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Conserve your tomatoes in a way that saves space by making a super versatile tomato powder. Learn how to make tomato powder, and how to use it.
The other day I shared with you how to make an easy tomato paste as a great way to conserve tomatoes from your garden. Today, I’ll show you another great way to conserve tomatoes, probably my favorite way, without needing to freeze them or can them. I love dehydrating tomatoes and either serving them as is over salads, or grinding them into a powder that can be used in soups, stews, chilis, or as a great topping for nuts and homemade tortilla chips.(I’ll be sharing my recipe for paleo Doritos-like chips soon!)
Making them is as easy as slicing the tomatoes and drying them somehow. You can make sun-dried tomatoes if you are in a warm, sunny, dry area, but here it tends to be pretty humid and cool by the time I’m looking to conserve my tomatoes. For me it’s easier to use a dehydrator instead. Even if you do sun dry your tomatoes, you may need to throw them into the dehydrator for a little while to make sure they are really dry enough to be ground into a powder.
How to make tomato powder and dehydrated tomatoes
How to Make Tomato Powder & Dehydrated Tomatoes
Makes around 8 ounces
Instructions
- Rinse the tomatoes well and remove the stems.
- Slice the tomatoes thinly and place the tomato slices on baking sheets or dehydrator trays, spreading the tomatoes out so that they are not touching or on top of each other.
- If using an oven, bake the tomatoes at the lowest temperature, using the oven fan if you have one. If using a dehydrator, dry on a low setting. either way, continue to dry the tomatoes until they are dry and brittle. You want the tomatoes to be brittle because that's a good sign that you have thoroughly removed the moisture from the tomatoes. If they are still flexible, they likely have a tiny bit of moisture still. It's a good idea to flip the tomatoes partway through the process, especially if using the oven.
- Once the tomatoes are completely dry, you can leave them as is, storing them in an airtight container or in a jar with olive oil (see instructions below). You my want to first slice them into strips for using on salads.
- If you want to make tomato powder, you will want to grind the tomatoes into a powder using a blender or food processor. I find it easier to first cut the tomato slices into smaller pieces and then grind them into a powder in the blender. If the powder isn't fine enough, you can switch to a coffee grinder to finish grinding the powder.
Nutritional Information
How to store dried tomatoes
Store dried tomato slices in an airtight container, preferably one without a lot of extra airspace, in the fridge. If you store them in plastic bags, try to remove as much air as possible before sealing them. You can store the dried tomatoes at room temperature, if needed, but it’s a good idea to keep them in the fridge to help keep mold forming on them in case you haven’t thoroughly dehydrated them. If you should see mold developing, you’ll want to toss them.
You can also choose to store dried tomato slices or strips in olive oil in the fridge, but they won’t keep as long as dried tomatoes without oil. To help bring out the acidic flavor of the tomatoes, dip them into vinegar before placing them into the oil. I like using dried tomatoes stored in oil for topping salads or working into spreads like hummus.
How to store tomato powder
Tomatoes take up a lot of room because of their water content, but tomato powder doesn’t take up very much room at all. If you store it in in an airtight container in the fridge, it is said to last indefinitely. That is, of course, if you did a good job of dehydrating the tomatoes well from the beginning, which is also important for easy grinding into a powder.
How to use tomato powder
Tomato powder is incredibly useful to have around because of its versatility. Not only is tomato powder great for seasoning my homemade flaxseed tortilla chips, adding to soups, stews, ground beef for tacos, etc., but it can also be mixed with a bit of water for an instant tomato sauce, tomato paste or tomato soup! Add it to cream cheese to make a tasty spread. I guess you can add it to just about anything to add a healthy flavor kick.
How to make tomato sauce from tomato powder
Depending upon how thick you want the final sauce to be, you will want to add somewhere around 1 part of water to 1 part tomato powder. For more of a tomato paste, you will want to use a little less water, or begin with a 1:1 ratio and later simmer it down to the desired consistency. For a thinner sauce for something like enchiladas, you will want to add more water. Simmer the powder with the water while stirring to fully dissolve the powder and thicken the sauce.
