The Best Way to Store Leftover Canned Tomatoes or Broth
This is a problem that haunts me all the time I cook. I want to add some canned diced tomatoes to a side dish or saucepan, but I don’t want to add the whole damn can. So I pour the leftovers into a glass container and refrigerate for later use. Except that by the time “later” it’s already been 10 days, and these tomatoes look pretty unreliable.
It also happens with chicken broth. I tried a new shrimp sauce recipe last night that took three tablespoons of chicken brother (felony!). I have one full jar – minus three tablespoons – of the broth that needs to be stored for a week and then poured down the drain along with tears of regret. Because who freezes a few tablespoons of diced tomatoes or less than a can of chicken stock? My mother-in-law, that’s who.
An epiphany hit her kitchen a few weeks ago when I watched as she walked to her freezer, pulled out a plastic container half full of diced tomatoes, and dumped half a can on top of it before returning it to the frozen house. “What did you just do? What was it? What are you doing? ”I stumbled at her.
“I’m tired of throwing away half a can of diced tomatoes all the time,” she said authoritatively. “So whenever I have a little left, I add it to this container. I’ll defrost it all the next time I do something that requires a couple of cans of diced tomatoes. “
This trick can be used with any type of canned tomato, broth, or other canned food that you waste in your kitchen. Just remember to label the container with the date you started using it so you don’t overdo it and keep the food frozen for too long. (Tomatoes can be frozen for up to three months; for broth, six months.)