How Long to Boil Tomatoes: A Quick Start Guide

Whether or not you’re a fan of tomatoes, have access to a plentiful bounty, or are interested in home food preservation, you’ll benefit from learning how long to boil tomatoes. The time and procedure differ depending on your goals. You may want to know how long to boil tomatoes to peel, how long to boil tomatoes to can or how long to boil tomatoes for sauce (homemade is best)… so, let’s go over all of them!

Boiling Tomatoes to Peel

Boiling tomatoes to peel is simple, and the following method works on most varieties of tomatoes. You’ll need a pot, water and tomatoes:

1. Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Use a sharp paring knife to cut an “X” across the bottom (not the stem end) of each tomato.
3. Prepare an ice water bath to cold shock the tomatoes. Remember, the goal here is to peel the tomatoes, not cook them; the ice water bath prevents that.
4. Transfer the tomatoes to the boiling water (depending on how many you have, you may want to work in batches) and leave them in the water for 20-30 seconds or until the skins start to wrinkle.
5. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and transfer them to the ice bath.
6. Once cooled, remove tomatoes from the ice water, peel them and use them as desired.

Boiling Tomatoes for Canning

The easiest method for canning tomatoes is the water bath method, because you don’t need special equipment besides canning jars and jar grippers. For a 9-pint yield, you’ll need 13-15 pounds of tomatoes. Complete the above steps to peel them but reserve the hot water. Once that process is complete:

1. Bring a large, deep pot of water to a boil. Boil the jars for 10 minutes to sanitize and then dry the jars.
2. Add one tablespoon of bottled lemon juice to each jar.
3. Divide the peeled tomatoes among the jars, leaving half an inch of space at the top.
4. Ladle the hot water over the jarred tomatoes, clean the rim of each jar and screw the lids on until finger-tight (don’t overdo it).
5. Use the jar grippers to lower the jars into the boiling water. Ensure that the jars are not touching and are covered with 1-2 inches of water.
6. Let boil for 40 minutes for altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea level. Refer to the table if you live at an altitude higher than 1,000 feet above sea level, because, when canning tomatoes, how long to boil depends heavily on altitude.

Boiling Tomatoes for Sauce

To make canned tomato sauce, you’ll need:

• 15 pounds of ripe tomatoes
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons fine sea salt, optional
• 8 pint-sized mason jars that have been sterilized

Instructions

1. Peel the tomatoes as instructed above.
2. Coarsely chop the tomatoes.
3. Transfer the tomatoes to a pot and bring them to a boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 45-90 minutes (the total time depends on how thick you want the sauce).
5. Stir in the lemon juice and salt.
6. Divide among 8 pint-sized mason jars and use the previous canning procedure to can.

Now that you know how long to boil tomatoes, get the freshest tomatoes you can find and get to work. With tomatoes, the options are endless!