If your garden is overflowing with tomatoes, you are definitely not alone. Tomato plants have a way of going from “I hope we get enough tomatoes this year” to baskets of ripe tomatoes covering the kitchen counter seemingly overnight.
The good news is that an abundance of tomatoes is a great problem to have. Whether you have beefsteaks, Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or a mixture of everything, there are plenty of ways to eat, preserve, cook, freeze, and share your harvest.
Here are 25 things to do with too many tomatoes so none of that garden harvest has to go to waste.
1. Can Tomato Juice
Homemade tomato juice is one of my favorite ways to process a large amount of tomatoes at once. Cook the tomatoes until soft, strain out the skins and seeds, and preserve the juice using a tested canning recipe. It is useful for drinking, soups, chili, sauces, and other recipes throughout the winter. For a step-by-step version, check out Simply Canning’s tomato juice canning guide.
I like to throw a jalepeno or two into a big stock pot when I’m cooking them down. It’s the way my mom always made it, and it’s so tasty!
I remember one time, she added too many peppers, and it was HOT. SImple fix if you do this–just make some plain without jalepenos. When you go to open a jar, open two (one HOT and one plain) and mix them. Don’t worry about wasting any- you’re going to drink it all anyways.
If you’ve only ever had store bought tomato juice, you haven’t had tomato juice yet.
2. Make Homemade Salsa
Salsa can use up tomatoes quickly, especially when peppers and onions are coming out of the garden at the same time. If peppers are piling up too, check out what to do with banana peppers for even more harvest ideas. For shelf-stable salsa, always use a tested canning recipe and follow its acidification and processing instructions exactly. You can also check out Wild Hearth Life’s homemade salsa for canning, which is built around tested canning guidance.
3. Make Fresh Pico de Gallo
If you do not feel like canning another batch, turn ripe tomatoes into fresh pico de gallo with onion, peppers, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. It is an easy way to use several tomatoes for tacos, eggs, nachos, and grilled meats. For another version, check out The Night Owl Chef’s classic pico de gallo.
4. Freeze Tomatoes for Later
When harvest season gets too busy, freezing tomatoes buys you time. Wash them, remove the cores, and freeze them in freezer-safe containers or bags. Frozen tomatoes work especially well in cooked dishes later. Homestead Acres also has a helpful guide on how to freeze tomatoes without blanching.
5. Make Tomato Sauce
A big pot of tomato sauce can make a serious dent in a tomato harvest. Simmer tomatoes down with your preferred seasonings for a sauce you can use on pasta, pizza, casseroles, and more. If you plan to can it, use a tested home-canning recipe rather than improvising the ingredients. For a fresh version, check out The Ranchers Homestead’s fresh garden tomato sauce.
6. Make Pizza Sauce
Cook tomatoes down into a thicker, concentrated sauce for homemade pizza night. Freeze it in meal-sized portions so you can grab exactly what you need. For a simple fresh-tomato version, check out Cook Eat Live Love’s fresh tomato pizza sauce.
7. Make Tomato Soup
Fresh tomatoes make an incredible homemade tomato soup. Roast or simmer them with onion and garlic, blend until smooth, and serve with grilled cheese. Freeze extra soup for easy cold-weather meals. Cedar Swamp Homestead also has a garden-fresh tomato soup recipe that is perfect for a bumper crop.
8. Roast Tomatoes
Roasting concentrates the flavor of tomatoes and is especially helpful when you have more than you can eat fresh. Add roasted tomatoes to pasta, sandwiches, eggs, soups, or sauces. For another approach, check out Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen’s roasted tomatoes.
9. Slow-Roast Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes can become overwhelming because one productive plant can produce so many. Slow-roast them until sweet and concentrated, then use them on toast, pasta, salads, or pizza. Sweet Miscellany has a lovely slow-roasted cherry tomato recipe if you want another version to try.
10. Make Bruschetta
Dice fresh tomatoes and combine them with garlic, basil, olive oil, and seasonings for an easy bruschetta topping. Spoon it over toasted bread for a quick garden-fresh appetizer or lunch. You can also check out Julia’s Simply Southern’s garden-fresh bruschetta.
11. Make Tomato Paste
Tomato paste is perfect when you have a truly enormous harvest because tomatoes cook down dramatically. Freeze homemade paste in small portions so it is ready for soups, stews, and sauces. The 104 Homestead has a helpful homemade tomato paste from fresh tomatoes guide.
12. Make Ketchup
Homemade ketchup is another fun way to turn a tomato surplus into something your family will actually use. Choose a tested preservation recipe if you want to make it shelf stable. For a fresh homemade version, check out This Little Home’s homemade ketchup.
