How to Use Green Tomatoes

Whether we like it or not, the tomato season is coming to an end, so it's not certain that all the green tomatoes on your tomato plants will have time to ripen. It takes about 8 weeks from flower to ripe tomato, depending on the tomato variety. Although, we certainly love the taste of sun-ripened tomatoes, green tomatoes can also be used in a variety of dishes, or alternatively the green tomatoes can simply be taken indoors to ripen further.

In this article you can read, how to make your own homemade pickled tomatoes with the herbs you have in the greenhouse or in your kitchen. If you're not into pickling, we'll also cover a multitude of other ways you can use your green tomatoes.

 

Recipe: Pickled green tomatoes

We learned this excellent recipe for pickled green tomatoes from Kristian Bæk, who was one of the first employees at TagTomat. It tastes so delicious that we continue to follow this recipe when pickling our green tomatoes. Feel free to experiment with the herbs you have in the greenhouse or in your kitchen.

What you’ll need

• About 1.5l of green tomatoes (We are using a measuring cup for the harvest. This way, it is easy to harvest the right amount without using a scale) 
• 6 dl of organic clear white vinegar
• 520g of organic cane sugar
• Dried herbs and spices to taste or whatever you have in the greenhouse or kitchen, e.g., cinnamon, black cardamom, green cardamom, coriander seeds, and chili. It could also be vanilla, cumin, pepper, nutmeg, allspice, etc., as well as the herbs you have in the greenhouse.
• Some fresh organic ginger
• 1 tsp. salt

 

Method

1. Rinse the tomatoes thoroughly.
2. Prick holes in the tomatoes with a fork or skewer.
3. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a large pot and add the dried spices and salt.
4. Peel the ginger, slice it thinly, and add it to the pot.
5. When the brine is boiling, pour in the tomatoes and let them simmer for 15-30 minutes until they are tender.
6. While the tomatoes simmer, sterilize the jars and lids – we boiled them in a pot.
7. Pour the tomatoes into the jars – try to be as clean as possible in this process to extend shelf life.
8. The tomatoes should be covered by the brine.
9. Any excess brine can be boiled down to syrup and used as a condiment for sauces.

For longer shelf life, you can choose to rinse the jars with a preservative before filling them, but we prefer to do without – and eat the pickled goodies within 1-2 months.

 

Other ways to use green tomatoes

In addition to pickling your tomatoes, there are many other ways you can use green tomatoes. You can, for example, turn them into chutney and enjoy it with a warm, spicy autumn dish. Marinate them and use them in a delicious salad. Chop them into small cubes and use them in homemade remoulade or turn them into green ketchup. Put them on your homemade pizza, or simply slice them into thin slices and eat them raw as garnish on dishes. In fact, they can be used for almost everything.

 

Do you have any other great ideas for using green tomatoes? Please feel free to share them with us in the comments.

Green front

Team TagTomat