How to Pickle Green Tomatoes for Winter: 16 Best Recipes with Photos

Selecting and preparing tomatoes

When selecting vegetables for pickling, pay special attention to their size. Tomatoes should be medium or large, but never small. Small tomatoes contain high levels of solanine, a toxic substance that is extremely dangerous to our health. If you do decide to use small tomatoes, soak them in cold water with salt overnight before pickling. This will remove the harmful components from the green tomatoes, making them practically safe to eat.

Before placing green vegetables in jars, they are washed thoroughly, spoiled ones are removed, and those that are too large are cut into two or four pieces.

Video: "Green Tomatoes, Georgian Style"

This video shows how to prepare a delicious snack for the winter.

Recipes for pickling green tomatoes

Every homemaker who preserves pickles for the winter has their own secrets for vitamin-rich preservation. We've compiled several of the best recipes, from which you're sure to find a favorite.

Cold method

These tomatoes can be served as a standalone appetizer or used to make salads.

1. Place a couple of bay leaves, some dill, parsley, and a few mint leaves on the bottom of the pickling containers.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of ground pepper.
3. Place 3 kg of tomatoes in layers, interspersing them with cherry and currant leaves.
4. Pour the cooled brine (two liters of water, 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, ½ cup of salt) over the vegetables, and then cover with nylon lids.

Hot method without vinegar

Salted tomatoes prepared according to this recipe can last for more than two months.

1. Place 8 kg of green tomatoes into sterilized jars. Add herbs (to taste) and sliced ​​hot pepper.
2. Fill the containers with boiling water. Let them sit for 30 minutes, then drain the liquid. Repeat the process one more time.
3. Prepare the marinade: three liters of purified water, 150 g of salt.
4. After pouring the brine over the tomatoes, roll up the preserves.

With vinegar

Acetic acid is an excellent preservative that allows you to store winter preserves for six months to two years.

1. Place 9 kg of diced tomatoes into clean, dry jars. Leave two fingers of space under the lids.
2. Make a brine: 600 ml of purified water, ½ cup of salt, 0.6 l of table vinegar. Add 3 teaspoons of mustard seeds, 5 g of celery, and a few peppercorns (allspice, black).
3. Pour boiling marinade over the vegetables, sterilize for about a quarter of an hour, and then roll up the jars with a key.

With garlic

Green tomatoes with garlic turn out spicy and very tasty.

1. Cut a quarter kilogram of the main ingredient into pieces.
2. Slice 10 cloves of garlic. Cut two chili peppers into thin rings.
3. Place the hot vegetables inside the slit tomatoes.
4. Place sprigs of parsley on the bottom of sterilized jars and prepare tomatoes on top.
5. Fill the jar with brine (two liters of purified water, 50 g of salt), and then seal with a seaming key.

With bell pepper

You can also pickle green tomatoes with pepper. They pair wonderfully with chili.

1. Place a kilogram of tomatoes, sliced ​​bell peppers, and sliced ​​chili into circles into containers.
2. Pour boiling water over the vegetables for 10 minutes, then drain the liquid.
3. Prepare the marinade: a liter of purified water, 25 g of granulated sugar, 50 g of salt, 80 ml of table vinegar.
4. Fill the jars with brine and roll them up with a key.

With tomato sauce and cinnamon

A very tasty and unusual snack is prepared with the addition of a spice not typical for pickles – cinnamon.

1. Place one and a half kilograms of prepared tomatoes and bell peppers cut into strips into sterilized containers.
2. Pour some boiling water into the container.
3. Prepare the brine: a liter of tomato juice, ½ cup of granulated sugar, 25 g of salt, cinnamon (ground or whole) to taste.
4. Pour the marinade over the vegetables, then seal the jars with airtight lids.

In Armenian

If you salt tomatoes according to this recipe, they will come out very spicy and will be ready in just a day.

1. Using a meat grinder, mince 300 g of garlic, 10 chili peppers, parsley, dill, and cilantro (2-3 bunches of each).
2. Cut 5 kg of the main ingredient lengthwise. Coat each half with the prepared spicy dressing, then join the two halves together.
3. Place the vegetables in pre-sterilized jars.
4. Pour in the marinade (½ liter of purified water, 125 g of salt, 350 ml of table vinegar), and then sterilize the preparation for a quarter of an hour in any way.

In Tatar

Tomatoes with bell peppers and carrots turn out very tasty.

1. Cut 3 kg of pre-prepared green tomatoes.
2. Chop 250 g of sweet pepper, 3 carrots, 3 cloves of garlic.
3. Push the resulting dressing into the cuts on the vegetables.
4. Place the tomatoes in sterilized jars, layering them with herbs and spices (to taste).
5. Fill the preparation with brine: a liter of purified water, 25 g of granulated sugar, 50 g of salt.

