How to Make Tomato Powder for Fresh Tomato Paste and Sauce

A couple of months ago, really on a whim, I bought a food dehydrator. And, guess what. I. LOVE. It. Really. I'm talkin' starry eyed love. I've made dried strawberries, made banana chips, dehydrated onions, and made garlic powder, for starters. Oh, the fun I've had!

Now, I don't have a garden that's producing a ton of tomatoes (yet!), but last week my local Aldi's had a great deal on some fresh Romas.  They were 79¢ for 20 oz.  That's a wonderful price for my area. If you do have a ton of tomatoes coming out of your garden (or somehow end up with more than you know what to do with), this is another great way to preserve them.

I've dried tomatoes before, but stopped short of making powder.  I became enamored with the tomato chips I had created when B started eating them straight off the dehydrator.  So I packaged them just as they were and put them in the pantry.  Imagine how clever I thought I was when I saw a post by Christy Jordan at Southern Plate talking about the same thing!

Anyway, back to the powder. It's so darn simple.

First, take your washed tomatoes and slice them up. I used a cheap nothing-fancy mandolin with a thin slice blade. (Here's a link to one like it at Amazon, but mine cost even less. I got it for about $10 at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. It does have fewer blades, though.)

Next, I loaded up my dehydrator. I did put the tomato slices in a single layer, of course, but wasn't too picky about them touching.

And I dried them to a crisp.  Since I sliced them thin, it only took about 7 hours at 135°.

Finally, I threw them in a blender and pulverized them to a powder!

So easy, right?! A little under 5 pounds of tomatoes netted me about a half pint of powder. Come back tomorrow, and I'll show you how to reconstitute your fresh tomato powder into fresh paste and sauce. Yum!

Shared at Green Thumb Thursday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, and Tasty Tuesdays.

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