The BEST Stewed Tomatoes Ever recipe! This easy to make recipe simmers tomatoes for 30 minutes to make homemade stewed tomatoes that can be served as a dinner side dish or can be canned. This how to make recipe shows you how easy they are to make! Find out why everyone considers them THE BEST! We always use this as a canning recipe for our Summer garden tomatoes!

Homemade Stewed Tomatoes Recipe
Stewed tomatoes, sigh.
Our tomatoes are turning red faster than I can pick them! So, naturally, my kitchen has turned into a full-blown tomato factory. Between roasted cherry tomato sauce and homemade diced tomatoes I’ve been cooking up every tomato dish imaginable. Oh, and let’s not forget fresh tomato salsa—because August always means fresh salsa!
These stewed tomatoes are the best, and I’m not fibbing either. If you’ve got a tomato harvest coming up—or if you just want to ditch the canned stuff—please, please, please make these! You won’t regret it.
If you love tomatoes as much as I do, get excited—I have so many favorite garden tomato recipes to share with you. But for now… let’s talk about these stewed tomatoes.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy them? Macaroni noodles and stewed tomatoes—it’s simple, cozy, and one of those dishes that instantly takes you back home. Or, if you’re craving something ultra-comforting, stir them into crockpot mac and cheese for an extra boost of flavor.
And because no tomato-filled meal is complete without a side of something warm and buttery, I highly recommend serving it with a slice of sweet cornbread. That perfect balance of sweet and savory? YUM!
These stewed tomatoes are the best, I’m not fibbing either. If you are having a tomato harvest soon or would like to make your own instead of the canned version, please please please please please make these!

How to Make Stewed Tomatoes Video

These are really the best stewed tomatoes ever!
This is a recipe that might cause you to faint, I’m warning you now. I was expecting average stewed tomatoes, but I ended up sitting at the counter with a spoon eating them out of the pot when they were done. Matthew was in another room, so I knocked on the door.
”Matthew? Are you there?”
”What? What’s wrong”
”Can you come here?”
”Why are you crying?”
”I just made the best stewed tomatoes.”
”Are you crying?”
”Yes”
”Why?”
”Because they are so good.”
This was a actual conversation over stewed tomatoes. Seriously, they are that good!

How to Make Stewed Tomatoes From Scratch
So what kind of tomatoes work best for stewed tomatoes? I find that beef and roma/plum both work well. Don’t worry about mixing them if you have to either. I do it all the time.

Don’t be scared of this quick boil tomatoes, it will be over quickly!

And look at that.. now you’re in a ice bath! Think of it as a pool and relax.

Because of the quick boil, the skins will peel right off.

Discard the skins (compost!), or come up with something to do with them. I like to use the skins to make tomato powder which can be sprinkled in soups, casseroles, sandwiches, etc.

So now we have all our tomatoes, naked and bashful! Throw them in a large pot.

Add all our ingredients, stir and put on the stove. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the consistency is how you prefer your stewed tomatoes. Be sure not to boil off all the juices, that’s one of the joys of stewed tomatoes.

When the stewed tomatoes are done, serve them up right away if you’d like…

They are quite pretty and delicious so they compliment so many dishes nicely!

Or throw them in a mason jar in the refrigerator for tomorrow…

Or throw them in a freezer bag and freeze them for dinner in December. How fun is it to grab homemade garden stewed tomatoes to add to a meal while it’s snowing out?

