Reap the rewards of a bountiful harvest with this Simple Roasted Tomatoes Freezer Recipe.
Nothing beats oven-roasted tomatoes. This freezer-friendly recipe is the perfect addition to so many dishes. Wonderful intense, robust flavour.
DIY fresh herb salt is also a great seasoning for these flavourful tomatoes. You can even use it in tomato jam too.
Roasting tomatoes in the oven is so much easier than canning them in jars. All you need is olive oil, fresh tomatoes, and herbs.
We use a lot of tomato recipes in our house. Pasta sauces, pizza sauce, soups, and of course chili. Fresh tomato puttanesca is a favourite for dinner here.
I love having these ready in the freezer. Perfect for making my easy tomato crab bisque.
RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for roasting and freezing tomatoes are at the bottom of this post.
Slow roasting tomatoes is my favourite way to preserve them. Super easy to make. The oven does all the work, and your house smells like a little country kitchen in the heart of Italy.
In fact, I roast most of my veggies (other than grilling). YES, I do boil potatoes for making mashed potatoes, but that is about it. Roasting veggies is our favourite way to enjoy them. From side dishes to incorporating them into recipes. Here are a few of our family favourites:
Roasted Tomato Ingredients
Easy to find ingredients that produce amazing results. You will need:
- fresh tomatoes
- olive oil
- fresh herbs
- garlic
- salt and pepper
- seasoning
I absolutely LOVE my (affiliate)*Pampered Chef stoneware baking dish. In fact, I have two at a time in the oven during this slow roasting process.
They are super easy to clean at the end of the day. I simply scrub them with some (affiliate)*coarse salt, rinse with hot water and they are good to go.
How To Roast Tomatoes For Freezing
Roasting and freezing tomatoes is simple. Nothing fancy or complicated. You can’t get these flavours out of a can, even the fire-roasted tomatoes would be second place here.
Here is the condensed version, you will see just how easy it is:
- Visit the market and get a big bag of fresh tomatoes (I used Roma)
- While you are there, grab some garlic and fresh herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary)
- Wash the tomatoes, and cut them up (the size is up to you, the bigger they are, the longer they need to cook)
- Put them in a roasting pan in a single layer (be sure not to overcrowd them)
- Coat them nicely with olive oil, salt, and pepper (I even used garlic powder and Italian seasoning too)
- Add in some garlic cloves and the fresh herbs
- Place in the oven and roast away (for about 1 ½-2 hours)
- Give them a stir now and again while they roast
- Once they are done, you can leave them in chunks, or give them a mash (like I did)
- Measure out into freezer bags
- Seal and date
- DONE!
Tomato Ideas
This is the fun part, so many places to use this roasted tomato recipe. In case you were wondering, here are a few:
- tomato soup
- roasted tomato sauce
- tomato salsa
- bruschetta
I use my freezer tomatoes in:
They would also be great in a sauce on top of homemade potato gnocchi.
Tips For Roasting And Freezing Tomatoes
As for the best kind of tomatoes to roast, honestly, I don’t think there is a wrong kind.
I used Roma (also known as plum or paste tomatoes), but you can also use cherry tomatoes, Campari (on the vine), or whatever your garden grows.
Some people core larger tomatoes to remove the seeds. I did not, I find the Roma tomatoes have fewer seeds anyway.
As for freezing I just measure the amount in (affiliate)*measuring cup and pour into (affiliate)*freezer bags. I try to get ALL the air out and make the bags flat. They stack in the freezer nice and neat.
Be sure to write the date on the bag. This makes it much easier to know which to use up first.
This easy recipe for freezing tomatoes is perfect for creating wonderful, delicious recipes all year long. ENJOY!
Here are a few great recipes using roasted tomatoes from some of my blogging friends:
- Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup
- Israeli Couscous Salad
- Asparagus and Fontina Quiche
- Pesto Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes
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Roasted Tomatoes Recipe For Freezing
Ingredients
- 6 pounds tomatoes (I used Roma)
- 6 cloves garlic (or more if you like)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons pepper (I used spicy garlic)
- 1 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- fresh herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400º F
- Wash tomatoes, and cut into chunks. You can also just cut in ½ or leave whole if you prefer. The large the pieces, the longer they take to cook.
- Divide the tomatoes into 2 roasting pans (you don’t want to crowd them)
- Divide the oil and seasonings between the two pans, distribute and mix well to coat.
- Add garlic cloves and fresh herbs to each pan.
