Turn your tomato skins into tomato powder by baking them in the oven or food dehydrator and then grinding into a powder. This is great no waste recipe that every gardener needs to make!
Homemade Tomato Powder
It’s raining tomatoes! Don’t I always say that during July and August? Well it’s true – we have so many tomatoes right now! You guys know I love my Stewed Tomatoes recipe, Roma Tomato Soup, Heirloom Tomato Pasta and homemade tomato paste to freeze, but with that comes a lot of extra tomato skins.
Being one that loves to use up the whole fruit or vegetable, I wanted to come up with a way to use use the tomato skins in a way that can be enjoyed in different recipes throughout the seasons. By making tomato powder we can enjoy our Summer tomato harvest, even during Winter!
Since I know not everyone has a food dehydrator I will supply both methods below – for making it in a food dehydrator and in the oven! Whatever way you choose, I hope you like it!
Love making homemade spices? Check out my homemade onion powder, garlic powder, adobo seasoning, dried basil, dried parsley, and dried oregano too!
How to Use Tomato Powder
Here are some great ways to use tomato powder in everyday recipes:
- Sprinkle on slices of pizza. (try this pizza dough!)
- Use as a meat seasoning. (great for oven baked burgers!)
- Use on sandwiches or subs.
- Throw in soups (like slow cooker barley sausage soup – pictured below!), stews and chili.
- Throw in pasta dishes.
- Use in fritters batter, like these zucchini corn fritters or mashed potato patties.
- Throw in tomato sauces for more tomato flavor!
- Popcorn!
How to Make Tomato Powder in the Oven
Preheat your oven to a low temperature, around 150-170 degrees F. (Up to 190 degrees F is ok if that’s as low as your oven goes).
Gather your tomato skins. These can be leftover from canning, making tomato sauce, or peeling fresh tomatoes. Make sure they are clean and free from any debris.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the tomato skins evenly on the baking sheet, ensuring they are not overlapping. This helps with even drying.
Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. The drying time can vary but generally takes around 4-8 hours, depending on oven temperature and how wet the tomato skins are.
After a few hours, check the tomato skins for dryness. They should be brittle and easily snap. If they are not completely dry, continue to bake and check at 30 minute intervals until they are ready.
Once the tomato skins are fully dried, remove them from the oven and let them cool to room temperature. This prevents condensation from forming when you store them.
Transfer the cooled, dried tomato skins to a coffee/spice grinder or food processor. Pulse until you achieve a fine powder consistency.
How to Make Tomato Powder with Food Dehydrator
- Collect your tomato skins, ensuring they are clean and free from debris.
- Lay the tomato skins on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate them at 135 degrees F for 8-12 hours until they become brittle and lose all moisture.
- Transfer the dried skins to a coffee grinder and process them until you have a fine powder. Store the powder in an airtight jar.
Want to make tomato flakes instead?
If you prefer flakes, place the dried skins in a food processor and pulse a few times until you achieve the desired flake consistency. Store the flakes in an airtight jar.
How to Store Tomato Powder
Transfer the tomato powder to an airtight container. Store it in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight and heat. Using a vacuum-sealed container can also help extend its shelf life.
Homemade tomato powder should last up to a year (or longer) when stored properly.
Pin for later:
How to Make Tomato Powder From Tomato Skins
PrintIngredients
- Tomato skins (as many as you have)
Instructions
To Make Tomato Powder in the Oven
- Preheat your oven to a low temperature, around 150-170 degrees F. (Up to 190 degrees F is ok if that's as low as your oven goes).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the tomato skins evenly on the baking sheet, ensuring they are not overlapping.
- Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. The drying time can vary but generally takes around 4-8 hours, depending on oven temperature and how wet the tomato skins are. After a few hours, check the tomato skins for dryness. They should be brittle and easily snap in half. If they are not completely dry, continue to bake and check at 30 minute intervals until they are ready.
- Once the tomato skins are fully dried, remove them from the oven and let them cool to room temperature. This prevents condensation from forming when you store them.
- Transfer the cooled, dried tomato skins to a spice or coffee grinder. Pulse until you achieve a fine powder consistency.
- Transfer the tomato powder to an airtight container or spice jar. Store it in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight and heat. Tomato powder should last up to a year (or longer) when stored properly.
To Make Tomato Powder in Food Dehydrator
- 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. For flakes: Put dried tomato skins in food processor and pulse a few times until flakes. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight and heat. Tomato powder should last up to a year (or longer) when stored properly.
Heather Maske says
This is amazing. Could I do this in the oven some how?
Jen says
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!
Pamela says
Hey Jen – thank you so much for helping and sharing this information!
Pamela says
Hey Heather, you could. Just put them in at the lowest temperature and watch them closely until crisp.
Chef Ed says
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”
Emily says
Any idea how long the shelf life would be on tomato powder? I too have it in a mason jar in my spice rack.
Pamela says
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! 😉
Jeri moore says
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
Pamela says
Happy to hear this tomato powder helps Jeri!
Laurie says
Gonna try this tomato powder is expensive to order and hard to find can’t wait thanks
Holly Killion says
I am unable to find your blog about tomato juice uses from fresh tomatoes mentioned in this post. help
Sara says
I love that idea, I will be using it, neat ideal.
Pamela says
Great, glad this could help Sara!
Janie says
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?
Pamela says
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!
Cindy Adams says
Love your ideas…
Pamela says
Thanks Cindy!
Linda Montgomery says
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
Pamela says
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!
Ann Jackson says
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.
Pamela says
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!
Bobbie sue Sanders says
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.
Pamela says
Hope this does the trick for you Bobbie Sue! Enjoy!
Víctor Vázquez says
Excelente forma de aprovechar todo el tomate…lo voy a mezclar con Chile del monte y secar junto para darle más sabor.
Pamela says
That sounds delicious – enjoy the tomato powder!
Sandy says
It just makes me sick to know how much I wasted knowing what do with tomato skins. No more though!
Pamela says
Enjoy Sandy!
Kathy says
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!
Julie Rice says
How did you make the jalapeno powder? That sounds real good.
Pamela says
Hey Julie, here’s the post: https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/2015/09/05/how-to-make-crushed-chili-pepper-flakes-from-jalapeno-peppers/
Julie Rice says
thank you
Edgar Egon Kittler says
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!
Pamela says
Enjoy Edgar, I hope you can use this powder in many recipes to come!
Courtney says
Hi, I use a food strainer to process my tomatoes so I have seeds mixed in with my skins. Could I still make this?
Pamela says
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.
Linda says
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.
Emma @ Bake Then Eat says
What a fantastic idea, brilliant! I love any recipe that stops waste. I can only imagine how good it tastes 😀
Amy (Savory Moments) says
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!
cheri says
Hi Pamela, I am loving your tomato powder, how clever, clever!!!! I will be making this myself.
Jamie | The Kitchenarium says
BRILLIANT! I could give you a big smooch. So happy to have a way to use up the skins too.
grace says
what a great idea! i shudder to think of all the tomato skins i’ve composted… :/
katie says
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.
Ashley says
Well this is really cool! I had no idea you could do this!
Monica says
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!
Suzanne says
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,
Pamela says
Absolutely you can! Just keep them in there until crisp.
kristina says
what a good idea! I love sundried tomatoes, so this is kickin it up a notch
http://dayinmydreams.com/
Pamela says
Thanks Kristina!
Susan says
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?
Pamela says
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. 😛
jerilyn says
chewing gum while cutting onions, really does help with the tears.
Pamela says
I will have to try that, thank you!
Kelly @ Hidden Fruits and Veggies says
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.
Pamela says
Popcorn.. genius! Thanks Kelly!