A Gardening Expert’s Favorite Ways to Use Green Tomatoes
Here’s what to do if you have tons of unripe tomatoes on the vines.
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Your garden had a good run this year, and the tomato harvest has been bountiful. Sadly, the growing season will end soon. But if your tomato plants still are loaded up with green tomatoes, there are plenty of ways to make use of them so they don’t go to waste.
The most important thing to remember is that time is short. “You must act before a frost occurs,” says Nate Muri, founder of Garden Like a Viking and Viking Growing System. “If tomatoes receive even one freezing experience, they will turn to mush and be virtually worthless.”
For this reason, it’s helpful to know when the first frost is expected in your growing zone (find your first frost date). “This is an estimated date so the first frost may occur a week or two before or after that date,” says Frank Hyman, author of Ripe Tomato Revolution and former organic tomato farmer. “But this gives you a basic timeframe when you need to pay close attention to the weather forecast.”
If you don’t want to lose the last of your crop, here’s what to do with your green tomatoes when a frost is forecast.
Make a note of the date.
Keeping a gardening notebook will help you with planning and selection of tomato varieties in the future. “If you have an abundance of green tomatoes late in the season, make a note that this variety is not ideal for your climate,” says Muri. Next time, choose a type that will ripen sooner (days to maturity should be listed on the plant tag or description).
Harvest every tomato that’s starting to turn.
Pick every fruit that has even the slightest blush of color. Then place these at room temperature on the counter (not on a windowsill and never in the fridge) to allow them to ripen naturally. They will turn from green to ripe in a matter of days to weeks, says Hyman.
Wrap them in newspaper.
Pick all of the remaining green, firm tomatoes. Wrap each one lightly in a section of newspaper, and place them in a box in your basement or somewhere out of direct sunlight where it will remain cool. “The tomatoes will slowly ripen over the next several weeks to months,” says Muri. “The main objective is to keep them wrapped in the newspaper so they are in complete darkness, and it also gives them a buffer to the changing humidity from the outside environment.”
Check the stored tomatoes regularly.
Discard any that become squishy or decayed. The tomatoes will last a long time, which might be two weeks or it might be two months. “I know it seems unlikely but I have had tomatoes last to December doing it this way, just sitting in the basement,” says Muri.
Make relish or salsa.
Green tomatoes make a great relish or salsa that can be used on steak, burgers, potatoes or rice. “One of my favorite things to do with the green tomatoes is to ferment them. Fermentation is an ancient method of preserving food well into the winter time,” says Muri.
Or make fried green tomatoes.
For best flavor, Hyman says choose green tomatoes that have seeds that are not soft or easily sliced by the knife, but rather those that have seeds that are hard and slide along the knife’s edge when the tomato is sliced through.
Compost them.
As a last resort, add green tomatoes to your compost pile. “They are full of moisture and nitrogen will decompose extremely fast in your compost pile to add lots of much-needed nitrogen,” says Muri. This is a simple way to turn them into food once again!
Arricca Elin SanSone is a writer, editor, and content creator who specializes in lifestyle and gardening. With a background in health reporting, she applies these same research skills when writing about the science of growing things. She trials new plants in her expansive garden, and her houseplant collection consists of 60+ varieties. Arricca has written thousands of articles for publications such as Country Living, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Prevention, VERANDA, Southern Living, and more. She’s happiest when digging in the dirt, baking, or spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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