Can you freeze tomatoes?

Tomatoes freeze safely and you do not need to blanch or peel them first. The texture is destroyed, so a thawed tomato is no use in a salad, but for sauces, soups and stews that does not matter. A useful side effect is that the skin splits and slides off under warm water once the tomato is frozen, which makes peeling trivial. Freezing them whole on a tray keeps them separate so you can take out one at a time.

How to do it properly

1. Wash, dry and core them; there is no need to peel or blanch
2. Freeze whole on a tray, then transfer to a bag
3. Run a frozen tomato under warm water and the skin peels off in one piece
4. Add straight from frozen to sauces and stews

What goes wrong

• Texture collapses completely, so they are only good for cooking
• Whole tomatoes release a lot of water into a dish as they thaw

Other "can you freeze" questions

• Can you freeze cheese? It depends — Yes, and it stays safe indefinitely — but hard cheese comes out crumbly and soft cheese comes out wet.
• Can you freeze milk? Yes — Yes — leave headspace for expansion and shake it hard after thawing.
• Can you freeze eggs? It depends — Not in the shell. Beat them first, or freeze whites on their own.
• Can you freeze bread? Yes — Yes — freezing is the best way to store bread, far better than the fridge.
• Can you freeze bananas? Yes — Yes — peel and slice them first, because the peel turns black and welds itself on.
• Can you freeze cooked rice? Yes — Yes, and freezing quickly is the safest way to keep leftover rice.
• Can you freeze raw chicken twice? It depends — Only if it thawed in the fridge and never got above 4 °C (40 °F).
• Can you freeze breast milk? Yes — Yes — freeze it flat in bags, and use within six months for best quality.
• Can you freeze avocado? It depends — Yes, but only as a purée — frozen slices go grey and watery.
• Can you freeze soup? It depends — Yes for most soups; cream, milk and potato-based ones separate or go grainy.
• Can you freeze butter? Yes — Yes — butter freezes better than almost anything else in the fridge.
• Can you freeze cooked pasta? Yes — Yes — undercook it slightly and toss it in oil first, or it thaws into a solid block.