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How To Make Tomato Powder & 10 Delicious Ways To Use It

If you had a bumper crop of tomatoes and need to find more ways to preserve them, you’ll love learning how to make tomato powder.

Tomatoes are delicious! And if you’ve been blessed with extras this year, making tomato powder will not only save you some space but will give you new ways to enjoy your garden harvest through the year.

tomato powder in a glass bowl

What Is Tomato Powder?

powdered tomatoes

Tomato powder is a powdered form of dried, cooked tomatoes that are made by removing water from fresh or canned tomatoes, as well as from skins leftover from processing tomatoes. The result is a dry product with an intense flavor similar to sun-dried tomatoes.

It can be used as a seasoning for soups, sauces, salads, pasta dishes, pizza sauce, etc., but it also makes great additions to baked goods such as breads, muffins, cakes, pies, crackers, and quiches.

How To Make Tomato Powder

So, you’ve made tomato sauce, (here are the best canning tomatoes), tomato paste, salsa, soups, salads, and more with your tomatoes this summer. But your garden is still producing and you need more ways to preserve your tomatoes.

Tomato powder is the perfect way to save those last tomatoes, once you’re tired of canning and freezing.

1. Make tomato powder from fresh tomatoes

Making tomato powder is easy. Start out by rinsing, then thinly slicing your tomatoes.

Make sure to use meatier, less juicy (lower water content) tomatoes, so that you don’t have to spend too much time evaporating the juice.

Slicing tomatoes

Then lay the tomato slices out on your dehydrator tray.

Tomaot slices laid out on dehydrator tray

Let them dry until crunchy. This could take anywhere between 6 and 18 hours, depending on how juicy your tomatoes are.

Dried tomato slices

Once they are completely dry and crunchy, take them off the tray and place them into your favorite blender (I love mine!) or a coffee grinder. Pulsate until tomatoes are completely powdered.

Natural ground sun dried tomato powder

Once powdered, place in a tightly sealed glass container and place in a cool dark place. It should last up to a year if it’s completely sealed in an airtight container.

If you like spicy food, you can add a couple of jalapeños to the dehydrator and blend them up with the tomatoes.

2. Make tomato powder from tomato skins

tomato skins

That’s right! You can make tomato powder from the skins you normally throw away. Save the skin you peel before you can or freeze tomatoes, and follow the same process above: dehydrate and powder.

Or, if you used a tomato sauce maker, dehydrate the skins and seeds and then powder them.  Why throw away perfectly good, nutritious food from your garden?

3. Make tomato powder from tomato paste

canned tomato paste

Now, if you’re here but don’t have a garden and tomatoes you grow, you can also make tomato powder from tinned tomato paste (the tomato paste you buy at the store). You can also do this during the wintertime when you won’t mind the oven on for so long.

To make powdered tomato from paste, you’ll need to lay it on parchment paper on a baking sheet in your oven for 8 to 10 hours at 175 degrees. Or, you can use your dehydrator.

If you do this, I’d make a larger quantity (maybe 2 sheet pans) to make it worth your time keeping the oven/dehydrator on for so long.

Tomato Powder Recipes

You can make plain tomato powder just like I described above, but why stop there? Mix the tomatoes with some of your favorite herbs or spices and enjoy a world of yummy combinations.

Here are a few examples:

  • add your favorite herbs to the dehydrator, and powder them together with the tomatoes. Some of my favorite herbs that pair well with tomatoes are basil, dill, thyme, and oregano.
  • make spicy tomato powder by adding a few dehydrated and powdered chili, habanero, or cayenne peppers (how many depends on your tolerance for spice) to your tomato powder.
  • garlic-flavored tomato powder is another way to spice it up. Add a few cloves of garlic to your dehydrator.

10 Ways To Use Tomato Powder

You can use tomato paste to make a lot of the same things you make with fresh tomatoes: tomato soup, paste, catsup, etc.

But I believe those are better made from fresh tomatoes.