13. Add Tomatoes to Chili
Use fresh or previously frozen tomatoes as the base for a big pot of chili. This is especially useful during the transition from late-summer harvest season into cooler fall weather. Longbourn Farm has a chili recipe made with fresh tomatoes that fits this perfectly.
14. Make Fresh Pasta Sauce
You do not have to preserve every tomato. A simple fresh sauce made with ripe tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and olive oil can go from garden to dinner table the same day. For inspiration, check out Meadowparty’s fresh tomato sauce recipe.
15. Make Tomato Jam
Tomato jam is sweet, savory, and a little unexpected. Serve it with cheese, sandwiches, burgers, or crackers. Follow a tested recipe if you intend to can it for shelf storage. For a small-batch style recipe, check out Cooking With Nana Ling’s tomato jam.
16. Make Gazpacho
When the weather is still warm, cold gazpacho is an easy way to use fresh tomatoes without heating up the kitchen for hours. Cook With Cindy has a simple fresh gazpacho recipe worth checking out.
17. Make Caprese Salad
Layer fresh tomatoes with mozzarella and basil for one of the simplest ways to enjoy tomatoes at peak ripeness. Add olive oil and your favorite seasonings before serving. Powell Family Cooking also has a simple Caprese salad recipe using fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.
18. Put Tomatoes on Sandwiches and Burgers
It sounds obvious, but harvest season is the time to put thick slices of fresh tomato on everything. BLTs, burgers, grilled cheese, wraps, and breakfast sandwiches can all help use the daily harvest. For a classic version, check out Kitchen Plot’s Southern tomato sandwich.
19. Make Tomato and Cucumber Salad
If your cucumbers are producing at the same time, combine the two harvests into a simple tomato-cucumber salad with onion and a light dressing. Deep South Dish has a tomato and cucumber salad recipe that is perfect for this.
20. Add Tomatoes to Eggs
Use chopped tomatoes in scrambled eggs, omelets, breakfast skillets, or frittatas. Cherry tomatoes are particularly easy to toss into breakfast dishes. For another idea, check out UncomplicatedChef’s eggs in purgatory with fresh tomatoes.
21. Freeze Tomato Sauce in Meal-Sized Portions
If you do not have time for a full canning day, make sauce and freeze it in portions sized for one family meal. Label each container with the date so older batches get used first. Cooking for Peanuts has a freezer-friendly homemade tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes.
22. Dehydrate Tomatoes
Dehydrating reduces a large pile of tomatoes into a much smaller amount of food. Properly dried tomatoes can be used in soups, sauces, breads, and other cooked dishes. Follow your dehydrator manufacturer’s food-safety guidance for preparation, drying, conditioning, and storage. The Rose Homestead has a practical guide to dehydrating tomatoes from the garden.
23. Make Tomato Powder
Fully dehydrated tomatoes can be ground into tomato powder. The powder takes up very little pantry space and can add tomato flavor to soups, sauces, and seasonings. Hollis Homestead also has a great zero-waste guide on making tomato powder from skins and scraps.
24. Share or Trade Your Extras
Sometimes the easiest solution is to share the harvest. Offer tomatoes to friends, family, neighbors, or other local gardeners. You may even be able to trade tomatoes for another crop you did not grow.
25. Save Seeds From Your Favorite Tomatoes
If you are growing open-pollinated varieties you love, consider saving seeds for next year’s garden. Learn the proper seed-saving method for your variety, especially if you grow multiple tomato varieties that may cross. If you want to make seed saving part of your homeschool, you can also use our guide to starting a seed journal with kids. Oak Hill Homestead has a helpful guide to saving tomato seeds from your garden too.
What Should You Do With a Huge Tomato Harvest First?
When tomatoes are piling up faster than you can process them, start with the ripest fruit. Eat or preserve damaged-but-usable tomatoes promptly, freeze sound tomatoes when you need to buy yourself time, and save firm tomatoes for the next round of processing.
You do not have to turn every tomato into the same thing. A combination of fresh eating, freezing, canning, dehydrating, and sharing makes a big harvest much easier to manage.
A Note About Safely Canning Tomatoes
Tomato acidity can vary, so safe home canning is not the place to improvise. Use a current tested recipe from a trusted source such as the USDA or National Center for Home Food Preservation, including the specified acidification, headspace, jar size, and processing method. Changing ingredient proportions in salsa or sauce can affect whether a recipe is safe for shelf storage.
More Homestead Harvest Ideas
A productive garden can turn into a lot of food very quickly. Learning several ways to use each crop makes harvest season less overwhelming and helps you get more value from everything you grow.
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