Do you love tomato powder as much as I do?
I’d love to hear how you use it!
DIY Natural Fabric Softeners
I do make sure that my tomatoes are totally dry–and I find a coffee mill works best to get a nice fine powder.
But another thing I do is use the silica packs from medication bottles (since they are food grade) and put it in the jars of tomato powder…it helps keep it from caking–even thoroughly dry, they have a lot of sugar that can make it clump.
Hi Donna,
That’s a great idea! Thanks!
Use tomato powder with dried basel for tomato basel soup at work just add hot water.
Oooh- somehow missed this comment before. That sounds wonderful too! My son is a huge basil fan. He’s addicted to it.
Make smoked paprika every year, love it!
I’m thinking of trying again soon!
Wow, this is such a cool way to preserve tomatoes! I’m starting a yearlong challenge of eating locally sourced foods and have been looking for s space saving way to preserve tomatoes. I’m really excited to try this during tomato season this summer!
Definitely give it a try! It saves a lot of space and is great in so many recipes! 🙂
Had yellow and red heirloom tomatoes dried and blended. It smells so good. May try smoking some then drying them for chili I think might be yummy.
I’d really love to hear how that goes. It does sound wonderful! It’d be great in a homemade BBQ sauce too!
I have made tomato powder from tomato skins but never using whole tomato slices. I have read that the seeds can make the powder bitter. But I have also read it doesn’t. Thoughts? We use quite a bit of the powder and I don’t want to ruin it.
Hi Peg, I hadn’t heard that before and mine wasn’t bitter, but it may depend on the variety/size of the tomatoes, which may be why some people find it bitter and others don’t. (I’ve found that happen with eggplants- the larger ones get more bitter and have larger seeds.)
If you’re wanting to make the powder and not the slices, you could pretty easily strain the seeds out if you’re worried about it. I blend up the tomatoes and press them through a strainer. Of course, it would also remove the peels, unless you want to separately peel them first. (I think I showed my process in my post for how to make tomato paste.)
Thanks for the idea…I think I’m gonna try to make bellpepper powder too.
Hi Cyndi,
You’re so welcome!
That sounds like a wonderful idea. I’d love to hear how it goes and how you use it!
Smoked some and made smoked paprika from my red sweet peppers. It is GR8 in rubs.
Hi Cindy,
That sounds wonderful!
I made smoked paprika last year and loved it. I need to share it on the blog as some people don’t realize that it’s something you can make yourself!
I wish to be guided on this matter. Is it okay to add some onions to the tomato powder and can the powder be packed in plastic packages?
Hello,
Yes, you could make your own seasoning that would really be a mix of tomato powder and onion powder by drying them together.
You can store in food-grade plastic if you prefer. I tend to try to avoid plastics, but it’s not always practical. The important thing is to use an airtight container.
Hi Tracy, just found your site and very excited to try the tomato powder. Have you tried packing the it in a jar with an oxygen absorber for longer term storage? In your article you mention keeping it in the refrigerator, is that necessary for shorter term storage, say a month or less? Thanks!
Hi Trena,
To be honest, I don’t store mine in the fridge, but like to err on the side of caution when writing on the blog. I am very careful that my tomato slices are brittle before making into a powder and store them in airtight containers. I haven’t had any problems keeping them in the cupboard. I just want to avoid people having problems if they have left some residual water in the tomatoes, you know? If you are careful, you shouldn’t need to store in the fridge- just toss at the first sign of mold! (I haven’t had any grow in mine and I live very near the Mediterranean Sea.)
I hadn’t considered the oxygen absorber, so I don’t know how that would work.
The only problem I have with long term storage of the powder is that it browns over time, but still seems to work quite well. (I use that as a sign to use it up soon and make more.) 😉
New to dehydrating and am anxious to try this recipe. Looking for help with a worchershire sauce powder.
Hi Susan!
