Can you freeze cherry tomatoes? Gardeners ask this every summer, once a plant will not stop producing. One Tulsa grower, sammy_gw, hit exactly that problem.
Ten to twelve pots of Sweet 100 and other varieties produced more than one Tulsa household could eat fresh. Another grower, cymraes, asked a related version of the same question.
Their cherry tomato plant was producing so heavily that oven drying and freezing both seemed worth trying at once. Both questions have the same simple answer.
This guide covers exactly how to freeze cherry tomatoes. Their small size actually makes the job easier than freezing full sized fruit.
The short version
Yes, cherry tomatoes freeze well, skins and all, with no blanching required. Wash them, dry them, and freeze them whole on a tray before bagging.
Frozen tomatoes turn soft once thawed, so they work best in cooked dishes: soups, sauces, and stews. A frozen cherry tomato held under warm water sheds its skin easily. The same trick works on full sized fruit.
Their small size actually simplifies the process, since there is no coring step to slow things down.
The whole tomato method, simplified for small fruit
Freezing a big slicing tomato means cutting out the core first. Cherry tomatoes skip that step, since there is no tough core to remove from fruit this size.
Wash the tomatoes and let them dry completely. A Dakota County gardener answered a related question on the Cooperative Extension System’s Ask Extension service.
They described this approach: wash the tomatoes, let the skins dry, and freeze them in quart sized freezer bags. That gardener reported using the frozen tomatoes all winter in soups, pan dishes, and oven recipes.
Canned tomatoes never entered the kitchen that year. Master Gardener Steve Miles answered the same question on that thread. They called it a great use for a cherry tomato plant’s long, heavy production window.
Should you tray freeze them first
Bagging cherry tomatoes straight off the vine without a tray step works. It usually produces one solid, fused clump by the time winter arrives, though. That problem gets worse with small fruit, not better, since more individual tomatoes pack into the same bag.
Spreading them on a baking sheet first, not touching, and freezing solid before bagging solves that. A few hours on the tray means a bag of loose, individual tomatoes all winter. A recipe can then pull out a small handful, instead of chiseling at one frozen block.
Skins on or peeled first
Freezing with skins on is the fast, standard approach, and university guidance backs it directly. Nebraska Extension’s freezing guidance confirms tomatoes may be frozen with skins on. The skins slip off easily once thawed.
Peeling before freezing is also possible, dipping the tomatoes in boiling water briefly until the skins split. For a bowl of cherry tomatoes, that extra step rarely pays for itself. The skins come off just as easily after freezing as before.
How long frozen cherry tomatoes actually keep
A freezer is not indefinite storage, even for a fruit as small as a cherry tomato. Nebraska Extension’s freezing guidance recommends eating frozen vegetables within about eight months for the best quality.
Packaging matters for hitting that window. The same guidance calls for freezer safe bags or containers, plus a freezer running at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
Air trapped in the bag speeds up freezer burn faster than the eight month mark would otherwise allow.
Pressing extra air out of the bag before sealing helps. A tray frozen batch of cherry tomatoes can then go the full eight months without a noticeable quality drop.
Do not can them later
Iowa State University Extension’s AnswerLine service flags an important limit. Tomatoes frozen whole should not later be canned whole or quartered. Frozen tomatoes pack more tightly into jars, and that changes how heat moves through them during processing.
Freezing and canning are separate preservation paths for a reason. Pick one for a given batch of tomatoes rather than treating frozen fruit as a holding pattern before canning.
Using frozen cherry tomatoes
The whole point of freezing them whole is skipping the thaw. Drop frozen cherry tomatoes straight into a simmering sauce, soup, or pan of roasting vegetables. They break down in minutes without ever fully defrosting on the counter.
For dishes where the skins would bother you, a few seconds under warm running water slips them off first. Either way, a frozen cherry tomato goes from freezer to pot in under a minute.
What frozen cherry tomatoes cannot do
The one job a thawed cherry tomato cannot do is the fresh one. Freezing collapses the texture that makes a raw cherry tomato snackable, so a thawed one has no place in a salad or a lunchbox.
That trade costs nothing for a gardener with more tomatoes than the household can eat fresh anyway. Nearly every cherry tomato that would otherwise soften on the counter or split on the vine can go straight into the freezer instead.
Frequently asked questions
Can you freeze cherry tomatoes whole?
Yes. Wash them, dry them, and freeze them whole on a tray before bagging. No blanching or coring is needed, since cherry tomatoes have no tough core to remove.
Do you need to peel cherry tomatoes before freezing?
No. University guidance confirms tomatoes can be frozen with skins on, and the skin slips off easily once the tomato thaws or is rinsed under warm water.
Can you can cherry tomatoes after freezing them?
That is not recommended. Iowa State University Extension notes that previously frozen tomatoes pack too tightly into jars, changing how heat transfers during canning.
How do you keep frozen cherry tomatoes from clumping together?
Freeze them spread out on a baking sheet first, not touching, then transfer to a freezer bag once solid. That tray step keeps every tomato loose instead of one frozen block.
What can you make with frozen cherry tomatoes?
Anything cooked: soup, sauce, roasted vegetable dishes, and pan sauces all work well. Drop them in frozen, and they break down in the pot within minutes.
How long do frozen cherry tomatoes stay good?
About eight months at best quality, according to university freezing guidance. A freezer set to 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below, with air pressed out of the bag before sealing, helps a batch reach that window without freezer burn.
Bottom line: can you freeze cherry tomatoes comes down to a clear yes, and the small size actually makes it easier than freezing full sized fruit. Wash, dry, tray freeze, and bag, skins and all, then drop them straight into cooked dishes all winter without thawing first. Real gardeners with more tomatoes than they can eat fresh report using this method through an entire winter without touching a canned tomato. For the full freezing method and other formats worth knowing, see our how to freeze tomatoes guide.
SOURCES
Cooperative Extension System, Ask Extension: Cherry Tomatoes. https://ask.extension.org/kb/faq.php?id=682088
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, AnswerLine: Remove Tomato Skins Before Preserving. https://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/answerline/2025/07/08/peel-tomatoes-before-preserving/
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Freezing Raw Tomatoes With and Without Their Skins. https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2019-10/312322.pdf