4 Easy Ways To Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors
You can coax the tomato-ripening process from green to red with these helpful tips.
When temperatures drop at night that means a slow down on your garden tomatoes’ ripening process. Cold is definitely the wrong climate for them. Maybe some of your tomatoes came off the vine because of a little overzealous pruning. Not to worry! You can coax the ripening process from green to red when tomatoes are taken indoors. Tomatoes actually need warmth and not sun to ripen. So turn your tomatoes from green to red inside by keeping them warm (an indoor temperature of about 70º F is perfect).
4 Methods To Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors
First, pick the fruits that are mature, at their full—or nearly full—size, and softened a bit with a blush of color on the blossom end. Once you have them inside, it’s best to not wash them unless you are attempting to save a fruit after losing the plants to disease (be sure to dry thoroughly). Otherwise don’t wash them until you are ready to eat them as any moisture left on the tomato could turn to mold.
Then try these methods to turn those green tomatoes red:
1. Paper Bag Method
To ripen a few green tomatoes, put them in a paper bag, close it up, and store in a warm location. Keeping tomatoes enclosed together, the ethylene they emit will stimulate ripening. You can add a ripe banana or apple as well to speed things up. Once a tomato is ripe, remove it from the bag and enjoy it right away. Check the bag daily for mold or rot and remove any spoiled pieces.
2. Box Method
If you have several green tomatoes you want to ripen, consider using a cardboard box. Place them in the box so they do not touch one another. You can add a ripe banana as well. Close the box and, as with the bag-ripening method, check daily for mold and rot, or full ripening, and remove those tomatoes.
3. The Windowsill Approach
Try this if your tomatoes have already started to show some ripened color. Simply put them on the sill of a window that gets sunlight. Inspect them daily for progress. You can also remove tomatoes you have ripening in a bag or box once they start showing signs of color and continue their ripening on the windowsill.
4. Hanging Upside Down Method
Some gardeners pull up the entire plant – roots, fruits, and all – and hang it upside down in a location indoors. The theory is that the plant, while alive, will send all its available energy to the fruit. You should shake off as much of the soil as possible before hanging, then check the progress daily.
Keep in mind the following:
- Tomatoes tend to ripen best with part of the stem left on.
- These methods should ripen fruit in about 7-14 days, or sooner.
- Green tomatoes that are not yet mature cannot ripen once picked.
- These methods do not enhance flavor. No tomato is going to be as delicious as field ripened. But, it’s a better option than having them go to waste.
- Be sure to keep tomatoes at room temperature during the indoor ripening process. Do not refrigerate them, as this will ruin their flavor.
If you need to pick the tomatoes, and don’t want to wait to ripen them, eating them green can be an option as well. Try these delicious recipes:
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Laura Modlin
Laura Modlin is an environmental journalist, blogger, foodie and nature fan. She writes for newspapers and magazines, and maintains a blog about a simpler life. She co-founded a river conservation project in Connecticut. Her mission is to inspire deeper connections with the natural world and a desire to protect it.
I have pear tomatoes that are not turning yellow. They are over grown, they should have turned yellow. Do you have any suggestions. I live in a desert climate.
All good information. I surely would like to print this tip for future reference- There should be an easy way to accomplish this…
I need to clean out my garden, but still have plenty of green tomatoes on the vines. Would they continue to ripen if I cut the vines, with the tomatoes on them, and bring them inside?
My grandmothers tried and true method is a combination of a couple of your suggestions. Take your partially ripe or green tomatoes, WRAP INDIVIDUALLY with newspaper, then layer in a paperbox no more than 3 tomatoes deep….the more layers, the more likely to experience rot. I will put the greenest tomatoes on the bottom since they take the longest and ones with some color and closer to ripe on the top so they are easy to access those almost ready to eat. Store the box in a cool, dry, dark place and they will continue to ripen on their own. If you have done this correctly, you could have a fresh garden tomato to eat until after the New Year. I have used them even into February before….and they are ripe without rotting. Do check for ripe ones throughout the box weekly. If they are ripe, they will continue to ripen and eventually rot, so you need to put those ripe ones in your fridge or on your counter to use. This will keep those other ones not yet ripe safe to continue to ripen in the box. If you are looking to quickly ripen all your tomatoes for your salsa or spaghetti sauce, you should try one of the methods above. My method allows them to ripen slower for long-term use. Good gardening to you 🙂
Been doing what you said I put in my greenhouse and the house
I had several underripe tomatoes fall off the vines when I was pruning and tying up my plants yesterday. Several of them are not mature and very green. Can they be used for anything, or should I compost them?
Hi Karrie, Green tomatoes that fall off the vine are immature and need a little coaxing. You can ripen them using the methods in the story such as the paper bag method. It will take up to 10 days (be sure to check them daily for rot). After that time, whatever stays green you can try making fried green tomatoes! We have a recipe for that here:
Have roughly 50 green cherry tomatoes, should I put all of them in the bag? Makes me angry still have yellow blossoms on the vine and back to sixties later inthe week probably won’t make it but we will see.
Hi Randy,
Yes try putting them in a paper bag and check on them every now and again. But it works. Good luck.
I’m 2 hours south of Chicago. My best method is to start removing blossoms in late August knowing there is not enough time left for vine ripening. I’ve also used frost blankets to try to save produce when the temperatures are up and down. It’s a lot of work but worth the effort.
My Dad, in the 1970s, used to pick the large, perfect green tomatoes from his garden, just before the frost. Then he wrapped each one individually in a half-sheet of newspaper, and arranged them, stem side down, in a single layer in a broad, shallow, cardboard carton/tray. Then he slid the box under my away-at-college brother’s bed, checking the ripening process regularly, and we had red, ripe tomatoes for Thanksgiving, or sooner.
I’ve already picked them. Any other ripening suggestions?
Very helpful , going to try thz