For years I was always frustrated that you buy 6 oz. of tomato paste and use only 1 tablespoon in most recipes. Throw it away? That seemed too wasteful and I didn’t know how to save the tomato paste. So I switched to the more expensive concentrate in a tube. Then one day my dear friend and great cook, Melissa taught me this trick and the light bulb went off with a big sign above saying “duh”. I never bought the $6 concentrate again and I’m now back to paying only $.60 for 6 oz.
Place a square of wax paper on a baking sheet. Measure out tablespoon mounds of tomato paste on the wax paper.
Cover a with another piece of wax paper and press in between the mounds. Freeze them flat on the pan for a couple of hours.
Then cut in between the tablespoons of paste and store the pre-measured amounts in a freezer bag. When you need to use them just take them out and leave them on the counter when you start cooking, since they defrost quickly.
Tips & Tricks: Saving Tomato Paste
Oh, my goodness! Why didn’t I think of that???
That’s exactly what I thought. It just goes to show that knowing a lot of good cooks is helpful!
I quit using tomato paste for this reason alone! Great idea!
I´ve just thrown away half of can. This is a fantastic tip. Thank you for sharing it! Greetings from Brazil!
Thanks for stopping by Omar!
How long is it good in the freezer for?
Good question. Martha Stewart says 3 months.