It's tomato season! And, I don't know about you, but my garden's been working overtime this season. Talk about too much of a good thing!

Yes, come late-August and September, many gardeners end up with a dozen or two heirloom tomatoes ripening on their kitchen counter, with dozens more than cherry, San Marzano, Brandywine, Yellow Pear, and countless other love apple varieties ripening on the vine.

You hate to waste these beauties, but you tin't assist wondering…

"What the heck am I gonna do with all these tomatoes?"

Too many tomatoes. Not a bad trouble to have, actually. Merely information technology can exist daunting to find ideas on how to use them all.

Here are 28 means to utilize all those extra tomatoes from your garden

While they're at their peak freshness, no less!

one. Eat them whole

Really! Vine ripened tomatoes are delicious all on their ain. You can take a big seize with teeth out of one like an apple, or do what my mom always does: piece the tomato into thick slices and sprinkle with table salt. Yum!

ii. Fresh salsa

recipestonourish-salsa

I love Mexican food. When it's served with fresh salsa I actually can't resist. In that location's something near the fresh ingredients in uncooked salsa that makes information technology such a treat for the summer. Hither are a few recipes to attempt:

Fermented Salsa

Peach and Tomato Salsa

Fresh Summer Salsa with Cucumber

three. Cooked salsa

cooked-salsa-commonsensehome

Though fresh salsa is my favorite, it'due south merely available in the summertime, and I like salsa all yr round. Canning your own salsa is a corking mode to have quality salsa through the winter. Check out these recipes:

Canning Bootleg Salsa

Home Canned Salsa

4. Too many tomatoes? Employ them equally a skin cleanser

Did you know you lot could make clean your face up with a tomato? Yes, it's true! (Check out this line of tomato facial products :)) The acids in tomato juice are great for softening and cleaning skin, while the lycopene helps eliminate free radicals.

For oily peel: mix equal parts fresh tomato juice and aloe vera juice.

For dry skin: use a ratio of 1 role tomato juice to 2 parts aloe vera juice.

Rub a tablespoon of this mixture into your face and rinse with warm water.

5. Sunburn relief

Tomatoes are as well wonderful at soothing sunburn. If your sunburn is recent and not blistering or peeling, rubbing a slice of tomato on information technology tin lessen the redness. Co-ordinate to this report, eating tomatoes can increase your peel's natural sun protection. One more than reason to consume those beauties!

6. Brand your ain pasta sauce

Hither'south a peachy homemade pasta sauce recipe you can make using fresh tomatoes. The recipe calls for v pounds of fresh tomatoes, perfect for when yous have also many tomatoes!

seven. Tomato sandwiches

heirloom-tomato-sandwich-theorganickitchen

I could care less nearly including yucky winter tomatoes on my sandwiches, but when I've got also many tomatoes ripening in the summer, I tin can't get enough. Add tomatoes to whatever sandwich for a burst of flavor, or simply slather some mayo and tomato slices betwixt two pieces of fresh baked bread. Yum!

Try this Heirloom Tomato Sandwich for a yummy treat (hint: information technology uses avocado!).

8. Tomato soup

Delicious Tomato Soup with Breadstuff

And what goes neat with sandwiches? Soup of course! Homemade tomato soup is full of lycopene, which has been shown to fight chronic diseases and increase the body'south natural sun protection.

Bootleg Tomato Soup is simple, healthy and easy to freeze or tin can.

9. BLT's

This is one of my favorite ways to employ up too many tomatoes. I similar making a classic BLT, but there are some really interesting ways of dressing up a BLT that are worth a try.

Consider adding:

  • Avocado
  • Cheese
  • A fried egg
  • Fresh greens
  • Onion

Or simply turn your BLT into a BLT grilled cheese (and dip it in your homemade tomato soup!).

10. Tomato juice

If you take too many tomatoes, making tomato juice is a groovy way to use them upwards. You can use tomato juice in soups, to add flavor to meat, to deodorize a stinky refrigerator, or to make a boot barrel Bloody Mary.

How to Make Tomato Juice

11. Tomato paste

DIY Tomato Paste

Love apple paste is one of the all-time sources of lycopene around. It can exist used in many dishes and freezes really well, making it an MVP of tomato products.

Pro tip: freeze some tomato plant paste in ice cube trays or can it in extra-pocket-sized canning jars.

How to Make Tomato Paste

12. Grilled bruschetta

Bruschetta is a really like shooting fish in a barrel and tasty manner to use too many tomatoes. Plus, when yous're grilling them, y'all don't have to heat upward the kitchen.

Cut a crusty baguette into slices and toast them on the grill. And so brush with garlic butter or oil. Top with slices of lycopersicon esculentum and fresh mozzarella or get adventurous and experiment with boosted toppings such every bit mushrooms, fresh chopped herbs, gorgonzola, zucchini, or prosciutto.

13. Fried green tomatoes

Sometimes tomatoes fall off the vine, or a frost is expected before they ripen. What would y'all practise with too many tomatoes when they're unripened besides fry them?

