Tried freezing leftover tomato paste in ice cube trays and it changed my soup game

I used to buy tomato paste for recipes and end up tossing half the can every single time. Last month I decided to scoop the leftovers into an ice cube tray and pop them in the freezer. Each cube is about a tablespoon which works perfect for most recipes. I threw two cubes into a lentil soup last Wednesday and it added that deep flavor without me having to open a fresh can. The only weird part is they turn into these dark red hockey pucks that take a bit to thaw but it still works fine. Has anyone else found a good way to store small amounts of paste or other canned stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wesley1mo ago

Do you ever notice how half the battle of cooking is just figuring out how to not waste stuff? @knight.felix that pesto tip is solid... I've been doing that for a while with a little extra oil on top and it stays green way longer. It's funny how a simple trick like freezing tomato paste can save you time and money... same thing with freezing ginger or herbs. Once you start looking for ways to store small bits of ingredients it becomes a whole system. The dark red hockey pucks look weird but they work so well you stop caring about the looks pretty fast.

the_thea1mo ago

Isn't it crazy how once you start noticing those little tips it becomes addictive? I swear my freezer is half full of weird little pucks and bags of random scraps now.

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knight.felix1mo ago

The "dark red hockey pucks" description made me laugh, I've got a few of those in my freezer right now too. I read somewhere that you can also freeze pesto in ice cube trays with a little olive oil on top to keep it from turning brown.