Happy Friday! I’m sure you’re busy getting your big Friday night plans together, so I wanted to leave you with this quick how-to (new recipe tomorrow). If you’ve followed Budget Bytes for a while, you already know that I always freeze my leftover tomato paste. Why? Because, despite coming in a super small can, I rarely use the whole thing in one recipe. Instead of tossing the rest of the can, I keep the leftovers in the freezer, so I don’t have to buy a new can for the next recipe.
It sounds easy enough, but after freezing my tomato paste for years I’ve developed a better method for freezing and storing my leftover tomato paste. I used to just shove it in a freezer bag, squeeze it all down to the bottom, and pop it in the freezer. But that presented problems the next time I wanted to use it. How do you measure a frozen clump of tomato paste? What if I only wanted to use part of the clump? I would end up breaking off a chunk, never truly knowing how much I was using.
So this tutorial is for all of you who have been throwing away their partially used cans of tomato paste and those who have been just spooning it into a freezer bag like I used to. This is what you should be doing with your leftover tomato paste, and it’s as easy as 1-2-3.
How to Freeze Tomato Paste – Step by Step Photos
Step 1: Prepare the Tomato Paste
Measure your leftover tomato paste into 1 tablespoon dollops and place them on a plate or baking sheet covered in plastic wrap. The plastic wrap keeps the paste from sticking to the plate while they freeze and will be used to wrap the tomato paste within the freezer bag. Make sure the dollops are not touching, so they freeze individually and are easy to separate into 1 tablespoon servings later. Plate the plate or baking sheet into the freezer uncovered for 2-3 hours, or until the dollops are frozen solid.
Step 2: Transfer the Tomato Paste
Freezing the tomato paste uncovered on a flat surface helps them stay separated into individual lumps, but leaving them like that for an extended period will cause them to dry out and get freezer burn. So, as soon as they are solid you need to transfer them to an air-tight container for long term storage. I used a quart sized freezer bag, which I made sure to label with the contents. Just lift the plastic wrap up off the plate and wrap it around the balls and place the package inside the freezer bag. Since the balls are already frozen solid, they won’t fuze together if you just wrap them up in the plastic.
Step 3: Freeze for Long Term Storage
Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing, then return it to the freezer. Now you can just grab one or more lumps of tomato paste as needed for your next recipe! Because tomato paste has such a low moisture content to begin with, I find that they last quite a while in the freezer. I tend to use tomato paste often, so I’ve never had any in the freezer longer than 4-5 months, but it’s always maintained its quality up to that point.
So how about that? Pre-measured tomato paste ready and waiting to be used in your freezer. Because the lumps are small, I usually just drop them into whatever soup or sauce I’m using it in, straight from the freezer. They melt and stir in within moments.
I hope you found this quick tip useful! Have a great weekend!
In the netherlands we have even tinier cans that I usually finish in one go. There’s only like 2 tablespoons in it. Love it!
I usually open both ends of the can and push the bottom piece of metal up to portion my leftovers for freezing. The side usually says how much a tablespoon weighs, and I am partial to weighing stuff when I can. Just slice off tablespoon sized pieces onto a piece of plastic, put in a plastic bag, freeze. I cut off the plastic wrap as I use the paste coins.
This works great for canned curry paste, too.
That’s a great idea! I wind up wasting a lot of my tomato paste, as I don’t use it frequently enough.
My method of vacuum sealing:
-Fill a mixing bowl with water.
-Close up your zip lock bag almost all the way, leaving a small unsealed part towards the corner.
-Keeping the unsealed part of the opening above water, push the rest of the bag below the surface, getting it as close as you can to the top of the bag.
-seal the last part of the bag
The water will perfectly squeeze all their air out of the bag, keeping your food as fresh as possible.
This is an excellent tip, thanks for sharing!
I usually just press as much air out with my hands as I can and then leave just enough of the top of the bag open to stick a little straw in and suck out as much air as possible. The water method sounds much easier.
I LOVE freezing my leftover tomato paste. I have a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop that I use, and it is so easy! I sometimes just throw the frozen paste into whatever I am cooking – it melts right in the pan.
Hi Beth,
I’m new to your blog & have been enjoying your budget posts. I reckon freezing tomato paste in ice cube trays is even more budget though – when it’s frozen I just put it in a reusable container in the freezer. Precisely 1 tablespoon of tomato paste per ice cube block, and you don’t have to buy cling wrap or zip log bags!
I agree with Lex. I freeze tomato paste in ice cube trays and then transfer it to Ziploc bags.
I freeze mine in ice cube trays- about 2 Tablespoons per cube- then put into a ziplock bag. So nice to always have some on hand and not waste any!
I do this too! But I put it into an ice cube tray (a standard ice cube is about 2 Tbsp) to freeze, then transfer the frozen cubes into a freezer bag.
Another thought…some time ago, I saw a comment on a “The Kitchn” post about freezing small quantities in paper cups. I found some plain, i.e. no coating 3 oz cups on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E665UI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
I freeze tomato paste, tomato sauce, homemade pizza sauce and even some broths in the paper cups. It is easy to peal the paper cup and drop the cube of whatever in a sauce pan.
This is genius. THANK YOU.
I use silicone ice cube trays for freezing tomato paste, chipotles in adobo, herbs (pre-chopped, in water), and all manner of things that I never use the full container of.
Unlike plastic ice cube trays the cubes never get stuck, because you can just push the bottom of the tray to pop it out.
Same thing works well for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce!
I freeze my tomato paste in an even lazier way – I just throw the rest in a ziploc baggie and try to separate the paste into rough portion sizes with my fingers and throw it in the freezer – usually lasts at least 6 months!
I used to do this all the time until I started using the tubes of tomato paste. Pricier, but they last indefinitely. If I were to start freezing again, I’d do it in smaller portions, because it’s rare that I use a tablespoonful of tomato paste.
Yes! The tubes are the best!
I freeze leftover chipotles this way, but I often forget that I’ve stashed some in the freezer and end up buying more cans anyway…
Oh, man! Thanks. This is just perfect. We usually just put the left-over tomato paste in a container in the refrigerator. However, it tends to mold before we need it again. This is just perfect.
Thanks and have a great Friday!
Perfect! I was just thinking YESTERDAY… how the hell do you freeze Tomato Paste! Hahaha.