Here are some ways I’ve used tomato powder:

  1. added to soups to enhance the flavor
  2. sprinkled on steamed veggies
  3. dusted roasted vegetables
  4. mixed with cream cheese for a creamy sandwich spread
  5. added to mayo for more flavor
  6. thickened pasta sauce
  7. enhanced my favorite dry rub and used on grilled chicken
  8. mixed into my scrambled eggs
  9. made Spanish rice YUM!
  10. combined with nutritional yeast for a delicious popcorn flavoring

Why Make Tomato Powder?

First of all, if you’ve already preserved tomatoes in other ways, this is another way to try saving your tomatoes.

Here are some other reasons:

  • it packs a lot of nutrients
  • saves space – this is huge for some of us!
  • perfect for hiking trips – it’s light and easy to transport

Where To Buy Tomato Powder

Dried Tomato Powder | 16oz - 453 g - Bulk Spice Quart Jar with Shaker Top | 100% Natural | Tomato Soup | Premium Grade, Freshly Packed

Now that you know how many ways you can use tomato powder, you might want more than what you can make from your own garden.

Or maybe you stopped by here during the winter and really want to try it. Fear not: you can find tomato powder at specialty or spice stores, but if you don’t have one close by, Amazon has it.

FAQs about powdered tomatoes

What are the benefits of tomato powder?

It’s a concentrated powerhouse of nutrition and flavor, packed in just a spoonful of goodness.

Is tomato powder the same as tomato paste?

No: the paste is thick and moist, while the powder is dry. You can turn tomato paste into powder if you wish (scroll up a bit you’ll see how).

Is there a substitute for tomato powder?

Not if you need it dry. Otherwise, tomato paste should work well to substitute the powdered tomatoes.

What can you do with leftover tomato skins?

Dehydrate them and turn them into powder.

What is the shelf life of tomato powder?

If stored properly in a dark cool place, and sealed well, it can last up to a year. But it’s best when used within 6 months.

Dehydrated tomato powder is not only delicious, but it’s also nutritious. Now you know how to make tomato powder, and even add your own twist to it. Hope you enjoy it!

How to make tomato powder and 10 delicious ways to use it

 

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Adriana Copaceanu is a passionate nature lover living in the country on her dream property where she grows vegetables, lavender, and wildflowers that she shares with the wildlife they attract. When she's not in the garden, she loves spending time with her chickens and planning her next nature project. Check out her books below:

How to Grow Lavender for Fun and Profit: Lessons Learned from Planting Three Hundred Lavender Plants

How to Raise Chickens for Eggs: A Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens for Nutritious, Organic Eggs at Home

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Tuesday 25th of April 2023

[…] Dehydrating cherry tomatoes is another excellent way to preserve their flavor. Place them in a single layer in a dehydrator, oven, or even under the sun, until they are fully dried. Then you can use them as is in soups, or make tomato powder (check out these 10 ways to use tomato powder). […]

Alice

Saturday 2nd of October 2021

Thank you for this.

50 years ago, when I was 10 years old, we visited a shopping village in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I don't recall where. We bought a package of dried tomato dip powder, that may have had other ingredients. It called simly for mixing the powder with cream cheese. It was fabulous, and I still miss it!

Does anyone know of a dip or spread made with dried tomato powder and cream cheese, please? Are there any other ingredients in it? Perhaps a recipe from Pennsylvania Dutch country?

I wish I could get that exact recipe: no changes. It was so perfect, as is.

jack burton

Tuesday 31st of August 2021

Here's my favorite tomato powder recipe. I take a cup of already-cooked bacon crumbles (the real stuff, not bacon bits) that you can purchase (I get mine from Sam's Club), one cup of shredded Parmesan cheese, and one cup of powdered tomato. Run them all together in the blender/food processor until you have a fine powder mix.

This is so delicious sprinkled on most anything you can imagine. Sprinkled it on deviled eggs and took them to a church potluck. People still talk about them ten years later.

Tracy Schneider

Tuesday 10th of August 2021

Can i dry tomatoes in oven? I don’t have a dehydrator

Adriana

Tuesday 10th of August 2021

Yes, you can. It will take between 4 and 5 hours at 250F.

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Tuesday 15th of September 2020

[…] watery salsa, which can be remedied by draining off the juice after chopping the tomatoes, adding tomato powder or paste, and/or cooking the salsa longer. The varieties listed for sauce (see below) also work […]