Wasting food, even just a tablespoon or two of something, doesn’t sit well with me. I keep small amounts of leftover vegetables in a freezer container to use for chicken pot pie. I make breadcrumbs from stale bread. I freeze overripe fruit to use in smoothies or cocktails. Of course, I never throw away a Parmesan rind. 

Before you think I sound like a perfectionist, I am the first to admit that I’m far from perfect. Some veggies do die in the crisper drawer. The final serving of a casserole that gets shoved to the back of the fridge often goes unnoticed until it’s too late. And one food that I seem to waste more than I’m proud to admit is tomato paste.

I often open a 6-ounce can of tomato paste that doesn’t get entirely used up in whatever recipe I’m cooking. Then the leftover tomato paste goes into a container and, like that final serving of a casserole, makes its way to the back of the fridge until it’s inevitably found with fuzz on the top.

And yes, I know the trick of spooning tomato paste into ice cube trays, freezing them, and then popping out the cubes to live in a freezer-safe bag until needed, but that’s three whole steps. Please don’t judge me, but that’s two more steps—despite good intentions—than I’m likely to do. Plus, who wants to stain their ice trays with tomatoes?

So when I saw a simple tip on TikTok to freeze tomato paste by the tablespoon that has just one step and no extra equipment, I thought it was genius.

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