How to Peel Tomatoes (2024)

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Here is the way I peel tomatoes. Removing the seeds and tougher outer skin leaves tomatoes with the perfect texture and taste for pasta sauces, soups, and all other recipes based on canned tomatoes.

If you find yourself with a surplus with fresh tomatoes from the summer, take advantage of the bounty and substitute them in places where you usually reach for canned. Peeling is also the usual first step in canning tomatoes for long-term storage.

Why should you peel tomatoes for sauce

There is a reason your favorite brand of canned tomatoes is labeled “peeled.” When cooked, the tomato skins get tougher and float apart. They do not cook down like the tomato flesh. The skin also becomes bitter.

On the other hand, tomato skin is loaded with lycopene, a nutritious antioxidant. If you want to keep the skins, consider running your cooked recipe through a food mill – if practical.

How to peel tomatoes properly

• Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
• Cut an ‘X” in the bottom of each tomato. Cut just deep enough to penetrate the skin.
• Prepare a bowl with ice water.
• Place the tomato carefully into the boiling water and simmer for one minute.
• Remove the tomato and place in the ice bath.

When cool enough to handle, peel the skin; it should remove very easily, coming off section by section.

Here is your naked tomato.

How to seed tomatoes

Cut the tomato in half (equatorially.)

gently squeeze the tomato to remove the seeds.

Your fresh, peeled and seeded tomatoes are ready to make a sauce, use in chili, or any other recipe where you would usually use canned tomatoes.

When tomatoes are in season, I load up and use them in every way possible.

Recipes with peeled tomatoes

• Stuffed Eggplant
• Kousa (Stuffed Squash)
• Jollof Rice
• Kafta and Potato Stew
• Arrabbiata Sauce
• Roasted Tomato Soup
• Simple Easy Canned Tomatoes
• Homemade Pizza Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes

For morecooking tutorials, check out:

• How to Make Oatmeal
• How to Cook Pasta Perfectly
• How to Cook Dry Chickpeas
• How to Cook Brown Rice
• How to Cook Quinoa Step by Step
• How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce
• How to Make Oat Flour in Vitamix
• How to Chop Cilantro
• How to Cut a Pineapple
• How to cut a melon
• How to Cut a Peach

If you’ve found this cooking resource forHow to Peel Tomatoes helpful or if you’ve tried anyrecipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget torate the recipeand leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience with this technique. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me onInstagramso I can repost on my stories!

See Also

Roasted Tomatoes - Love and LemonsHow Long Can You Leave Cooked Foods Unrefrigerated?History of the Original Tomato PieRoasted Tomatoes

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