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Garden Betty

make this with your tomato leaves 🌿


I had a giggle the other day when I saw a post from America's Test Kitchen in my newsfeed, telling people to start putting tomato leaves in their tomato sauce.

I've been doing that for more than a decade and even shared a recipe for it in my first cookbook (published in 2015).

Most people are surprised when I tell them tomato leaves are edible. (I wrote an entire post about it here, with studies to back it up.)

The next question is always: But how do you use tomato leaves? (Besides sauce, that is.)

They don't taste like tomatoes. They're not the kind of thing you can eat like a salad green, nor do you want to saute a whole pound of tomato leaves as a side dish. They're best used as an accent because of their richness and complex "viney-ness," and there's nothing else in the garden that can give you the same depth of flavor.

So if you sometimes look at your tomato plants and wonder what else you can do with them (especially if you're already pruning throughout the season), I've got some novel (and delicious) ways you can use tomato leaves in the kitchen.

Seasonal tips

Spicy Minty Tomato Sauce Infused With Tomato Leaves

How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Fast!) In the Oven

How to Save Seeds to Grow a More Productive Garden Next Year

How and Why You Should Ferment Tomato Seeds

Persephone Days: The Daylength Trick for Starting a Winter Garden at the Right Time

When and How to Divide Perennials for a Healthier Garden

P.S. Yes, you can eat tomato leaves! Here are 7 delicious ways to use them in your kitchen.​

P.P.S. Tomato leaves aren't the only "weird" edible green in your garden. Learn how to maximize your garden harvests and experience a whole new range of flavors and textures from the plants you're already growing.

$12.00

How to Eat the Parts of Plants You Didn't Know You Could Eat

If you've ever wondered how you can maximize your garden harvests, this is the guide for you.
It covers 47 types of... Read more

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Garden Betty

For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."

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