A Worcestershire sauce powder?!?!?! Interesting!!
It’s something I’ve never heard of or thought of. I have made my own version of a Worcestershire sauce, but have never tried making it into a powder. That’s definitely an interesting idea. I should post the sauce recipe on the blog in any case.
The tomato powder looks intriguing. I’ll definitely add it to my recipe book.
Hi Sharon,
I love having it on hand for last minute no-tomato-sauce-on-hand emergencies. 🙂
Plus, it takes up very little space. I hope you enjoy it!
Just found you and subbed. Do you have any idea how much powder equals one sun dried tomato? Ground all mine into powder and now I need a couple tomatoes. Ha! – Joy
Hi Joy-
Hmmmm… I worked with grams at the time. Let me see if I can take a look at my figures and I can figure it out. 😉
OK- here goes my best guess. I’m reading that 1 pound of tomatoes usually is around 3 tomatoes that are the size of a baseball.
I made 8 pounds of tomatoes, so that should be around 24 baseball sized tomatoes. I ended up with around 2 cups or 32 Tbsp. powder…
I think that means that around 1 1/3 Tbsp. powder would be the equivalent of a larger, baseball sized tomato. I used smaller tomatoes most of the time, so it would be less powder than that for each tomato.
This is all just a best guess, though.
As someone with kidney troubles in always trying to find different ways to make seasonings with things I can use. In so excited to hear this idea and in dehydrating a tomato now to see how it works. Thanks so much.
I’m very happy to help, Jeremy! I hope it goes well for you.
My favorite dehydrated dinner recipe for backpacking is chicken tortilla soup, which gets a lot of its flavor from tomato powder. Basically my own spin on this:
https://www.dirtygourmet.com/backpacking-tortilla-soup/
It’s soooo tasty, so I’m hoping to come up with more backpacking recipes that use this ingredient. Thanks to your instructions I’m now making my own tomato powder instead of having to buy it, which will be so much more convenient and probably cheaper, too. Thank you!
Hi Amy,
That’s an interesting idea. I actually do a lot of hiking myself because I live on a mountain, but because I’m not gone very long, I really only take some nuts and fruit usually. I like the idea of foods for backpacking, though. I’ll keep it in mind. 🙂
My daughter ans son-in-law do a lot of camping and backpacking. This summer they raided my dehydrated foods and one of the things they liked best was the tomato powder. They made soup, seasoned meats with it and even made some tomato juice.
Wow, that’s great! I’m so happy to hear it! 🙂
Very useful
Thank you!
I ordered a flat of organic San Marzano tomatoes from my CSA. I peeled & canned the whole tomatoes, then dehydrated the tomato skins & made them into powder. Easy peasy, since no prep was necessary to use the skins.
Wow, Andrea, I love that idea!
So thrifty and frugal- totally up my alley!
Thanks so much for the idea. I’ll have to add the tip when I get to updating the post.
In the part of the world where I live, 50kg of fresh tomatoes cost less than a dollar at peak season. Can you advise me how I can go into the production of commercial tomato powder. ie.type of machines needed and where I can find them to buy. Because at off seasons it can cost as much as 100 dollars. I will be greatful to your usual corporation.
Hi Kwaku,
I’m sorry, but I have no idea about the sorts of machines you would need for commercial production. I write for people who want to take charge of their food and other products and make them themselves at home. I don’t sell anything I make, and only make small amounts of foods, soaps, etc. for my own family.
Can you use green tomatoes
Hi Christina,
I’ve never tried it.
You definitely could use green tomatoes. I’m just not sure what the flavor would be like. It would probably be good for different recipes and to give a different flavor to recipes. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes.
HOLY COW!!! That just gave me an AWESOME idea!!! We have a lot of Mexican supermarkets here in Las Vegas, that of course sell more “Mexican” fruits n veggies. I recently bought 5lbs of tomatillos. Besides the usual salsa verde, I think I’ll try doing THIS with a few!!! I will let you know how it turns out!! Oh my gosh I am soooooo excited!! tee-hee!! 😀
Hi Toni,
That is a great idea, and I’d love to hear how it goes!
