How to Make Tomato Powder Out of Tomato Skins
How to Make Tomato Powder out of tomato skins! You’ll never throw away tomato skins again!
It’s raining tomatoes! Don’t I always say that during July and August? Well it’s true. You won’t believe how many pounds of tomatoes we grew this year and I’m not going to tell you because I will save it for the big Summer harvest weight chart post coming sometime in September. You guys know I love my Stewed Tomatoes recipe but with that comes alot of extra tomato skins. I’ve been composting them for years but this year I was set on using them in a recipe.
How to Use Tomato Skins
I wanted to use the tomato skins in a unique way that can be enjoyed in different recipes and ways throughout the seasons. So making tomato powder and tomato flakes it is!
What can you do with tomato powder?
-Sprinkle on slices of pizza.
-Use on sandwiches on subs.
-Throw in soups, stews and chili.
-Use as a meat seasoning.
-Throw in tomato sauces for more tomato flavor!
-Popcorn. (Thanks Kelly!)
It’s up to you if you want to make tomato powder or tomato flakes. Both are dried the same way, but the decision comes in how you process it. Do you want it flaky? Or fine powder? For a powder use a coffee grinder, and for flakes use a food processor (or even a mortar and pestle would work).
So let’s do it!
Tomato Powder Recipe
So after you blanch your tomatoes you’re usually left with a bunch of tomato skins and tomato juice. I have a great way to use up tomato juice that’s coming to the blog soon.
We usually have a ton of tomato skins and I hate just not doing anything with them. Here’s some size comparison to see how many tomato skins we had one afternoon.
Throw them on your food dehydrator sheet, separating them so they are in one layer. If they are layered on top of each other they are going to take forever to dry.
Now throw in your food dehydrator. We have this dehydrator and it’s great at doing a bunch of vegetables/fruits at once. A funny story is one Summer were were up to our ears in vegetables and suddenly it came to my mind that we needed a dehydrator. We would usually order online but we wanted one right then so Matthew rushed off and got one and then walked home with it. It’s 25 pounds and he walked about 4 miles. He’s a great boy.
And then after hours in the dehydrator, crisp tomato skins come out.
Now to turn into powder or flakes, it’s up to you. If you have a bunch of skins why not do both?
For flakes, throw into your food processor and pulse a few times.
For powder, throw the skins into a coffee grinder and grind until they’re turned into a powder. I have a small coffee grinder (that I specifically bought for vegetables/herbs as I don’t drink coffee!) so this takes me forever. If it takes you forever a good secret is to turn these into flakes first and then put into the grinder, you’ll be able to grind a bunch more at once then.
Beautiful and delicious powder!
I can basically open a seasoning shop with all the powders I’ve been making this Summer!
Right after I made the powder and sprinkled it on a grilled cheese sandwich (with jalapenos!). It was perfect.
I throw my powder in a mason jar and keep on the counter top with the rest of the Summer seasonings.
I also made my dad one (along with some jalapeno powder!) that I sent to him in the mail. These make great gifts!
Hope you enjoyed this recipe and I hope you put your tomato skins to use!
Looking for more tips? Learn how to store cilantro to make it last for weeks!
How to Make Tomato Powder From Tomato Skins
How to Make Tomato Powder out of tomato skins! You'll never throw away tomato skins again!
Ingredients
- Tomato Skins
Instructions
- Gather your tomato skins.
- Place on dehydrator sheets.
- Dehydrate at 135 degrees for 8-12 hours until brittle and no longer wet.
- For powder: Put dried tomato skins in coffee grinder and grind until powder. Store in jar.
- For flakes: Put dried tomato skins in food processor and pulse a few times until flakes. Store in jar.
This sounds PERFECT on a grilled cheese! Or on popcorn with Parmesan cheese and maybe a little garlic powder. I wish I had a pile of tomatoes (and a dehydrator lol) because I’d be all over this.
Popcorn.. genius! Thanks Kelly!
What a great idea! Makes me want to run out and buy a dehydrator! Your tomato powder looks beautiful too. I wonder if you could make oion powder with all of those onions you just picked?
Absolutely Susan, it’s on our list to do. The problem is that I start crying like a baby when they have to peeled so maybe my husband will do it while I go out to the shops. 😛
chewing gum while cutting onions, really does help with the tears.
I will have to try that, thank you!
what a good idea! I love sundried tomatoes, so this is kickin it up a notch
http://dayinmydreams.com/
Thanks Kristina!
What a great idea I love it. I don’t have a dehydrator can I put in the oven on lowest temp? Have wasting anything and this is the perfect use for the tomato skins,
Absolutely you can! Just keep them in there until crisp.
This is so interesting and awesome! We have been loving and loading up on tomatoes from the farmer’s market. Can’t imagine the bounty you grew yourself!
Well this is really cool! I had no idea you could do this!
I’m so lazy. I freeze tomatoes whole (the ones I don’t use in salsa, which I just leave the skin on for) and then make batches of sauce when I want them, or use them like crushed/diced tomatoes as I need them. When they thaw, the skin slides right off, but I never save them. I going to start though! Maybe re-freeze them and dry a ton at once.
I buy tomato powder, too. Gosh, that’s ridiculous of me.
what a great idea! i shudder to think of all the tomato skins i’ve composted… :/
BRILLIANT! I could give you a big smooch. So happy to have a way to use up the skins too.
Hi Pamela, I am loving your tomato powder, how clever, clever!!!! I will be making this myself.
Very good idea! When we can tomatoes, we usually cook down all the skins and cores and then make tomato sauce from them, but this is one I’ll have to remember, too! Pinning!
What a fantastic idea, brilliant! I love any recipe that stops waste. I can only imagine how good it tastes 😀
Hi, I use a food strainer to process my tomatoes so I have seeds mixed in with my skins. Could I still make this?
