Welcome To The Shakin 'N Bakin Blog!

Welcome to my blog! I love to cook and bake for my family. I hope you enjoy the recipes, foodie reviews, foodie giveaways and cooking tips posted on my blog.

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Friday, July 26, 2013

How to Freeze Cherry Tomatoes for Later Use

Every year we get an abundance of small red cherry tomatoes...more than we can possibly eat and last year I started freezing them and canning them for use during the late Fall and Winter months. Many people think that you can't freeze tomatoes and that is simply untrue!

Here is how I freeze my cherry tomatoes.

Wash and air dry your cherry tomatoes, making sure to remove any stems and tossing out any damaged tomatoes. Once they have been completely dried...lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet or cookie sheet. Place them into the freezer and freeze for several hours. Freezing them like this first will help them to not stick together later.

Once they are frozen solid (takes 3 to 5 hours) remove the tray from the freezer and place your cherry tomatoes in a freezer bag or freezer-safe plastic container. Make sure you label them properly before placing them back into the freezer.

We keep ours for up to 5 or 6 months frozen. When we need them, we partially thaw them and then use in various recipes...like homemade tomato soup, tomato juice, salsa recipes, barbecue sauce recipes, toss into vegetable soup or even into your favorite chili during the cooking process.

We do NOT toss ours onto salads as they come out a little too mushy from the freezing process, so we only use ours in recipes that need cooked tomatoes (soups, stews, sauces and juices). Enjoy!