How to fry green tomatoes:

  • Outset with slices of green tomato and dip them in an egg bath.
  • Coat with batter of selection. Being dairy and gluten free, I use a mixture of cornmeal and another gluten costless flour.
  • You lot could also add buttermilk to the egg mixture for an added level of gustatory modality.
  • Fry the tomatoes in your option of oil (at roughly 375 degrees) until aureate and crispy.
  • Enjoy!

14. Tomato ketchup

commonsensehome homemade ketchup

Ketchup is an American summer staple, but the store bought kind often includes yucky ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. Making your own ketchup is a dandy way to use those extra tomatoes while keeping your family'due south food equally make clean equally possible. Since homemade ketchup uses a lot of them, y'all'll never have too many tomatoes over again!

Homemade Ketchup Recipes

15. Homemade spaghetti sauce

lifecurrents Homemade Crock Pot Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti is a great fall back meal when things become busy. It just takes a few minutes to set up if you already have canned or jarred sauce on mitt.

Gear up aside an afternoon to prepare and can some pasta sauce, and you'll have quick and nutritious meals bachelor through the winter.

Crock-pot Marinara

Home Canned Spaghetti Sauce

sixteen. Homemade pizza sauce

realfoodrn Homemade Pizza Sauce (to freeze)

Another quick meal, bootleg pizza is a crowd pleaser and pretty simple when you accept sauce already on hand. If you lot make a big batch you can freeze or can plenty to final through the winter.

Homemade Pizza Sauce (for the freezer)

17. Grill 'em

Grilled tomatoes are a fun and easy snack for when you take too many tomatoes.

  • Start with firm tomatoes and piece them in half horizontally
  • Brush with olive oil.
  • Grill until grill marks course.
  • Flip and repeat.
  • Top with salt.
  • Enjoy!

eighteen. Marinate 'em

Marinated tomatoes are wonderful and really like shooting fish in a barrel to brand. Merely add halved cerise tomatoes, fresh herbs, salt, pepper, and garlic to a jar of olive oil and vinegar and let them sit for several hours or overnight.

xix. Freeze 'em

Of grade yous can freeze cooked tomatoes, simply have you ever considered freezing raw tomatoes? Yous can! Information technology'south a great fashion to preserve them when you have likewise many tomatoes. If y'all are planning on using them for a sauce or stew later, freezing whole raw tomatoes is a fine fashion to preserve them without putting the work in up front to cook them.

20. Can 'em

Whole, halved, or diced, canning is a great way to preserve tomatoes that doesn't require electricity to keep (like freezing does). Cheque out these recipes for canning tomatoes:

Canning Tomatoes

21. Blimp tomatoes

Another corking way to utilize too many tomatoes but exist sure to apply sturdy ones.

  • Slice them in half horizontally and scoop out the inside.
  • Fill with your choice of filling (breadcrumbs, cheese, spinach, mushrooms, rice and quinoa are some possibilities)
  • Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

22. Tri-colored tomato salad

One of my favorite things about growing produce in the backyard is the variety of tastes and colors. When yous take a lot of dissimilar colored tomatoes, why not make a tri-colored lycopersicon esculentum salad? Chop tomatoes to bite sized pieces and toss with fresh basil, mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

23. Dried tomatoes

I'm ever amazed at how expensive lord's day dried tomatoes are at the grocery store, especially when I know I can make them at home for well-nigh nothing. Sun dried tomatoes are nifty in pasta dishes, hummus, pesto, or omelets. When you dry them there's no such thing as also many tomatoes! Attempt this recipe for making sun dried tomatoes at domicile:

Easiest "Sunday" Dried tomatoes

24. Tomato plant and fruit

Sincetechnically tomatoes are a fruit, why not add them to your fruit salad? Here are a few fun recipes that apply fruit and tomatoes:

Fruit Salad with Tomato

Tomato Fruit Gazpacho

Tomato and Fruit Soup

25. Shakshukah

andhereweare Shakshukah Recipe

I had never heard of Shakshukah earlier, but now I'chiliad sure it will be my new favorite dish.

I'm always looking for ways to use our affluence of fresh eggs and too many tomatoes, and this looks like just the recipe:

Shakshukah AKA Mediterranean Sunshine

26. Tomato basil garlic butter

What'due south great nigh making flavored butter is that you tin easily freeze it for another time. So yous tin make large batches and have it available all winter. Find the recipe hither:

Tomato Basil Garlic Butter

27. Barter or sell them

If you have more tomatoes than you can eat, tin, freeze, or dry, why not sell them at a farmer's market or barter with a friend for something unlike?

28. Give them away

When all else fails and yous still take way too many tomatoes, give them away. It shouldn't be too difficult to find someone willing to have actress tomatoes off your hands, and it will exist a relief to know they aren't going to waste product. Yous may even be able to donate fresh tomatoes to a local nutrient pantry.

Want an Epic lycopersicon esculentum cookbook?

Click here to run across my favorite!

What practice Y'all practise with as well many tomatoes?

What do you like to exercise with your actress garden tomatoes? Share with united states in the comments below!

  • Share
  • Pin
  • Tweet
  • E-mail
  • Text