06/27/2026
Unpopular opinion: I prefer to freeze my tomatoes instead of canning them. 🤫🍅
Look, I know the gardening community takes canning very seriously, but I’m just going to keep it 100 with y'all. Here is exactly why you won't see me water-bathing anything this summer:
1️⃣ It’s been 23 years.
The last time I even attempted a jar method was for a strawberry rhubarb jam over two decades ago. And even then, I just used mason jars—I’ve never done actual, traditional canning. I straight up don't know how!
2️⃣ I don’t have the space.
While canning is probably easy once you get the hang of it, I don't have the room to store rows and rows of jars in this house.
3️⃣ The safety stakes are high.
You have to be incredibly precise and efficient with your canning practices so you don’t make yourself or anyone else sick. The margin for error is tight.
4️⃣ I’m just too damn lazy for all that. 🤷🏾♀️
Now, don't get it twisted—I absolutely respect the journey from the garden to the table. In my last position as a hotel pasta chef, I made pasta completely from scratch every single day, along with the bolognese and the marinara sauce. I know firsthand that making fresh marinara sauce (with Roma tomatoes only, of course) is top tier!
But when it comes to preserving the extra harvest, throwing them into vacuum bags and tossing them in the freezer is hands-down the easiest, fastest, and safest method for my lifestyle.
In fact, that bag of Tami grape tomatoes you see in this video has been sitting in my freezer since last summer, and they are still perfectly preserved and ready to be melted down into a rich sauce.
When you run them under warm tap water, the skins slide right off in one piece, and you get that fresh-picked flavor all winter long without the canning stress.
Work smarter, not harder. 🧊✨
👇🏾 Are you team canning, or are you joining me on team lazy freezer? Let’s talk about it in the comments!
