Ripen Green Tomatoes to Extend Your Harvest
By Steven Biggs
How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors
You can eat homegrown tomatoes through the winter. No greenhouse needed.
I’ve even eaten my own homegrown, “fresh” tomatoes in April. These are tomatoes I picked green the previous October, just before the first fall frost killed the plants. Then, I ripened them indoors.
You don’t need special conditions to ripen your green tomatoes because unripe tomatoes that have reached a “mature” size (nearly the final size) will keep ripening after they’re removed from the plant.
You can prolong your tomato harvest for weeks – even months.
Keep reading for pointers on picking, storing, and using your green tomatoes in the fall.
How do they Taste?
A plate of tomatoes picked green and ripened indoors.
A vine-ripened tomato from the garden has better flavour. That’s because tomatoes ripened on the vine in the garden develop more sugars and acids.
But a green tomato ripened indoors can have a respectable flavour – and it’s certainly far better than the insipid, mealy excuses for tomatoes found at grocers over the winter.
When to Pick Green Tomatoes for Indoor Ripening
Pick your green tomatoes before the first frost in the fall. Tomatoes exposed to frost get mushy and don’t store or ripen well indoors.
I pick tomatoes that are a mature size, as well as small, undeveloped tomatoes.
What to Pick
I pick everything:
I leave tomatoes that are already colouring up on the kitchen windowsill.
Tomatoes that are a mature size to ripen indoors.
Tomatoes that are small and not fully developed to cook or use in preserves (see my green tomato mincemeat recipe below).
How to Harvest Green Tomatoes
I pick larger tomatoes individually, leaving a small bit of stem attached. The reason that I like to leave a bit of stem attached is that with some tomato varieties, it’s easy to tear the skin while trying to remove the stem.
I leave cherry- and grape-type tomatoes on the stem and harvest the whole cluster.
Another approach is to harvest the whole plant. Cut off entire branches – or even cut off the stem at ground level, leaving the unripe green tomatoes on the plant.
Grow a Container Vegetable Garden
And get an early harvest of crops that usually take too long!
You Control the Ripening Speed
Small tomatoes that are not close to the final size won’t ripen well, but can be used in the kitchen.
Mature tomatoes give off ethylene gas, which causes them to ripen to ripen more quickly. All we have to do is tweak how much of this gas stays around the tomato.
You can stagger the ripening of your green tomatoes using two things:
Temperature. At warmer temperatures ripening happens more quickly.
Ethylene gas. This is the gas the mature tomatoes give off – and which stimulates ripening. If you want to speed up ripening, let the gas accumulate around the tomatoes. If you want to slow down ripening, allow air movement so the ethylene disperses.
How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
I lay out my green tomatoes in plastic trays lined with newspaper.
You don’t need sunlight to ripen green tomatoes.
There are a number of ways to ripen green tomatoes indoors. I lay out my green tomatoes in plastic trays lined with newspaper. (The newspaper prevents smaller tomatoes from falling through the holes; and absorbs juice from any tomatoes that rot.)
I keep the tray in a cool room in my basement. As tomatoes start to show colour, I bring them up to the kitchen to put on my windowsill, where it’s warmer – and where I monitor them more closely as they finish ripening.
If you want to speed up ripening, just capture some of the ethylene gas by putting the tomatoes in an enclosed space. Here are ways to capture some of that ethylene:
Speed up ripening by putting the tomatoes in an enclosed space. Adding a ripe apple or banana speeds it up more.
Place them in a closed drawer.
Place tomatoes in a closed paper bag (preferable to plastic, which doesn’t breathe at all).
Lay them out in a tray like I do—or on a shelf—and cover with a sheet of newspaper.
Wrap individual tomatoes in newspaper.
If you’ve left on pieces of stem, just be careful not to let the stem puncture any other tomato.
The Banana Trick
Bananas and ripe apples give off ethylene, so you can put a banana or apple in with tomatoes to provide more ethylene and speed up ripening. (I find I don’t need to do this, they ripen fast enough for me.)
Hanging Tomato Plants
If you’ve harvested entire stems or entire plants, simply hang the stems or plants in a cool, dark area and let the tomatoes slowly ripen.
I’m not a fan of this approach because as the tomatoes ripen, they detach from the stem and…splat!
As tomatoes start to show colour, I bring them up to the kitchen to put on my windowsill.
Varieties Suited to Indoor Ripening
A thick-skinned tomato variety that lasts me until spring.
You can ripen all types of tomatoes indoors, but thick-skinned varieties are best for longer-term indoor ripening.
Thin-skinned beefsteak varieties are more prone to rot. It doesn’t mean you can’t ripen these ones indoors – it just means they’re less likely to last long into the winter.
Green Tomato Ripening FAQ
What else can I do with green tomatoes?
I love green tomato fried in the skillet in bacon fat, sprinkled with salt and garlic powder. Some years I make a green tomato mincemeat. You can also make lactic-acid fermented green-tomato pickles – same idea as sauerkraut and brined dill pickles, except using green tomatoes.
Should I wash green tomatoes after picking them?
I don’t. Some people wash them in a bleach solution to disinfect them. Sounds like a lot of bother to me…and I like to keep gardening simple. I wash them once they are ripe, just before I use them.
Can I ripen green tomatoes indoors in the summer too?
Yes! I’ve had large 2-3 pound tomatoes, and just as they ripen a squirrel came along and ate off a corner. It would have been better to pick these before they were fully ripe, and ripen them indoors.
Can you really get them to last until April?
Green tomatoes with cracks and blemishes often rot, so sort them out of your tomato harvest and cook them instead of trying to ripen them.
Yep! The trick is to grow a “keeper” tomato variety. I grow one that came to me from my Dad’s friend Dino. It’s small and thick-skinned...not the juiciest tomato, not the most flavourful tomato – but I can make bruschetta with my own fresh tomatoes in early spring. Not bad!
What about tomatoes that have cracks or blemishes on them?
Tomatoes with cracks and blemishes will not keep for a long time. If they are close to colouring up, you can try to ripen them – just watch closely so you’ll see if they begin to rot around the damaged area. Otherwise, use these tomatoes in one of your green-tomato recipes.
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