Nutritious and delicious, tomatoes don’t need to be peeled in most recipes. Simply chop and cook with other ingredients, creating delicious dishes like tomato scrambled eggs and tomato beef noodles.

However, some recipes require you to peel the tomatoes first, such as tomato sauce and salsa. To make peeling tomatoes easy, today we’ll share 3 simple methods.

Tomato Peeling Method 1: Boiling

Steps:

• Fill a pot 2/3 full with water and bring to a boil. While the water is boiling, prepare the tomatoes. Rinse them under running water, remove the stems, and score the bottom of each tomato with the tip of a knife.
• Once the water is boiling, add the tomatoes. To avoid burns, it’s not recommended to drop the tomatoes directly into the pot. Instead, place the tomatoes on a spoon or similar utensil and lower the spoon and tomatoes into the hot water in batches.
• After boiling the tomatoes for 30-60 seconds, inspect the tomato at the cross-marked area on the bottom to see if the skin has come apart. If so, you can remove the tomatoes. Do not overcook the tomatoes in boiling water, or they will become mushy.
• Using a spoon or similar utensil, remove all the tomatoes from the boiling water and immediately transfer them to a large bowl of ice water to prevent them from becoming further cooked by the residual heat.
• After the tomatoes have cooled, you can begin to peel them. Simply use the tip of a knife to lift a small piece of the skin, then peel it off along the entire length of the tomato. Repeat this process until the skin is completely removed.
• If the skin still won’t peel, return the tomatoes to the boiling water and cook for a few seconds before starting over at step 4.

Tomato Peeling Method 2: Oven Baking

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Rinse the tomatoes under running water, remove the stems, and then cut them in half from top to bottom.
• Lightly oil a baking sheet and place the tomatoes, cut side down, on the sheet. Bake the tomatoes in the oven until the edges of the skins turn golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.
• After the baking sheet and tomatoes have cooled slightly, peel the skins off by hand. They come off easily!

Tomato Peeling Method 3: Refrigerate

Steps:

• Rinse the tomatoes, gently pat dry with a clean paper towel, and remove the stems.
• Place the tomatoes whole on a baking sheet, avoiding any contact between them. Place the baking sheet in the freezer. Once the tomatoes are frozen, remove the baking sheet and tomatoes from the freezer. Place all the tomatoes in a large Ziploc bag. Return the bag and tomatoes to the freezer until ready to use.
• If you don’t have a baking sheet, you can also separate the tomatoes into several Ziploc bags and freeze them all in the freezer. Then, remove the frozen tomatoes from the Ziploc bags, transfer them all to a large Ziploc bag, and freeze them in the freezer. Frozen tomatoes will keep for about 8 months.
• To remove the frozen tomatoes from the freezer and peel them, if you’re going to use them right away, rinse them with warm water and peel them. If you’re not going to use them right away, let them sit at room temperature until they thaw naturally, which may take several hours. Then, peel the tomatoes.