ENJOY!
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The Best Stewed Tomatoes Ever
PrintIngredients
- 10 tomatoes beef or roma variety
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, plunge tomatoes in for 30 seconds. Remove, put immediately in a ice bath.
- Peel the tomatoes. Discard the skins.
- Dice the tomatoes up to desired size.
- In a large pot on medium heat, combine all ingredients.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Then serve fresh or you can freeze them.
Vicki W says
The Best Stewed Tomato Recipe EVER. Thanks for sharing!!!
Pamela says
Thanks Vicki! Glad you liked them!
Tina Morgan says
love this recepy worked awesome …. love this website for any of my recepies I get compliments all the time on my cooking. thanks
Pamela says
Thanks Tina, glad you liked it!
Tina Rumble says
This is the first time I have ever made my own stewed tomatoes is was really easy thank you turned mine into garden soup I put all my garden veggies in along with ground beef mm mm mm my kids loved it poured over rice or ellbows 🙂 again thank you
Pamela says
So happy to hear that Tina, isn’t it great over elbows? Yum!
Barb says
I don’t like green bell pepper at all. I just left that out of the recipe.
Mary says
I think you mean to “discard” the skins. “Disregard” means to not pay any attention to so it would indicate that you can leave the skin on.
Will says
I used your recipe as a guide. Tweaked a little to my liking and taste. I have a bunch of tomatoes and other veggies from my 15’x30′ backyard garden. This just happens to be my first time making stewed tomatoes and my first time canning anything also. Canned 6 pints and had some for dinner
…BEST dish with tomatoes in it I’ve ever tasted!!! Actually, this would make an excellent spaghetti sauce as well. Thank you Pamela!!!
Pamela says
So happy you enjoyed these stewed tomatoes! I agree that they are great over pasta too! Enjoy!
hilajpage says
My mother, who was a really great cook, added small cubes of day old bread once the tomatoes were heated and almost ready to be served.
Nancy Spivey says
I tried this recipe with the tomatoes and peppers from our garden, and it was terrific! Also easy, which is a good thing. I added onions, for added nutrition and taste. Thanks for a great recipe.
Pamela says
Happy to hear you enjoyed Nancy! Onions are a great addition!
Dorothy Jeanne says
Loved the easy recipe. The pics helped, and I just finished 3 batches and put them in the freezer.
Thank you for sharing.
Pamela says
Happy to hear that Dorothy! Enjoy!
gene says
I was trying to find something to do with all the tomato’s i grew this year, went and the internet and there you were with a great and simple way to use them. Thanks they look great, Let’s see how i do.
Pamela says
Good luck Gene!
Jackie says
These really are the best!!
Thanks for posting!!
Pamela says
Thanks Jackie!
Stephanie Kosler says
Absolutely delicious I can’t keep the kiddos out of them.
Pamela says
So happy to hear that Stephanie!
Ashley says
Absolutely delicious! I did like you and had some for lunch 🙂 Awesome job!
Pamela says
Glad to hear Ashley!
Cee Cee says
I made these tonight on the fly, and everyone loved them!! So easy!
Pamela says
Awesome to hear Cee Cee, glad they were a hit!
Jenn says
Looks yummy! You can make tomato powder for flavoring in other dishes out of the skins, it had a lot of flavor. 🙂
Mama Celeste says
Fry the tomato skins in canola oil and lightly salt them. Better than pork rinds! I actually have to give my son credit for this; I’d never come up with a fried food on my own.
Pamela says
Thanks Mama Celeste, I’ll give this a try!
Vanessa says
Oh man, I just made these and they are un.be.lievable. So good, so tomato-y, so juicy! I only made small batch as I picked just one basket, but I knew I’d never eat them all in time, so this seemed like a great option for them. I’m so glad I can’t eat all my tomatoes, ha! I canned two pints and snarfed down the rest. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I composted my skins :).
Pamela says
High 5 Vanessa! So glad you enjoyed these!
MacKenzie Manouchehri says
Looking at this recipe I thought, “sounds kind of bland”. But you described them with such passion so I decided why not! They are so amazingly good! My only modification was I used a variety of tomatoes and fresh parsley. We also have an overwhelming amount of tomatoes during the season. These were perfect! I could easily eat these as a main meal with a spoon. Yum, yum, yum!
Pamela says
So happy you enjoyed them MacKenzie! Tomatoes just started for the year here so soon I’ll be eating them with a spoon too! 😉
