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 quicker than I’m able to pick. So between oven roasted cherry tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, slow cooker tomato sauce tomato pesto, slow cooker tomatoes, tomato soup… there’s lots of tomato dishes going on in our kitchen! Oh and I did mention Fresh Tomato Salsa too – because you know August always means fresh salsa!
I will have many more upcoming tomato recipes…get ready tomato lovers! But for now… stewed tomatoes!
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.
Beautiful beef and roma tomatoes, I love you. I was making a few batches of stewed tomatoes today.
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.
Disregard 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!
Need more tomato recipe ideas?
Need help growing tomatoes? Here’s how to grow tomatoes from seed!
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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.
Tammy says
Can you puree this into a spaghetti sauce? Or should I add more/different spices then?
Pamela says
Hey Tammy, you absolutely can! If you want to thicken it up add tomate paste. Enjoy
Melita says
Do you thicken the sauce at all? I thought you typically do, but this is my first attempt so any advice is welcome!
Pamela says
Hey Melita, I follow the recipe exactly as written, no thickening agent is needed. Hope you enjoy – these tomatoes are delicious!
Karen says
I grew up with canned and frozen veggies from our garden. My friend was given a variety of Toms from her neighbors garden and didn’t know what to do with them. 🙂 They are now stewed and part of them in a pot of Chilli. Yummmmm!
Pamela says
That sounds absolutely delicious Karen! Enjoy!
shannon says
What is the recipe? The website does not seem to have the recipe posted any longer…only the video but no listing of ingredients.
summer says
I love making these, but can’t see the recipe! Any chance you could post the ingredients?
Marilyn says
I couldn’t see it in Chrome, but when I opened it in Internet Explorer it worked.
Pamela says
My recipe cards were down for blog maintenance for a few hours, even a blog needs a little cleanup once in a while! Now it’s back up!
Hannah says
I’ve used this Stewed Tomato Recipe before and been very happy with the results. But now, I have to say, this whole blog post is pretty frustrating to revisit. Where is the actual recipe? It seems to just be photos without any actual quantities.
Marie M Ronco says
I can’t find the ingredient list in the recipe! Made this before but can’t remember quantities! Help!
Denise says
Hello, tried this for the first time and turned out really good. Curious how you do your tomato skins? Thank you
Pamela says
Hi Denise, I’m sorry but I don’t understand your question. If you need help with how to peel the tomatoes, please check out the recipe for full instructions. Hope this helps.
Sandy says
I also add a few dried onion flakes-just because but I love your recipe with parsley! I have always used whatever tomatoes that I have around on that day and they are always good.
Pamela says
Hey Sandy, glad you liked this recipe! Sounds great with onion flakes too!
Jean Ney says
Awesome recipe.
Love it.
I also added a few red peppers which puts a little bit a a kick to it.
Not only is it good by itself but I also plan on useing it in my chili. It’s the best.
Thanks
Pamela says
Hey Jean – thanks for commenting! Enjoy these stewed tomatoes in your chili!
Borris Bardzilauskas says
Hi Pamela, I’m going to give this recipe a try. It looks really delish. I have two chest freezers in my basement, one for meats and the other for veggies and bread. Needless to say I have limited room for storage. I would like to can this, but saw no canning method mentioned. Do you have any recommendations as to hot water bath or pressure canning. This is my first attempt at stewed tomatoes.
Pamela says
Hey Borris, I pressure can these in quart jars for 20 minutes. If you scroll up in the comments, you’ll see lots of other have had good success with canning these as well. Enjoy!
David says
Hey Pamela – yep, I used 15-16 Roma ‘maters… I think I must have zoned out and added salt twice or something. Will definitely try again. With cornbread. Maybe some pinto beans. Mmmmm
Pamela says
Stewed tomatoes + corn bread = the best! Enjoy!
David says
Hi – I made this last night and something went terribly wrong. Super-salty! Is it possible that the amount of salt called for is too much? Or maybe even reversed with the sugar ( 2 tsp vs. 1/2 tsp ) ?
I love stewed tomatoes and will try again with much less salt. And hopefully cry happy tears!
Thank you for the recipes,
David
Pamela says
Hey David, sorry to hear that. The ingredient amounts are correct. Are you sure you used enough tomatoes? This recipe is loved by many, so I hope you’ll try again and cry tears of joy!
Dianna says
In your recipe, you do not specify the kind or brand of salt to use. I suspect that is why several people are mentioning the tomatoes end up too salty. For instance, I know that Morton’s salt products are far more salty than Diamond’s salt products. However, I have only ever seen Diamond kosher salt and it pretty much is hard to find in California at all. Normally, if you are canning the recipe, you only want to use canning salt to avoid misc. anti-caking agents used in most salts. I don’t know if sea salts are pure or if they might be preferred over other types. It sure would help a lot of us to know the type of salt to use if you are going to freeze, can (waterbath or pressure), or eat fresh. I sure would hate to have an inedible product because I didn’t use the right salt!
