes.
- Dairy-Free Tomato Basil Bisque. This tomato bisque recipe is a perfect option for easy packed lunches.
- Creamy Taco Pasta Skillet. This weeknight dinner is a kid-favorite in our house!
- Canning Tomatoes. Freezing tomatoes is also great for stockpiling enough to can. We love using frozen tomatoes when Canning Tomato Sauce and Canning Spaghetti Sauce.

How to Freeze Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds tomatoes
Instructions
- Rinse the tomatoes under cool water and pat dry. Use a sharp knife to core the tomatoes.
- Spread the tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze until solid.
- Transfer the tomatoes to freezer containers and bags, and freeze until use.
Many links on this site are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from your qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.