10/10/2026
Hot pack, save all of the liquid from defrosting, avoid overfilling the jar…and most importantly, use research based recipes from reliable resources, like our colleagues at the National Center for Home Food Preservation and any state Extension program.
Right now in Newsflash from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) you can find tips for using those tomatoes you froze in the heat (pun intended) of Summer’s tomato harvest. Text of the Newsflash is below:
USING FROZEN TOMATOES IN HOME CANNING
Key instructions for using frozen tomatoes in home canning:
Freezing ruptures the cellular walls of tomatoes, causing them to collapse and lose structural integrity upon thawing. This process significantly alters the texture, yielding a softer, mushier consistency that makes whole or halved tomatoes and salsas unappealing. To achieve optimal quality, incorporate thawed tomatoes, and their juices into a validated tomato or spaghetti sauce recipe, where structural changes will not compromise the final result.
- Keep All Released Liquid: Tomatoes release a significant amount of juice as they thaw. Include 100% of this liquid in your preparation; it is accounted for in research-tested recipes and essential for correct acidity and volume.
- Use Hot Pack, Not Raw Pack: Thaw tomatoes in the refrigerator, then heat all solids and liquids before jar packing. Do not raw pack thawed tomatoes since this leads to potentially overpacking and under processing, given they lose water during the thawing process.
- Watch Out for Overpacking: Because thawed tomatoes lose structural integrity and collapse, it is easy to pack too many into a single jar. Overpacking prevents proper heat pe*******on, which can leave harmful bacteria alive.
- Mandatory Acidity: Always follow a research-tested recipe and add the required amount of bottled lemon juice, citric acid, or 5% acetic acid vinegar directly to each jar to ensure safe pH levels. See our tomato acidification instructions for details (https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/how-do-i-can-tomatoes/tomato-acidification-directions/).
You can see other Newsflash posts, and subscribe for future flashes at https://nchfp.uga.edu/newsflash.
Tomato image is courtesy of Maryam Sicard via Unsplash.
