The Best Way to Save Leftover Canned Tomatoes

I am a huge fan of good canned whole, peeled tomatoes. They are as close to fresh summer tomatoes as you can get out of season. And I don't mean diced or crushed or chopped...because they typically all have certain additives to help the pieces "keep their shape." Those additives also change the taste and prevent the tomatoes from breaking down when cooked (NOT a good thing!). However, the whole, peeled ones are minimally processed and are so close to fresh that I have even used them in salads.

I recently discovered huge cans of wonderful Italian whole, peeled tomatoes at my local Costco. And the price was shockingly good. The problem, of course, is that these cans contain 100 ounces. Now, I don't know about you, but I very rarely need that many canned tomatoes at once. I generally need about 28 ounces at the most. But the price being such a steal, I decided that I had to come up with a way to save the rest. The solution was remarkably easy.

After portioning out what I needed at that moment, I simply took the rest of the canned tomatoes and ran them through my food processor in about four batches. (Trust me, the first time you overfill your food processor with tomatoes, you will learn a very messy lesson.) I blitzed them for about 30 seconds per batch and combined them in a large bowl. I had about 4 quarts of absolutely gorgeous, fresh tasting raw tomato sauce. I poured this into two zip-top freezer bags, squeezed out as much air as possible, sealed the bags, and laid them in the freezer as flat as I could. (You could also do this with three or more bags, depending on what you might have planned for the sauce.) These will freeze perfectly for at least two months, and very probably much longer. Just be sure to write the date on them, so you can access that information easily.

Pasta sauce, pizza sauce, tomato soup, a stew that needs some bright tomato flavor… these are just a few of the things your frozen sauce will make easier. Just thaw a bag of sauce (in a bowl) on the counter, or overnight in the fridge, and proceed with your recipe.The taste is incredibly fresh. And it tastes even better knowing just how little you paid for it!