How to Dehydrate Tomatoes for Shelf Stable Storage

Do you know what is the easiest way to preserve tomatoes for shelf stable (not frozen or refrigerated) storage?

It’s to dry them!

And it’s actually really easy to do.

Jump to:

• Why Dehydrate Instead of Canning Tomatoes?
• What Types of Tomatoes Are Best for Dehydrating?
• Prepping Tomatoes for Dehydrating or Drying
• Drying Tomatoes in a Dehydrator -- How To
• Drying Tomatoes in an Oven -- How To
• How to Tell When Tomatoes Are Done Drying
• Cooling Dried Tomatoes
• Condition the Dried Tomatoes (Doneness and Storage Test)
• How to Store Dried Tomatoes
• Great Ways to Use Dehydrated Tomatoes

Why Dehydrate Instead of Canning Tomatoes?

Canned tomatoes are a wonderful thing, too, but they come with a few drawbacks.

• Canning requires equipment
• Canning is a larger time commitment, and saucing, peeling, and canning tomatoes takes many hours of active, involved time
• Dehydrating, on the other hand, requires only a bit of prep (maybe half an hour to an hour if you have a lot of tomatoes to preserve), then the rest of the time is just the dehydrator running
• There is a larger learning curve with canning
• Dehydrating is safer because it does not involve boiling product and boiling cauldrons of water
• Both canning and dehydrating, when done correctly, are quite safe, but it is probably a little easier to rely on the safety of dried tomatoes
• Dried tomatoes can sometimes lend themselves to more flexible uses; in fact, you could even rehydrate dried tomatoes to make a sauce

At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong when it comes to choosing canning over dehydrating. There might be a preference, though.

Truth be told, for the best use and flexibility, you should do both!

What Types of Tomatoes Are Best for Dehydrating?

Any tomato can be dehydrated, but you’ll get the best results from varieties with the following characteristics:

• Meaty tomatoes
• Tomatoes with limited amounts of seeds
• Saucing and canning tomatoes (because they tend to be the meatiest)
• Cherry, grape, and plum tomatoes

You want a meaty tomato because the slices will shrink quite a lot when drying, and if there is a lot of space between the pulp, then the pieces will break and won’t hold together well.

Grape and cherry types do well as they are meaty portions with good ratios of meat and pulp to seed. They make good diced dried tomatoes, too.

Roma, Italian, and plum varieties are the best of the larger tomatoes.

Most slicers aren’t ideal for drying because they have large seed cavities, but if they're meaty enough and don’t have too many seeds, they will also do just fine.

Incidentally, you can also dry green tomatoes! If you do, don’t peel them. Slicers tend to make the best dried green tomatoes.

Here is a list of 11 of the best tomato varieties for drying and dehydrating, in case you’re planning ahead and growing tomatoes with this purpose in mind.

Prepping Tomatoes for Dehydrating or Drying

Preparing tomatoes for drying is a simple process. They’re an acidic food, so they don’t need additional treatment. Just washing, trimming, and slicing.

Wash your tomatoes

Wash your tomatoes to remove any dirt and residues that might be on them from growing.

A good, clean way to wash your tomatoes and also kill invisible mold or pathogens that might be on them is to soak the whole tomatoes in water and vinegar for 15 to 30 minutes before you begin.

If there is any stuck on dirt, just rub or rinse it off as you remove the tomatoes. Most of that will have come off in the soaking process, anyway.

Peeling. Or not.

For the most part, you do not need to peel tomatoes to prep them for dehydrating.

You should peel large, beefsteak, and slicer tomatoes if you’re using them because they have thicker, tougher peels that might not be as appetizing when you use your dried tomatoes. (The peels are harmless if you leave them on -- it’s a matter of texture and preference.)

You do not need to peel the varieties of tomatoes that are the best for dehydrating. That is to say, plum tomatoes, Italian, saucing, Roma, and cherry and grape tomatoes don’t need to be peeled. Their skins are thin enough not to bother anything when they’re dried. This saves a lot of time in the prepping phase.

If you are peeling any tomatoes, a good way to do that is to dip the tomatoes in boiling water for about a minute. Remove when the skins start to split. Plunge in cold ice water and the skins will then peel right off.

This will not cook the tomatoes, so there is no worry there. It is just a brief hot water dip that will split the skins so they can be peeled off by hand.

Remove stems from large tomatoes, cores if they have hard cores

If there are stems on the tomatoes, remove them.

Then, cut out the hard tip of the core where the stem was.

Nip off the bottom scar if there is a scab left on the blossom end.

A lot of the sauce-type tomatoes will barely have one, and you don’t need to do this for them if you don’t want to. Slicers are more likely to have a scar from the blossom, and it’s big enough that you’ll want to remove it. Don’t bother with this for cherry or grape tomatoes.

Now, all that’s left is the slicing.

For small tomatoes like cherry and grape

For small tomatoes, you only need to give them one cut. Just cut them in half from the stem to the bottom (blossom end).

For larger tomatoes, including Italian tomatoes, plum, Roma, and sauce tomatoes

Larger tomatoes should be cut into vertical slices. The slices should be about the same size so they dry evenly (but a little variation won’t hurt anything).

• Cut into slices from top to bottom
• Make the slices between ¼ and ½ inch thick
• Slice from the stem end to the blossom end
• Try to keep slices as even as possible

That’s all there is to prepping tomatoes for dehydrating.

