3 Quick, Easy, and Lazy Ways to Skin and Peel Tomatoes

I scored a super sweet deal on fresh tomatoes from a local farm stand. My weekend plans immediately changed from clean the front porch to can tomatoes.

Well, actually I did both but Tomato Canning Madness was the big all weekend long thing.

Luckily, I have a ton of empty Ball jelly canning jars like these , canning jar rings (these stainless steel canning jar rings are my favorite because they are rust resistant,) and new lids to get me started until the canning jar lids I ordered from Amazon here arrive because trying to find regular Mason jar lids locally wasn’t happening thanks to another Covid related shortage. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.) The jars worked out great because we use the little 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce all of the time because they are so versatile, even though it means more jars to process. The plan is to can as many tomatoes possible with the supplies I have on hand. If/when I I round out of canning supplies, I’ll pop the tomatoes in the freezer until the glorious day that Amazon delivers them to my doorstep.

 But before I can even think about firing up my grandmother’s water bath canner just like this one I need to core, skin, seed, and peel the fresh tomatoes.

How?

The easy way of course!

Save these tomato peeling hacks to your Pinterest boards for later! Share them with your friends!

Well, easier. I had 30 pounds of tomatoes to deal with which is still work no matter how you look at it. I used the Instant Pot and oven methods to peel my tomatoes because it is more flavorful than the boiling water method. I’m including the hot and cold water method because you might need it if your oven and Instant Pot are full of tomatoes and you still have more tomatoes to peel and process. *raises hand*

 

How to Peel Fresh Tomatoes in Zero Minutes in an Instant Pot

 You cannot pressure can in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cookers like these  because they are not designed for pressure canning. They are made to cook food and cook food only. However, an electric pressure cooker will making blanching and loosening tomato skin oh so easy in practically no time at all!

Save these tomato peeling hacks to your Pinterest boards for later! Share them with your friends!

 

You will need:

Instant Pot electric pressure cooker

Steamer basket – this steamer basket fits in my Instant Pot perfectly and I like how the hook that comes with it makes it easy to remove the hot basket from my IP with out burning my fingers.

Water

Step by Step How to Do It Tutorial

1. Fill the Instant Pot with one inch of water, the steamer basket, and the washed and freshly washed and cored tomatoes.

2. Put the lid on the electric pressure cooker and use the Manual setting to set the timer to Zero Minutes. Yes, that’s right. Zero minutes. That is not a mistake. This allows the  Instant Pot will build up steam and loosen the tomato skins without cooking the tomatoes into mush.

3. Release the steam from the Instant Pot, remove the lid, and allow the tomatoes to cool before  you remove the loosened skin with your hands or a knife. I recommend using a tomato knife like this one because it is designed to cut soft tomatoes without crushing them.

 

How to Skin Fresh Tomatoes in the Oven

 

Save these tomato peeling hacks to your Pinterest boards for later! Share them with your friends!

You will need:

Baking sheet or oven safe baking pans – I’m using every glass baking dish I own in this example because I don’t use cookie sheets. I use a baking stone like this one which makes everything crisp up and bake more evenly

Olive oil – I buy olive oil by the gallon here.

 

Step by Step How to Do It Tutorial

1. Wash and core the tomatoes.

2. Coat the baking dish or pan with a light coating of olive oil or your favorite non stick cooking oil. You can make the job easier by filling an olive oil spray bottle like this one with your favorite cooking oil.

3. Put the fresh tomatoes in the baking pan/dish. I seasoned my tomatoes with a few shakes of onion powder and garlic powder because I used them to make lazy tomato sauce. Seasoning the tomatoes is an optional step.

4.  Spray/drizzle the top of the tomatoes with oil to keep them from burning and put them into a 350 degree (F ) oven for 40 minutes.

5. Remove the tomatoes from the oven,  allow the tomatoes to cool before you remove the loosened skin with with your hands or a tomato knife

 

How to Blanche and Peel Tomatoes on the Stove

 This is the traditional way to remove skin from a fresh tomato. With this method you core the tomato after you blanche and peel the loosened skin.

 

Save these tomato peeling hacks to your Pinterest boards for later! Share them with your friends!

You will need:

1 pot of boiling water

1 container of ice water – I use my sink and a reusable lunch box ice pack like this one

Tomato knife

Spider strainer like this one

 

Step by Step How to Do It Tutorial

1. Wash the tomatoes and use the tomato knife to cut a small X in the skin on the bottom of the tomato.

2. Put the tomatoes into the boiling water for approximately 5 minutes.

3. Use the spider strainer to remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and to immediately plunge the tomatoes into the ice water.

4. Remove the loosened skin with with your hands or a tomato knife

 

Looking for more tomato canning ideas, tips, and tools? Check out the following options – and more! – below!

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