How to Make Homemade Diced Tomatoes for Freezing

Marinara sauce. Tomato soup. Four-cheese lasagna like grandma used to make. 

Whatever your reasons for reaching for the tomatoes, you should know that homemade diced tomatoes for freezing can give you garden-fresh flavors at any time of year. 

The trick is properly preparing and stashing them so that they retain their taste, color, and aroma even after thawing. 

Here are just a few secrets for frozen diced tomatoes!

Why You Should Make Your Own Diced Tomatoes

The first thing to know about tomatoes is that certain types are better than others for dicing and freezing. Beefsteak tomatoes, for example, are the large kind that are sliced for hamburgers, and bush tomatoes are the crisp and juicy kind used for shish kabobs and salad wedges.

(Speaking of juicy, try making homemade tomato juice in your blender!)

For dicing, you’ll generally want to look at smaller, sweeter tomatoes that serve as base ingredients for things like sauces and stews. 

These include but aren’t limited to cherry tomatoes and Roma tomatoes.

You can buy diced tomatoes from the store if you don’t want to prepare your own. However, there are many benefits to doing it yourself, including:

• Better nutrition. Canned tomatoes often have chemical additives that act as preservatives. They can also be crawling with toxic materials like BPA. Avoid BPA and keep your pantry fresh and organic by preserving your own tomatoes!
• Increased self-sufficiency. If you’re a beginner in the kitchen, freezing basic staples like tomatoes can be your first step towards smarter, healthier eating.
• Less expensive. Canned foods can cost more than homemade foods because of labor, materials, supply chains, and more.
• Portion control. Only eat what you need when you prepare and freeze your own diced tomatoes. The grocery store won’t control your portion or recipe sizes. You will.
• Fresh ingredients at any time of year. Tomato season is typically from spring to fall. By freezing your bounty, however, you can enjoy ripe, tasty tomatoes even in the middle of December!

Another thing to note is that preparing diced tomatoes is quite simple. You only need a knife, a couple of pots and pans, and a storage container of some kind. 

You don’t even have to be a canner! It’s entirely possible to preserve diced tomatoes without canning them.

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How to Dice Tomatoes Quickly

Making diced tomatoes is relatively straightforward, and if you’re pressed for time, you can speed up the process even more by eliminating unnecessary steps. 

For example, while most recipes call for blanching the tomatoes to preserve their nutrients even after a freeze-thaw cycle, this isn’t actually required. 

Peeling them isn’t required, either. The easy way to dice tomatoes is simply to cut them up and toss them into an airtight container with their skins intact.

How to Make Homemade Diced Tomatoes

If you’re looking to preserve your fresh diced tomatoes, here are the basic steps for long-term storage:

1. Blanch them (optional). This is a two-step process that involves boiling them in hot water before plunging them into an ice bath. Not only will it help to preserve the vitamins and minerals in the tomatoes, but it will also make them quicker and easier to peel.
2. Peel them (only if you decide to blanch). If your tomatoes have been blanched, this will be a simple process. Just pinch the loose “skin” at the tops of the tomatoes and peel it down.
3. Dice them. You can use various knives and techniques to get the perfect sizes and shapes. Otherwise, just cut them up as you please; if they’re going to be simmered down into a stew anyway, their appearance doesn’t matter.
4. Freeze them. This will require an airtight container of some kind. You can use Mason jars, vacuum-sealed bags or pouches, or freezer-safe Tupperware containers.

Preparing Diced Tomatoes for Freezing

Wondering if you can freeze your fresh diced tomatoes? Absolutely! They’ll last anywhere from 6 – 12 months in your freezer in optimal condition, and even after that, they won’t technically go bad. 

They’ll just lose their texture until they become unsuitable for anything other than sauces and soups.

Another thing to consider is whether or not you want to cook your diced tomatoes before freezing them. This can be a good choice if you want something like ready-made salsa; if it’s already done, you can just grab it and reheat it. 

Cooking your diced tomatoes can also be a viable choice if you want to marinate or steep them in juices before stashing them away long-term.

In both cases, however, the shelf-life of frozen diced tomatoes is the same: 6 – 12 months. 

If you want them to stay crisp and garden-fresh, freeze chopped tomatoes and use them within the year.

How to Freeze Homemade Diced Tomatoes

There’s nothing to it. Just stick them in the freezer in an airtight container such as a tightly-lidded jar or a vacuum-sealed pouch. The “airtight” part is important since you don’t want moisture to escape the container and cause freezer burn.

You can also store diced tomatoes in the fridge, but they won’t last as long. You’ll have anywhere from 3 – 6 days before they start to go bad. If you pick them up and they’re soft, smelly, or leaking fluids, they’re no good anymore.

Need Ideas for Using Your Diced Tomatoes?

There are countless recipe ideas for diced tomatoes, but here are just a few favorites for finger-licking goodness.

Using Frozen Diced Tomatoes in Soup

Diced tomatoes can be the base ingredient for many types of soup, including hot, hearty soup that will stick to your ribs in the wintertime. Tomato soup is a classic, but you can also try things like vegetable soup, spicy tortilla soup, and gazpacho. Serve them up with a grilled cheese for extra flavor points.

Using Frozen Diced Tomatoes in Chili

Chili is a great use for frozen tomatoes since it doesn’t matter if they come out a bit mushy after thawing. Just toss them into a pot filled with ground beef, beans, onions, peppers, cumin and chili powders, and a smattering of cheese on top. Yum!

Using Frozen Diced Tomatoes for Sauce

Tomato sauce is always better when its ingredients are fresh. Once prepared, you can spread it over pizza dough, spoon it atop your eggs, or use it as an ingredient in pastas and casseroles. You can also add it to other sauces like chutney to give them a tomato-powered kick.

FAQs

Do you need to boil diced tomatoes before freezing?

No. You don’t have to boil tomatoes before freezing; it just makes the peeling and dicing process much easier. The skins will come right off after they’ve been boiled for a few minutes.

Can I freeze my diced tomatoes without blanching?

Yes. Blanching is recommended because it makes the tomatoes easier to peel, and there’s also evidence to suggest that blanching can help preserve nutrients while cooking. However, it isn’t a necessity. You can skip the blanching if you’re pressed for time.

Can I freeze diced tomatoes with the skin on?

Yes. If you’re unable or unwilling to peel your tomatoes, there’s nothing bad or dangerous about freezing them with the skins intact. Just be aware that most tomato-based sauces recommend using peeled tomatoes, so you may be limiting your recipe options in the future.

When you prepare homemade diced tomatoes for freezing, you can preserve their nutrients, retain their flavors and textures, and lock in their freshness for all kinds of future meals. 

The sun will shine on your kitchen table even in the heart of winter!

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