- Roast for about 1 ½-2 hours. **Depending on the size you have cut your tomatoes,the amount of tomatoes you have placed in your baking vessel, and the heat of your oven, you may need to reduce the temperature to 375º after 30 minutes to avoid burning**
- Depending on the amount of moisture you still want in the tomatoes, the time will vary slightly. Also if you removed the seeds, you will have less moisture to cook out.
- Be sure to mix several times during roasting.
- Once done, remove from oven.
- Remove any large stems from the herbs.
- If you like, you can leave your tomatoes in large chunks, or mash slightly with a potato masher. Mash the garlic cloves too.
- When cool, measure into your desired amount, place in the freezer bags, seal, date, and place in freezer.
- DONE!
Kari
Absolutley love the flavor! I do wonder though.. have many cups do you usually get from this recipe? I only yielded about 2 cups.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
It all depends on the juice and size of the tomatoes.
Barbara Vinnick
Hi there
Is there a difference in the flavour of the final product by using a metal cookie sheet versus stoneware?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Sorry I an not sure since I did not use metal cookware to prepare these. Sometimes metal can react to the acid in the tomatoes.
Lenny
I am planning to use this recipe for GREEN tomatoes, as it is (almost) the end of our season here in Connecticut.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
That sounds fantastic. Let me know how they turn out.
Katherine B
Easy peeze, just loved how they turned out. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You are very welcome. Freezer roasted tomatoes are awesome I agree.
Cathy Cochrane
Made this recipe – absolutely delicious. Cooked them down so it was almost tomato paste. I then spread the sauce on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and froze it. The next day I removed the parchment and cut the frozen paste into small squares – approximately 1 tbsp of sauce and placed them in a bag. I’ll be able to use the squares for recipes that require tomato paste (often less than a full can) and or pizza sauce! This will definitely become a fall tradition after harvesting tomatoes from the garden!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
THANKS so much for your awesome comment. What a great idea. So glad you found this to be a very useful recipe.
Theressa
So I take it the peelings stay on?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Yes, I did leave the skin on the tomatoes.
Victoria
This is my first time trying anything like this. I understand how the time varies to roast the tomatoes depending on the quantity and vessel used, etc, but how do you know when they are actually done and ready to be pulled from the oven? Thank you.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
The tomato skins will be slightly charred, and most of the moisture in the tomatoes will be cooked out.
Sharon
Do you not have to pick away at skins when done? Unless of course you blend it into a sauce.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I did not remove the skins. If I want this to be smooth, I just use my immersion blender and it does the trick.
Becky
Can you throw in food processor after they cooled and freeze it so it’s less chunky? Or would that make them too watery?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Absolutely, that will not make them watery at all.
Darsey
If freezer space is limited could I can this recipe?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I really do not know, since this is not a canning recipe. You would have to research the proper method for doing the water bath.
Gayle
Can you tell me what amount of the roasted tomatoes would I use if making soup for four servings?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You would use these roasted tomatoes the same way you would use canned tomatoes. Check your recipe and adjust accordingly.
Doris
In the roaster is the lid on or off?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
There is no lid used in this recipe.
Brandy
Followed recipe to a tee. Got distracted doing other things while waiting for the timer to go off. Had to take tomatoes out prior to timer as they were burning. Is 400F is to high for this recipe?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I really think it depends on the vessel you are cooking them in, and also the amount of juice in the tomatoes. It is always best to watch. I will add a note in the recipe card, thanks for letting me know.
Scarlet
Can you put onions to it?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Absolutely!
Madli
Super delicious! Excellent way to use up the abundance of our yellow tomatoes. Plus the roasted sauce looks beautiful in color!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Roasted yellow tomatoes would be great for sure.
Nancy Breese
Could you roast the tomatoes in a throw away aluminum pan? The recipe looks delicious. I am looking forward to trying it. Thank you!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Yes for sure, that would make clean-up much easier.
Vanistie
How long can they stay in the freezer?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I have had them for over a year as long as they are sealed really well and all the air is out of the bags.
Cynthia Bruner
You you freeze the liquid or just the solid tomatoes?
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I mash my tomatoes after they are roasted, so there are no solid tomates. I freeze everything.
nikPR
This was SOOO delicious….I simply cannot freeze….this is ideal on freshly baked baguette slices w a bit of evoo maybe a few pieces of feta….yuuuummm!!!! Thank you for the great recipe for my overflowing tomato/oregano yield!!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Well if you can manage to freeze some of these tomatoes, you will enjoy them in recipes all winter long.