Kristin H. says
Silly girl! Skins go in the compost pile/bin. You DO compost, right? Looking forward to trying this recipe! I’ve got about 100 Juliet (small Roma) tomatoes about to ripen along with a whole lot of little yellow pear tomatoes, so I’m looking forward to it! 🙂
Pamela says
Enjoy Kristin! We do compost, our plants love that yummy compost tea! 😉
susan d st louis says
skins go to my chickens, quail,geese and peacocks they love them!
Pamela says
You’re the best chicken Mom!
Karen Wilson says
After searching for a recipe I tried this one. I’ve never been a fan of tomatoes, but oh wow. This is an amazing recipe. They are cooked to perfection and has just the right amount of seasoning. I will definitely make many more batches. Thank you so much for sharing.
John says
Can you tell me/us how much those 10 tomatoes weigh all together? Everyone has different size tomatoes so to say 10 tomatoes is meaningless for a recipe to be consistent. My plant is Roma tomatoes and they are not as large as your’s
Pamela says
Hi John, the tomatoes should be medium-large sized. There is no specific weight, using a guesstimate on sizes will still equal a great stewed tomatoes dish.
Lisa says
Oh please please please weigh your tomatoes for us precision driven folks! Thanks 🙂
Botany Gal says
I always start with coarsely chopped celery & sweet onions along with the chopped peppers when I make stewed tomatoes. Slowly sauté the veggies in a little EVOO, sweating them until just softened before adding S&P & some sugar (how much depends on how many tomatoes I’m using) and then the tomatoes. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Only then add a good quantity of freshly-chopped basil and stir it in. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then just before serving stir in a good handful of stale bread cubes to soak up some of the juice & thicken it. Mmmmm…. My grandson insists on a pot of stewed tomatoes to accompany my home-made mac & cheese!
Jennifer says
Can’t wait to try this recipe.. I am going to be using some heirloom tomatoes though, hope it turns out well.. Thanks for sharing
Pamela says
Enjoy Jennifer!
Kara says
I can’t wait to try these. Do you mind if I add a link here from my blog?
Pamela says
Go for it Kara!
Candace says
I am making these as I type ( well the water is in the process of boiling, but still) and I must admit that I to have shed a tear from something I have made that tasted amazing. I am not saying I am the best cook but sometimes I amaze myself .
Pamela says
Too cute Candace! Enjoy these stewed tomatoes!
Kim says
I picked up 100 lbs of tomatoes and used 50lbs for Spaghetti sauce and wanted to do stewed tomatoes for the remainder, Thanks for the Recipe! In regards of what to do with the left over skins-Dehydrate them and make tomato powder!! Ive managed to not throw a single bit of my tomatoes out (well minus the rotten one I found) if it didn’t go in the stew pot it went into the dehydrator and YUMM is that tomato powder awesome!!
Sal says
Hello Pamela,
I’m the drummer of a blues band herbiedandthedangermen.com. We just got back from an awesome week in Memphis TN competing in the 2014 International Blues Challenge (IBC). What a great experience meeting great artists and seeing some jaw dropping performances. But during the last two days in Memphis, I caught a bug that dropped me to my knees. I just got home and was looking for some wholesome food to nourish my aching body (no canned stuff). I found your stewed tomatoes recipe and it sounded sooooo good. Thanks for the post!
V/r
Sal
Pamela says
Hi Sal, I hope these tomatoes do the trick! I just pulled a bag out of the freezer that I froze a few months ago, they really are just the best. Hoping you feel better soon!
Walt says
Grew up with fresh tomatoes all summer and canned tomatoes in the winter. Never did get mom’s recipe, but yours follows how she used to prepare them as well as I can remember. It is a must for me this year
.
Pamela says
Enjoy Walt! Hope they’re just like your Moms!
Hal says
Excellent and easy to prepare. I sauteed fresh chopped garlic with the chopped bell pepper in extra virgin olive oil (only for a few seconds) before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Katie says
I left a comment here twice but I think it went to your spam folder? There was a link to a recipe for those tomato skins. Email me for it if you don’t see my comment in your spam folder.
Pamela says
Had to search for it but thankfully not many spammers go by “Katie”. 🙂
Katie says
Awesome! The recipe reminded me of you right when I saw it.