Hey Courtney, I would try to remove the seeds if possible. If you throw the skins and seeds in a bowl of water, you should be able to wash the seeds off pretty quickly.
Remove the seeds and save them after they’ve been air dried. You can store them in brown paper bags. Use them to plant your next years tomatoes. I always save tomato seeds, as long as they aren’t cooked. Cooking them destroys them for planting.
[…] skins (compost!), or come up with something to do with them. I like to use the skins to make tomato powder which can be sprinkled in soups, casseroles, sandwiches, […]
Gostei muito da opção de fazer pó de pele de tomate, não tinha pensado nisto, o pó de tomate pode servir para muitas coisas como acrescentar cor a maionese, é uma ótima ideia de colocar na pizza, fora as vitaminas que estamos ganhando utilizando pó de pele de tomate, acrescentar cor ao arroz, dar um gostinho a mais no hamburguer, e os snakes de carne de porco ficam deliciosos com o pó de pele de tomate vou experimentar!
Enjoy Edgar, I hope you can use this powder in many recipes to come!
How did you make the jalapeno powder? That sounds real good.
Hey Julie, here’s the post: https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/2015/09/05/how-to-make-crushed-chili-pepper-flakes-from-jalapeno-peppers/
thank you
I was really impressed with you post about the tomato powder. I also make tomato powder. I tried using the food processor but it didn’t get it fine enough – I wanted it like powder. So, I tried using my blender and it works great! I can do quite a lot quite quickly and it is really fine and lovely to work with. It is even much finer than what you have in your pictures.
I use it to mix up a tomato paste or to thicken tomato sauces. I love using it!
It just makes me sick to know how much I wasted knowing what do with tomato skins. No more though!
Enjoy Sandy!
Excelente forma de aprovechar todo el tomate…lo voy a mezclar con Chile del monte y secar junto para darle más sabor.
That sounds delicious – enjoy the tomato powder!
The cambell sup company used to have tomato soup in a box just like chicken noodle in a cup. My son gave me one package and told me to add them in flour to cook fried chicken. Very yummy. They don’t sell anymore so I guess tomato powder would do the same.
Hope this does the trick for you Bobbie Sue! Enjoy!
I have never dehydrated anything. But somehow planted well over 200 plants. Can you mix different types of tomatoes? Do they dry and reconstitute the same? Thank you so much.
Hey Ann – yes you can definitely mix different types of tomatoes. Since you’re only using the skins they should take about the same time, but just keep a eye on them to make sure. Enjoy – this is really fun to do!
Hello Pamela, I made jalapeno powder last year and loved it, but hey I love hot and spicy. This great about the tomato skins being dehydrated! I’ll definitely try this. Would love you new ideas on dehydrating other things. Please keep me up to date ! Thank you, Linda
Hey Linda – so glad you enjoyed the jalapeno powder! I have some dehydrating posts coming soon – including fruit leather rolls – so make sure to sign up for the newsletter to get post alerts!
Love your ideas…
Thanks Cindy!
I seen this and saved my skins/seeds from processing over the weekend. Now after reading the article I can’t imagine trying to separate the skins and seeds. I imagine this would be pretty time consuming. I wonder if it would hurt to grind the seeds up too?
Hey Janie, I think if you ran the skins under water the seeds would separate from them pretty quickly. I know it adds a little bit more time, but worth it in the end!
[…] to handle, remove and discard the skin from the tomatoes (you can use tomato skins to make tomato powder!), remove the core, and coarsely chop the flesh. […]
[…] guys know I don’t like to waste anything we grow. I’ve showed you how to make tomato powder out of tomato skins, and how to make mint tea, but now I wanted to show you my trick on how to how […]
I love that idea, I will be using it, neat ideal.
Great, glad this could help Sara!
I am unable to find your blog about tomato juice uses from fresh tomatoes mentioned in this post. help
Gonna try this tomato powder is expensive to order and hard to find can’t wait thanks
Can’t believe I’ve been canning for many years and never tried this powder process. Thanks to all of the great , saving ideas. I don’t like to waste anything. Thanks to everyone
Happy to hear this tomato powder helps Jeri!
Any idea how long the shelf life would be on tomato powder? I too have it in a mason jar in my spice rack.
Hey Emily, I’ve had some for over 2 years and it’s fine! But then again I’m not the first to throw out spices! 😉
Hey Emily, I do my tomato powder with a twist. I roast and can 40-50 quarts of Roma tomatoes every fall. I use my outdoor gas grill to get a good char on the tomatoes and also help with removal of skins. I usually have a ton of skins. I then cold smoke the skins in my electric smoker. I use a fruit wood like apple or peach to smoke them. Them flavor profile is amazing with a ton of umami. Fresh tomato basil pasta dishes never tasted so good! One tip is just make enough to use over the winter and freeze the rest of the roasted skins in baggies. Pull out a bag of skins and smoke them and your good to go! I call it “Essence of smoked tomato skins”
This is amazing. Could I do this in the oven some how?
Yes! Lay them out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees for 3-4 hours until dried. I just did it today. I had one pan that took way longer as I had put too many skins on it, so definitely don’t overlap!
Hey Jen – thank you so much for helping and sharing this information!
Hey Heather, you could. Just put them in at the lowest temperature and watch them closely until crisp.
Can your tomato powder be used to make stew or jollof rice?
Hey Ugo, you can absolutely use tomato powder in stew and rice! I do it often. Enjoy!
Can I use an oven for drying the tomato skin and still get the same results?
Yes you can. Please read up in the comments, Jen give perfect instructions there. Hope this helps!
[…] Tomato Powder […]