A toothpaste squeezer flattens stiff aluminum tubes cleanly and evenly, helping you use every last drop without mess, waste, or frustration.
I always keep a tube of tomato paste in the fridge. It’s convenient, easy to portion, and lasts for weeks. But there’s one problem: Those stiff aluminum tubes never want to give up the last bit of paste. Whether I’m using a few tablespoons for a braise, pasta alla norma, 10-minute chana masala, or just a single teaspoon for jambalaya, I always end up wrestling with the tube to get out that final bit. That’s where the humble toothpaste squeezer comes in.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Make the Juice Worth the Squeeze
I had my MacGyver moment while testing my lasagna rolls recipe for the third or fourth time. I’d forgotten to buy another tube of tomato paste, but I knew there was one in the fridge. There just wasn’t quite enough. I generally refuse to go to the store for a single item (because I never leave with just one thing), so I stood at the counter and used the edge to try to coax the last bit out of a mostly-empty tube. Not much came out except a tiny squirt on the counter and my face. The stiff aluminum creased and folded, trapping precious paste in every cranny.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
I went to the bathroom to wipe the tomato paste off my face and spotted my partner’s toothpaste squeezer on the counter. I grabbed it, clipped it onto my tube of tomato paste, gave it a twist, and click—problem solved. It flattened the tube with even pressure, extracting every last drop without waste or mess. Now I have a toothpaste squeezer that lives in the kitchen, so I don’t have to grab the one in the bathroom anymore.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
How Toothpaste Squeezers Work
If you’ve ever used one of those little rolling gadgets to squeeze the last bit of toothpaste out of a tube, you already know how weirdly satisfying it is. A toothpaste squeezer grips the end of the tube and rolls or cranks it forward, applying even pressure across the width. It flattens as it goes, pushing every bit of paste toward the nozzle with no air pockets, no waste, and no thumb-wrestling. And the tool is ideal for any ingredient in a tube, such as anchovy paste, garlic paste, and tomato paste.
Toothpaste squeezers come in a few styles: crank-style rollers with a handle, slot keys you wind by hand, and slide-on rollers that press upward as you go. I’m partial to the slide-on kind, which roll up the tube while keeping it upright in the fridge, like a little tin soldier of efficiency. Whichever style you choose, they’ll all get the job done.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
I mostly use mine for tomato paste, but I’ve also used it to eke out anchovy paste, harissa, miso, and even gianduja (because yes, chocolate-hazelnut spread in a tube exists, and yes, it’s incredible). If you’re struggling to get a paste out of a tube, a squeezer will set it free. A toothpaste squeezer might only get an extra 5% out of a tube but it is a small, satisfying efficiency—one that saves you cleanup, extends the life of your ingredients, and repurposes a single-use tool into a kitchen MVP.
