Make this super friendly homemade tomato puree and refrigerate or freeze it.

On Tomatoes

It is very easy to make homemade tomato puree. All you need are some fresh tomatoes. In fact you can use any type of tomatoes but make sure they are ripe.

Depending on the type of tomatoes, the consistency of the puree will be thin or thick. I use ripe, red and pulpy tomatoes which yield a thick puree.

Tomato Puree Shelf Life

This tomato puree is made without any preservatives. So the shelf life is about 12 to 15 days in the refrigerator and 3 to 4 months in the freezer.

So if you have bulk of tomatoes and don’t know what to do, then puree them and freeze in ice-trays. Add the frozen tomato puree cubes in any dish where tomatoes are an essential ingredient – pasta, sauces and much more.

I rarely make tomato puree as in India we have a year round supply of tomatoes. There have been very few occasions when I have made tomato puree.

However the situation that we are currently in – is actually making me do things which I have never done earlier – example, freezing vegetables, herbs and even fruits and many more.

How to make Tomato Puree

Prepping Tomatoes

1. Firstly rinse the tomatoes very well. I have used 1 kg of tomatoes. You can even make the puree with 250 grams or 500 grams of tomatoes. Using a paring knife or a small knife make a ½ inch criss-cross cut on the base of the tomatoes (not on the stalk side).

2. Now take a large pan and heat water in it. The water should be enough for the tomatoes to be immersed. I used 2 litre water for 1 kg of tomatoes. Make sure the tomatoes have space to move and are not over crowded in the pan.

3. Add salt. I have added 2 teaspoons of salt. You can easily halve or double the salt depending on the amount of tomatoes you are using.

4. Let the water come to a rolling boil on a high flame.

Blanching & Pureeing Tomatoes

5. Gently place the tomatoes in the hot water. Cook the tomatoes in the hot boiling water for 2 minutes.

6. Then switch off the flame and let the tomatoes be immersed in the hot water for 10 to 15 minutes. Cover the pan. I do not shock the tomatoes in cold water, but if you want you can do that. Boil the tomatoes for 2 minutes in hot boiling water and then place them in cold water for 2 minutes.

7. Using a colander or strainer strain the tomatoes. Let them become warm or cool completely at room temperature.

8. Once the tomatoes are at room temperature, on a clean chopping board with clean hands, peel the skins and discard them.

9. Slice the eye part on the stalk part of the tomato and discard.

10. Using a clean chopping board and clean knife and with clean hands, chop the tomatoes roughly. If you have a powerful blender you can just throw in whole tomatoes in it. No need to chop them.

11. Add the chopped tomatoes in a blender jar or grinder jar.

12. Purée till smooth.

13. Place a bowl or pan beneath a juice strainer. Add the tomato pulp in the strainer.

14. While straining, stir with a spoon and press the pulp while stirring so that all the purée and pulp is strained leaving only the seeds in the strainer.

15. You will see a lovely red tomato puree collected in the bowl.

Storing Tomato Puree

16. Pour homemade tomato puree in a sterilized glass jar. To sterilize the jar, you can boil the jar and lid in hot boiling water for 5 minutes or rinse the jar and lid with hot water.

17. You can even pour in ice cubes trays. If you want you could cover the tray loosely with a parchment paper or foil before freezing. Once they are frozen, remove them and keep in an air-tight box or a sealed zip-lock bag in the freezer. Just pop in the cubes in any dish.

18. Add this homemade tomato puree in any dish where tomatoes are mandatory or where you want to bring some tangy flavor in the food. For canned tomato puree – pour the tomato puree in a sterilized canning jars. Seal the jars and boil them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and let them cool. Later refrigerate.

Recipes with Tomato Puree

Brighten up your recipes by adding Tomato puree in them. I am sharing some recipes from the blog where tomato is one of the main ingredients. You can easily replace chopped tomatoes with tomato puree.

Handy Tip: Replace 1 medium sized tomato with ½ cup tomato puree.

Pasta

1. Arrabiatta Pasta
2. Red Sauce Pasta

Pizza Sauce

1. Homemade Pizza Sauce
2. Margherita Pizza
3. Vegetable Pizza

Indian Recipes

1. Tomato Rice
2. Tomato Chutney
3. Tomato Curry
4. Tomato Dal

Soups

1. Tomato Soup
2. Cream of Tomato Soup
3. Carrot & Tomato Soup