Recipe: Dehydrated Tomatoes


Dried tomatoes

What to do with the windfall of tomatoes? This year I was able to dehydrate the extras in anticipation of the long winter without tomatoes. I never buy store tomatoes at all as they have no taste, are mealy and are not organic. This year I grew a lot of tomatoes, especially the mini plum tomatoes and I have too many to eat raw. I also make tomato sauce with some, but since I now have a dehydrator, I thought I would dry them.

If you cannot tolerate tomatoes you may want to check out my No Tomato Sauce recipe and video.

Dehydrated Tomatoes

Ingredients

Fresh homegrown tomatoes of any variety

Instructions

  • Pick your ripened tomatoes
  • Using the mini plums I simply cut them in half
  • If you are using large tomatoes cut them into quarters, leaving out the stem
  • Add 1 gram of pure ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to a bowl of water
  • Submerge the tomatoes in this water for about 3 -4 minutes
  • This helps preserve the color (this step is optional if you do not want to add anything)
  • Remove the tomatoes from the water and place on the dehydrator trays
  • Run the dehydrator at 135 degrees for 7 – 8 hours
  • Alternatively you could dry them in the oven on 150 degrees for 4 – 6 hours
  • Check them and run longer if not dry enough
  • Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container
  • These can stay for months this way

Variations

Store in refrigerator soaking in extra virgin olive oil (these will stay for only a week or two this way)

How to Use Dried Tomatoes

  • Add to any sauteed vegetable for a burst of flavor
  • Add chopped pieces to breads and other baked goods
  • Add pieces to salads
  • Simply soak in extra virgin olive oil and eat as a side dish

This post is linked to: Sugar-Free Sunday, Savory Sunday, My Meatless Monday, Melt in Mouth Monday, Monday Mania, Meatless Monday, Meatless Monday, Mangia Monday, Homemaker Monday, Weekend Carnival, Mouthwatering Monday, Made From Scratch Tuesday,Tuesday at the Table, Delectable Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday Tasty Tidbits, Tasty Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Made it on Monday, What’s Cooking Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Foodie Wednesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Creative Juice Thursday, Foodie Friday, Food Trip Friday, Pennywise Platter, Fresh Bites Friday, Friday Favorites, Friday Food, Fresh Food Friday, Fat Camp Friday, Friday Potluck

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  • http://sweetsav.blogspot.com Chaya

    Am I excited to find this! I just got a book about cooking through dehydration and I have been slowly reading it and it is fascinating. I don’t think, I get it, yet but I am slowly being inspired.

    You brought it to life for me when you linked it to My Meatless Mondays. I can’t thank you enough.

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Hi Chaya,
    Thank you so much for your comments! Dehydrating is really a lot of fun and you can do a lot of experimenting! Let me know how it goes!

  • http://learningtobeenatural.wordpress.com Rebecca

    That looks great! Our tomato seasons in Florida are around Thanksgiving and again in May so I’ll attempt it then. The vitamin C seems like a good idea.

  • Leslie

    Thanks for the recipe! This is a great way to spread out the tomatoe season. My father is a tomatoe aficionado. That is the polite term of a man who obsesses during the winter months on his tomatoe seeds. Who has a binder in which he organizes his seeds with pictures and descriptions which you must go over with him every weekend that you see him until about March. Then he spends all of spring planting his tomatoes and babying them. Around May, he realizes that he planted to many plants so he gives half of them away to other people most of which my sisters and I get the brunt of! (I have 30 plants in my garden.) He has 70 of his beloved tomatoe plants in his garden this year which is down from over 100 last year because he didn’t want my mom to say that he was “obsessive.” This weekend one of the posts for his complex tomatoe suspension system for ultimate garden space utilization fell down due to a storm. I received a panicked call from my mother that my father needed help in the garden. Despite the blood, sweat, tears and the ungodly amount of mosquito bites, we were able to reassemble the structure. This time he added steel reinforcements to the ends. We only had two good sized premature tomatoe infants fall off the structure. Luckily, he was able to save his two casualties. Last year, he grew a 5 pound tomatoe. He was so unbelievably proud of himself. You wouldn’t believe how many pictures he has of that tomatoe. I think it pained him when it was time to eat it. Sometimes, we wonder if he loves his plants more than his family. LOL! Anyhow, I am really excited to give my father another recipe that he can use with the “fruits of his labor!”

  • Mary Korte

    I dehydrate my tomatoes at 105 degrees to help preserve the enzymes in them.
    Another great use for them is to grind up the dried tomatoes into a powder which can be used later to make tomato soup or sauce or to add some body and flavor to soups like minestrone.
    If dried sufficiently they will keep a long time. I think I just used up some I did a few years ago.
    I planted 8 tomato plants this year and have high hopes for having a supply all winter between drying, canning and slow ripening the green ones when the frost comes.

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Hi Rebecca,
    You are so lucky to have such a long growing season!

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Hi Leslie,
    Thanks so much for sharing your hilarious story! I would love to see that 5 pound tomato! I must say, I don’t have anywhere near that amount but I do love my tomatoes — in fact we have had lots of rain here yesterday and today I am going to “rescue” my ripe tomatoes before it rains again!

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Hi Mary,
    Thanks for sharing that information. Next time I will dehydrate at that lower temperature. I love the idea of grinding them up as well!