Sur says
I made these last year for the first time ever making stewed tomatoes. These are awesome! This year I will be canning them as we travel in the winter and it’s too hard trying to take frozen stuff. Thanks for a great recipe!
Pamela says
Thank you so much – that makes me so happy to hear you’re going to be canning them! Enjoy them on the road!
Francesca says
Seriously delicious! I received more tomatoes than I know what to do with right now. I came across your recipe and thought maybe you might have exaggerated a bit on how good this would be. Well, you did NOT exaggerate. My daughter and I each ate a bowl of it. So good and tasty. I never thought I’d eat a bowl of stewed tomatoes in my life. LOVE IT!! Making may more batches tomorrow.
Pamela says
Hahaha, thanks for the smile Francesca! I’m glad you and your daughter loved them so much! Keep on enjoying!
scott rumpel says
I like to add garlic and a bit of jalapeño as well a little spice
Pamela says
I love the addition of garlic and jalapeno!
Kathryn Griffin says
Looks delish! Thank you for sharing! You are one of the fan favorites at The Sunday Showcase from the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link to this week’s showcase: http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/sunday-showcase-make-pretty-monday-5/ Hope you have a great week! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Nancy Wolff says
Looks like a great recipe for Stewed Tomatoes. Thank you for sharing your post on Our Homestead Blog Hop. As one of the co-hosts I will be featuring your post this Thursday. Hope you stop by again!
– Nancy ( Nancy On The Home Front )
Leslie says
Stewed tomatoes are one of my favorites, and I’ve been wanting to make my own from scratch for so long. Can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
Carol ("Mimi") says
Gardeners have more tomatoes than they know what to do with at this time of year. This stewed tomato recipe looks like a good way to use some of those tomatoes from a bountiful harvest. Thank you for linking up at The Blogger’s Pit Stop Link Party. I’m sharing your link on social media.
Carol (“Mimi”) from Home with Mimi
Michelle Leslie says
I can’t wait to try these Pamela and I love, love the way you explain your recipes. It’s so descriptive 😉
Caitlin Edwards says
Those look really good! Thanks for sharing
http://www.themilestraveled.com
Jess says
Pinned! Sounds yummy!! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Diane Atkisson says
I tried your stewed tomatoes, added some Jalapeno peppers and some garlic and some basil, man you can eat it like soup so good thank you for your recipe.
Dyanne
Pamela says
Yum – love that little kick of jalapeno you added! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for letting me know!
Jana says
We tried this recipe and loved it enough to use again. We have bountiful ? and making a double batch. ?
Pamela says
Hey Jana – I’m so happy to hear that you liked these stewed tomatoes! Thanks for letting me know, enjoy the rest of your Summer!
Reverend Draco says
Freezing tomatoes eliminates the need to parboil. As they begin to thaw, the skins slough off.
Sandy says
-but do you really want to dig those skins out of your pan of stewed ‘matos? I guess I am too lazy and want the final product ready to eat.
mike says
Looks great! The only thing is all the measurements are exact but the tomatoes…10 beef tomatoes could easily be twice as much as 10 roma. I can’t see where anyone else asked this, so I probably missed something, but about how many pounds of tomatoes would work best with these recipe measurements? Thanks!
Pamela says
Hey Mike, I don’t have a exact number as I don’t usually weigh them but I’d say 5-7 pounds of tomatoes is a fair estimate. If you go over a little bit, that’s totally ok, I can promise you this recipe will still be just as good. Enjoy!
Trevor says
Want to try this recipe, you state how many tomatoes can you give an equivalent to how many cups that would possibly be? I have my tomatoes allready skinned and cubed in containers ready to go and then i came across this recipe?
Trevor says
I forgot to ask as well how long of a water bath for canning these?
Pamela says
Hi Trevor, I pressure can these in quart jars for 20 minutes. For water bath, you’ll have to experiment and see what time works best, my guess is about 10 minutes.
Pamela says
Tomatoes should be about 5-7 pounds. Hope this helps.
jane @ littlesugarsnaps says
I just want to take a chunk of bread to a pan full of these. They look so succulent.
Sue says
I made these stewed tomatoes last year for the first time ever of making stewed tomatoes…They are the best! Congrats on the recipe. My question is…have you or anyone else tried canning this recipe? It should work, right?
Thanks!
Pamela says
Hey Sue, I started canning this recipe last Summer and it works perfect! It’s one of my favorite canning recipes – can’t wait for our next batch of garden tomatoes!
Therapina says
I.ve just returned from a holiday in Ethiopia where I had tomato stew in the Four Sisters restaurant in Lalibela so wanted to find a good recipe. I didn’t have green pepper so used leeks and I cut back on the salt. But my is this good. Thanks.
Pamela says
Hey Therapina – so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Jessica says
Hi,
My tomatoes are coming through now (in N.Z.) and was wondering how orange or yellow peppers would do in this recipe, replacing the green ones?
Regards,
Jessica
Pamela says
Hey Jessica, it will change the taste some, but it will still be delicious with orange and yellow peppers. Enjoy!