I use the powder for making homemade “Doritos” like chips, so that would also be great in something like that. 😉
Have fun!
A couple of years ago, I dehydrated some tomatoes and made tomato powder. But I didn’t have time to grind ALL of them, so I threw the rest in a ziplock bag… and promptly forgot about them. I ran across the bag yesterday, and they had gone “leathery” instead of crispy. They probably absorbed a wee bit of moisture, but there is no mold and they still smell fine. I tried putting them back in the dehydrator and ran them for about 8 hours today, but they are still leathery— or is that because they are warm?
Do you have any ideas about re-crisping them? Or should I just throw them away (wincing)?
Hi Muriel,
Unfortunately, I don’t have any ideas for re-crisping them.
If it were me, I’d probably cut them into small pieces and throw them into oil for using on salads or blending into other sauces. Even if they aren’t crisy enough to make a powder, you should still be able to get great uses out of them. 😉
I haven’t yet tried to make tomato powder, but if I had some I would add it to pasta dough to make red pasta!
Hi Marsha,
That sounds like a great idea for it.
I may have to try that sometime. I don’t often make pasta anymore, as I went pretty strict paleo for awhile, but I may start introducing it back into my diet little by little. Homemade is definitely the way to go! 🙂
Hi!
I did this with tomato sauce. I cooked a batch of tomatoes, adding herbs and spices to taste, boiled it down and dehydrated to leather. I then ground the leather and put the powder back in the dehydrator to make sure it was good and dry. Great for pizza topping and stir fried veggies for pasta!
If you’re on the lookout for a dehydrator and are considering an Excallibur, *do* have a look at the *Sedona* first. It looks very much like the Excallibur (9 trays) but you can divide the space in 2 as it has 2 heating elements and fans and comes with a divider-tray. Great for smaller batches as it only requires half the electricity.
Hi Guinan,
That sounds great too! I may have to try that sometime.
Thanks for the heads up on the dehydrators. Eventually I want to get one with rectangular trays like those. I hate the round ones. They’re very impractical, but I just wanted something cheap to see if I’d actually use a dehydrator. 😉
I have a Sedona and I specially like that I can use only half of it, because I live alone and don’t always have a lot to dehydrate. Also the door does not come completely out, it’s on a hinge and flips down, which means I don’t have to find a spot in my – small and overfull – kitchen to put it. The prices are comparable, although the Sedona has a bit less volume than the Excalibur. For me that was not a problem because I already have trouble filling it! You seperate the two halves by means of an – included – tray, which can also be put on the lowest rung to catch crumbs, which I also find helpful.
Take a look here for a comparison:
http://www.healwithfood.org/comparison/tribest-sedona-dehydrator-vs-excalibur-which-is-better.php
That makes a lot of sense!
Thanks for the tip. 🙂
Hi I have a old dehydrator..I purchased a huge stainless steal didn’t work ..what kind of dehydrator are you using for these tomatoes ?I’m looking to purchase another one and I need to do the tomato powder .I always have tons of tomatoes from garden….linda
Hi Linda,
That’s interesting. To be honest, I purchased the cheapest dehydrator I could find on amazon because I didn’t know how much I would be using it. The same brand doesn’t seem to be available in the US, but it was something like this, but with opaque walls.
In the end, I use it more than I thought, and I have to admit that I hate the circular design. I should have bought something like this instead! (I chose that one to show more or less the design of what I would like, but that super sale price does catch my attention. 😉 )
Are you sure you didn’t just leave it long enough?
Tomatoes take a long time to dehydrate because they have a lot of water. At first they will get dry yet flexible. You have to take them a step further and get them dry and crispy before grinding them into powder.
You could also try finishing them up in the lowest heat setting of your oven, with the fan on if that’s an option with your oven. That works pretty well in my oven. You have to be very careful not to burn them, though.