Now, it’s just a matter of loading your trays and drying. Drying will take several hours. But it’s inactive work (in other words, you don’t have to be there busy or hovering). The tomatoes will dry as you’re doing other things.

However, it is recommended that you do not run ovens or dehydrators when you’re not home for safety’s sake.

Drying Tomatoes in a Dehydrator -- How To

You can dry tomatoes in your home oven or in a dehydrator. A dehydrator is the best option and gives the most even results. It also does not risk overheating and cooking the tomatoes in the process.

To begin, prepare your dehydrator trays.

Use a mesh screen for large-gapped dehydrator trays

If the mesh on your dehydrator trays is too wide, use a fine mesh screen over it.

It is best not to use a solid sheet because you want more air to pass through over and under. Anything solid will require turning off the slices, and it will take longer to dry the tomatoes.

Arrange prepped pieces on the trays

Now, just lay the slices out over the tray screen. Arrange the slices in a single layer.

They can touch on the edges because the tomato slices will shrink down soon enough, but you don’t want them piled or overlapping.

Dehydrating time and temp

• Dehydrate tomatoes at 135 to 145℉ (57.2 to 62.78℃)
• Drying should take 8 to 12 hours or until done
• Turn the trays after 3 hours and every 3 to 4 hours after that (turn front to back so the warm spots hit all the trays evenly)
• Rotate trays to different positions in the dehydrator (top/bottom, etc.)
• This will allow for even drying so your whole batch finishes at the same time

Drying Tomatoes in an Oven -- How To

Drying in the oven is only recommended for slices and diced tomatoes or chunks. Halved tomatoes (except small cherry tomatoes) are not recommended because they will take too long to dry in an oven.

It is best to dry your tomato slices on a rack, like a cooling rack, that has small enough openings for the tomatoes not to fall through.

Make sure you place the racks on a baking sheet in case the pieces (especially diced) shrink and fall through the spaces.

To dry in an oven:

• Turn your oven on as close to 145F as your oven will go
• If your oven does not go that low, dry it at its lowest setting with the door propped open, or turn the oven on and heat it to its lowest setting, then turn off and keep the door closed and the oven light on.
• You may have to re-cycle the temperature a few times to keep the oven warm enough for drying
• Dry for seven to eight hours or until done
• Turn slices over on the trays halfway through drying

How to Tell When Tomatoes Are Done Drying

Learning to tell when tomatoes are done dehydrating and are ready for shelf stable storage is a bit of a learning curve. You will figure it out.

Here is what to look for to know when tomatoes are done dehydrating:

• Tomatoes are shrunken to a fraction of their original size
• Pieces are flat
• Tomatoes have a leathery-to-dry texture
• Sometimes, the slices will feel leathery when warm, then dry and crisp after they cool
• The meat of the tomatoes will often lighten in color, while the skins will darken
• There should be no sticky spots
• No wet spots
• The tomatoes should be easy to remove from the mesh screens

If in doubt, dry for a longer rather than a shorter time. It’s better to overdry your tomatoes than to leave them underdried and with moisture still in them.

Cooling Dried Tomatoes

Make sure you let the tomatoes dry completely before you package and store them.

If you pack warm dried tomatoes right out of the dehydrator or oven, they will condensate and you will have moisture in your containers, which will compromise them and invite mold.

Turn the dehydrator off when the tomatoes are done drying, and let everything cool down to room temperature. Then let them sit for several hours to let them cool all the way out before you package them.

Condition the Dried Tomatoes (Doneness and Storage Test)

Conditioning is a good idea, and it is a good test to tell you whether your tomatoes are dried enough.

Conditioning evens out the residual moisture (of which there will always be a very low, undetectable level). It ensures that all of the pieces are evenly dry and safe for storing.

• To condition your tomatoes, place them in a sealed container. It can be your storage container or a temporary container.
• Shake the container every day for five days.
• You are looking for pieces that stick to the bottom of the container or each other.
• Some slices or dices may stick together compaction from weight and piling, but if you can shake them apart, they're fine.
• If you see sticky pieces that won’t move or if you see moisture beads inside the container, put them back in the dehydrator for more drying time.
• Condition again before final storage.

Here are more details on how to condition dehydrated foods.

How to Store Dried Tomatoes

Storage is simple for your dehydrated tomatoes.

• Store in airtight containers.
• Mason jars or canning jars make good storage vessels, and the glass will prevent air from working its way in.
• If you have a vacuum sealer for the lids, that is even better. However, it is not strictly necessary if you don’t have one.
• Though optional, it is also helpful to place an oxygen absorber in the jar. This will prolong the life and quality, but if the food is truly properly dried, it is not necessary.
• Store sealed containers out of direct light (a dark cabinet or pantry is best).
• Store in a cool place (again, average panty conditions are fine).

Great Ways to Use Dehydrated Tomatoes

Now that you’ve dried your tomatoes, how will you use them?

There are countless possibilities, but here are a few:

• Use as you would use any sun-dried tomato
• Rehydrate and make sauce
• Grind into tomato powder to use as a paste or add to sauces, soups, stews, vegetables, and more
• Make sun-dried tomato pesto
• Soak in olive oil (in the fridge) with garlic and herbs for dipping oil, dressing base, or marinade
• Use on pizza
• In casseroles
• In rice dishes
• Soups
• Crumbled to top salads
• Tossed in pasta dishes
• In hummus

Basically, use your dehydrated tomatoes anywhere you think dried tomatoes would be great! You’re bound to find more and more ways to use them once you start cooking with your dried tomatoes. Then next year, you’ll want to dry even more!