  • Leslie

    I probably can get a couple of his pictures of the baby…..err…um….tomato for you. LOL. Actually, it looks like he might have a couple 5 pounders this year but we’ll see. Our tomatoes are just about ready to ripen here in Michigan. It sounds like you are a little bit ahead of us. I am slightly jealous. I can’t wait for the first tomato!
    We choose to look at my Dad’s tomato obsession with a sense of humor otherwise I think we would cry. It is a lot of work that extends to the rest of the family. Although, the work generally pays off in the end.

    P.S. I like Mary’s idea of grinding the dried tomatoes for soups and sauces!

  • http://savoringtoday.com Judy@Savoring Today

    Acquired a dehydrator this last year and love it. So many things to try! Thanks for the idea :)

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Hi Leslie,
    I think a sense of humor is essential when dealing with obsessions…

  • http://kim-thislittlelifeofmine.blogspot.com Kim of Mo’Betta

    I just got a dehydrator and have been looking for ‘recipes’ b/c it didn’t come with many instructions! I have a bunch of tomatoes that I wanted to dehydrate, so I’m glad I saw your post (on the Tuesday recipe linkys!)

  • http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com Amanda

    What a fun and intereesting idea! I don’t have a dehydrator, but I will give the oven route a try! Your photos are lovely!

  • Jamie

    I want to use tomato powder in my chili and minestrone this year. What is the powder to water ratio for paste? Will it taste the same as canned paste?

  • http://www.gapalicious.com Hannah K.

    Last year we tried dehydrating slices of tomatoes (1/4 inch thick) they turned out really well. We like breaking them up and putting them in soups.

  • http://catsandcasseroles.blogspot.com Abby

    I have a dehydrator. I might have to try this!

  • http://ecofriendlyhomemaking.com Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking

    Oh I am so glad that I read this post!! We are harvesting quite a few tomatoes now and this sounds like an awesome way to preserve them/ I am blessed to have a dehydrator so I am going to be doing this like tomorrow!!

  • http://extremepersonalmeasures.com/ denise

    Sounds like a great way to keep what you get in your garden.

    Stop by and link up at What’s Cooking Wednesday!

  • http://embracinglife-rose.blogspot.com Rose @ Walnut Acre

    Thank you for sharing this. I have loads of tomatoes right now and have been freezing them but I’m excited to try something different.

  • http://larkscountryheart.blogspot.com/ Lark

    What a great idea & tip! Thanks for linking it to “Made it on Monday”…I am wondering, after they are dried could I place them in some Olive oil and garlic and can them?

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Hi Lark,
    You probably could can them. Sometimes I put them in a jar of olive oil and that stays in the refrigerator about 1 -2 weeks.

  • http://permanentposies.com Susan with Permanent Posies

    I have too many deer to grow any veggies but when I live in West Texas, I grew my own and I agree, there is nothing better than home grown tomatoes. I used to have so many come off at once that I made all sorts of tomato sauce and salsas etc. I never knew how to dehydrate. Why do they go bad faster in oil than just in an air tight container?

  • http://syrupandbiscuits.wordpress.com Jackie @Syrup and Biscuits

    Stopping by from Made it on Monday. What a great alternative to freezing or canning tomatoes. Thanks for the information and the inspiration.

  • http://butteryum.blogspot.com ButterYum

    Sounds like a good reason to get a dehydrator.

    :)
    ButterYum

  • http://www.ekatskitchen.com Erin @ EKat’s Kitchen

    I miss the bounty of tomatoes from the lower 48 – Last time I dehydrated my own tomatoes, they didn’t hold up in the fridge :)

    Thanks for linking up to Friday Potluck :)

  • http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/ Miz Helen

    Hi Jill,
    Great information and great recipe! Hope you have a great week end and thanks for sharing with Full Plate Thursday!
    Come back soon,
    Miz Helen

  • http://www.mycarolinakitchen.blogspot.com Sam @ My Carolina Kitchen

    I’m visiting from Fresh Food Friday. What a great way to preserve summer tomatoes to enjoy in the winter.
    Sam

  • http://utry.it Amy

    What a wonderful way to preserve tomatoes! I can think of millions recipes that would be lovely to have the addition of these tomatoes.

    My blog turns 1 today and I’m hosting a giveaway on my blog as a way to say thank you for your supports in the past year. Please come over to check it out if you’re interested. http://utry.it

  • emily

    Thank you for linking up to Tasty Tuesday at Nap-Time Creations. I really hope you can come back and link up again this week! http://nap-timecreations.blogspot.com/

  • http://[email protected] Penniless Parenting

    This looks good. I have a bunch of volunteer tomatoes that I wanted to use up, was going to can the lot, but now I’m thinking I should just dehydrate. Is the taste like sun dried tomatoes or different?

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    The taste is just like any dried tomato.

  • http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com Bibi

    Great instructions. I never dehydrated my tomatoes, but I have a garden full this year so I will give it a try. I know million recipes I could use them in during the winter.

    Thank you for sharing this at Foodie Wednesday.

  • http://www.facebook.com/doonegoodthing Bianca

    Hi,
    Would you still need to soak these in the water if you weren’t adding the Vitamin C? Or would you just cut them up and dry them out otherwise?
    Thanks.

  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    No need to soak before drying if you are not using ascorbic acid.