In Georgian

Georgian cuisine often uses a variety of greens, so this recipe will appeal to lovers of healthy herbs.

1. Quarter 100g of garlic cloves. Cut a couple of hot peppers into small rings.
2. Boil whole bunches of greens (400 g celery, 300 g parsley, 200 g dill) for 5 minutes, then let them cool.
3. Place two kilograms of tomatoes in glass containers, layering them with chopped vegetables, bay leaves and herbs.
4. After filling the jars with warm brine (600 ml of purified water, 50 g of salt), close the jars with a seaming key.

Sweet Paradise

Spicy and sweet tomatoes will appeal not only to adults, but also to children.

1. Place a layer of cherry leaves on the bottom of the pickling container. Top with 5 g of cinnamon powder and a few allspice berries.
2. Layer 10 kg of the main ingredient, sprinkling them with 3.5 kg of granulated sugar. Cover the top layer tightly with cherry leaves.
3. Dilute 4 kg of tomato paste with purified water, then pour it over the vegetables, leaving them to salt under pressure for a couple of days.

"The Thicket of Happiness"

A variety of vegetables will give tomatoes an unusual sweet and sour taste and rich aroma.

1. Using a meat grinder, mince 250 g of eggplant, 100 g of zucchini, a kilogram of Crimean onion, 1.5 kg of bell pepper, 4 chili pods, and 180 g of garlic.
2. Finely chop two bunches of parsley and dill, as well as 50 g of basil. Mix the herbs with the remaining vegetables.
3. Cut 10 kilograms of tomatoes in half, carefully scooping out the pulp. Fill the tomatoes with the dressing, then combine the two halves.
4. After placing the mixture into jars, pour in the marinade (a liter of purified water, ½ cup of salt).

Without brine

An original recipe that uses adjika instead of the traditional and familiar brine.

1. Grind 500 g of sweet pepper, 720 g of red tomatoes, 180 g of chili, and a couple of heads of garlic through a meat grinder.
2. Add 135 g of salt and 60 ml of vegetable oil to the vegetable puree. Let the sauce sit for 1-2 hours. Cut the prepared green tomatoes into 2-4 pieces. Place them in a saucepan and pour the adjika sauce over them.
3. Simmer slowly for 40-45 minutes, then add finely chopped dill.
4. After placing the mixture into jars, close the mixture with airtight lids.

For more piquancy, you can add khmeli-suneli to the adjika.

Like lecho

This famous Hungarian snack is traditionally made with bell peppers, but this ingredient can be replaced with green tomatoes.

1. Cut 5 kg of the main ingredient into large pieces. Thinly slice the carrots and bell peppers (one and a half kilograms each). Slice three cloves of garlic.
2. Mix all the vegetables and then pour a liter of tomato juice over them.
3. Simmer the mixture slowly for 1.5 hours. A few minutes before it's ready, add sweetener and salt to taste.
4. Place the snack into pre-sterilized jars.

In barrels

It's not for nothing that this recipe is called "grandmother's." This is exactly how our ancestors pickled vegetables.

1. Fill the bottom of the barrel with a 5cm layer of dill and cherry leaves.
2. Layer a couple of tomatoes, then layer them again with herbs. Fill the entire container this way.
3. Prepare a brine (a bucket of purified water, 200 g of salt) and pour it over the mixture. Leave it to marinate in a cool place for 14 days.

Stuffed tomatoes

If you stuff tomatoes with a piquant filling, the appetizer will turn out juicy and spicy.

1. Make shallow cuts into 5 kg of the main ingredient.
2. Chop a couple of chilies, 500 g of garlic, 2-3 bunches of different herbs.
3. Stuff the resulting dressing into the slits in the tomatoes, then arrange the vegetables in the jars. Place three bay leaves and a little mustard powder at the bottom.
4. Pour slightly warm brine (5 liters of purified water, 1.5 tbsp. salt) over the preparation, and then close the jars tightly.

Spicy green tomatoes

Another appetizer recipe that will appeal to those who love spicy food.

1. Place one and a half kilograms of tomatoes, 2-3 cloves of garlic, and a few chili pods into sterilized containers.
2. Prepare the brine: 1.5 liters of purified water, ½ cup of granulated sugar, 75 g of salt, bay leaf, cloves, allspice, 50 ml of table vinegar.
3. Pour the still hot marinade over the preparation, then roll up the jars.

Storage and serving rules

Store the prepared pickles in a cool, dark place away from sudden temperature fluctuations. A refrigerator, cellar, or basement is ideal. Depending on the pickling method, the shelf life of green tomatoes ranges from a few weeks to six months.

This appetizer requires no additional preparation to serve. Simply cut the tomatoes into bite-size pieces and garnish with herbs, if desired.

All the recipes collected in this article are original in their own way. However, don't be afraid to innovate and create another unique dish.