The Canned Tomato Problem You Can Solve With Kitchen Shears

No home should be without kitchen shears. The small tool is an unsung hero of the kitchen; shears are incredibly versatile, and you can use them for everything from peeling potatoes to cutting through raw meat. In fact, Giada De Laurentiis says they're the most underrated tool in the kitchen. 

Now, they have a new purpose: cutting whole canned tomatoes. Using canned tomatoes in recipes often saves time and money, but it can be quite a messy ingredient. When you look at the ingredients on a can of tomatoes, the second ingredient listed is usually tomato juice, and this creates a messy problem. Many people strain their canned tomatoes before cutting them. While this cuts down on mess, it can still leave some juice behind that can stain surfaces such as plastic cutting boards due to the red pigment (called lycopene) which repels water, as does plastic. This makes the lycopene stick to the plastic, and it's also why it's resistant to being cleaned off with water. To avoid this problem entirely, you can leave tomatoes in the can and cut them with kitchen shears before adding them directly to your recipe.

Dicing tomatoes right in the can saves you a lot of time in both the cutting process and cleanup. It can even prevent your cutting board and counters from getting stained red by the lycopene in tomatoes. The process is very simple: Open the can as you regularly would, then put your shears into the can with the tip facing down. If there is a lot of juice, you might need to pour a bit out first so the can doesn't overflow when you put the shears in.

Next, cut the tomatoes while they're still in the can. You'll probably need to rotate the shears around to get all of the tomatoes. Then, stir the tomatoes in the can to make sure you've gotten them all, and cut any remaining large pieces. Once you have your tomatoes diced, use them as your recipe calls for them, then move right on to the next step in preparing your dish without having to worry about any cleanup or mess.