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!
Pin for later:
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.
Jeff says
I cried too.
Pamela says
Hah! Glad to hear! 🙂
Charlene says
I made this for the first time today. Very easy and, to be honest, I started “sampling” this dish while it was still simmering. I love it! My Italian husband loved it but asked that I make another batch but with a little bit of garlic and some basil. That came out great, as well. Thanks for posting this recipe. I will be using it again and again!!
Melissa says
I think so
Toni says
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Pamela says
Happy to hear you liked them Toni, thanks for commenting!
Cindy says
Are you able to can this? If so how long in water bath or pressure cooker. Thanks
Charlene says
I canned this today using same water bath canning time that I use for salsa – 30″ for pint jars and 40″ for quart jars. We opened one jar for supper and to test it. Turned out fine. Hope this helps.
Ricky Trimble says
Easy recipe! I love stewed tomatoes!! My recipe is similar except for one thing……my wife likes them sweet. Tonite i made roughly 3 pints, I sweetened it till she loved the taste….which was 1/2 cup!!!!!!! Yuck, yuck!!!!!!! Way too sweet, she ate them with Mac and cheese! I’m diabetic and can’t enjoy that sweetness! I enjoy what you do, thankyou!
Pamela says
Hey Ricky, I’m glad you like the recipe! Maybe next time you can split the stewed tomatoes in half, so you each get your sweetness level? 🙂 Enjoy!
Christina Cooke says
Thank You for this recipe, I have a pot on the stove right now.
Pamela says
Enjoy the stewed tomatoes Christina! It’s one of my favorite tomato recipes! 🙂
Momtaz Garden says
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and give me new experience.Keep writing eagarly will wait
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Norma says
Can you cook them and freeze them in jars without
water bath processing?
Pamela says
Hey Norma, you can totally freeze them in jars, or freezer bags. I recommend freezing them in mason jars with the lids OFF, and then once frozen put the lid on. This will prevent the glass jar from breaking.
JSASmom says
This quickly became my favorite recipe. Every time I make them, I’m pleasantly surprised how really wonderful the flavor is. It’s hard to grab a can when you know these can easily be made from fresh (with a little time investment—totally worth it!) Thank you for this recipe!
Pamela says
Thank you so much for commenting! I’m so happy these stewed tomatoes are now a staple in your kitchen! 🙂
Carolyn Collins says
This is an excellent and simple recipe. Thank you! However, DON”T throw away the skins. If you have a Foley food mill or some similar strainer put the skins through that. You will be amazed at how much beautiful rich tomato juice you will get from those skins.
Pamela says
Glad you like the recipe Carolyn! I love using the skins to make tomato powder! (recipe here: https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/how-to-make-tomato-powder-out-of-tomato-skins/) Thanks for commenting!
Robert Richards says
I would never remove the skins. That the healthiest part of the fruit. Leave the skins on. That’s the way I would do it.
Bruce Gooderham says
My father had a vege garden when we were kids and when there were heaps of tomatoes he would cut the spots ect out and put them in a pot and stew with a bit of sugar sprinkled on the top and put on stove and stew. We would have tomatoe pie as a desert, yum, also put the rest of the stewed tomatoes in the fridge on a hot day he would come in and get some tomes in a desert plate and pour cold milk out of the fridge from our dairy and enjoy, us kids loved them too, by the way i’m 70 years of age now ( great on a hot day out of the fridge )
Pamela says
Hey Bruce, I love that story – thank you for sharing with me! I hope this stewed tomato recipe brings you some more happy memories of those gardening days!
Trudy says
Why the sugar in the stewed tomatoes. Is there a purpose or just for taste
Louise says
If you want to can them how long would you process them for?
Alison Ely says
I have done this recipe at least twice now. I am not much of a tomato fan, but many recipes, like chilis, call for stewed tomatoes. I felt disgusted at the idea of using canned tomatoes because they are never made with love. Bits of unappetizing matter are always included, so I’m forced to go through the can’s contents to pick out small pieces, and who knows if I can get them all. Plus I know that canned food doesn’t measure up to fresh anyway. So it’s extra work and still not trusting the end result. So much for convenience it’s supposed to provide. I ended my so-called paranoia by finding your recipe here. Thanks to you, I now can make this freezer staple to a proper standard, and can trust it enough to just pour it without fear into whatever I’m making… So now I have an appreciation for tomatoes more than I did before and my meals are delicious with them. Thank you so much! Thought I’d let you know now that I’ve made them a few times.
cindy says
This is cooking now and my kitchen smells wonderful! I pureed carrots and used them instead of sugar and also pureed onion, green pepper and garlic altogether in my bullet that I use for smoothies. Used less salt so we can season to taste when using and used dried basil and oregano. It worked fantastic, looks fantastic , smells fantastic and I tasted it before it even cooked and it is absolutely delicious!! Can’t wait for it to be done. Going to try it as tomato soup tomorrow and the rest is going in the freezer. I still have another 30 pounds of beef eater tomatoes to pick so if this turns out as good as I think it will, I’ll be doing more! Thank you so much for the recipe!! I no longer have to give away 200 pounds of tomatoes from my garden 🙂
Pamela says
Hey Cindy, thank you so much for the comment. I love hearing your changes in the recipe, the pureed carrots sounds like a wonderful addition! I hope this recipe helps you with all your pounds of tomatoes! Enjoy!
Steven says
My girlfriend and her mother are on a tour of Ellis Island as I type this. They were served food that immigrants would have eaten at the time. She had Sole with stewed tomatoes and rice. She’s never had stewed tomatoes before and is now obsessed….yup, in the past 10 minutes. She texted me to not can anymore of our beauties (49qts thus far) and instead find a recipe for her new addiction. Yours looks perfect, with a few of my own tweaks, and should allow me to put up about 40 pints before she gets back to Michigan.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with everyone and a double thank you for allowing me to bring more happiness to the one I love.
With that, I am off to the kitchen.
Be well.
Eric says
So, haven’t dug through the comments and I probably should, but I’m curious. Why not use basil instead of parsley? Why not have onion included? I love this but feel like there are some obvious enhancements. Wondering what I’m missing.
cindy says
I added pureed carrot , onion and garlic and then as it was cooking also added basil and oregano as they are our favorites! It’s an awesome recipe and a fun one to tweak for personal likes!
Tonya Crawford says
I was looking for some recipes to use up all of these tomatoes I have. I don’t know why on earth I bought 24 tomatoes plants and 20 pepper plants in the spring! I have tomatoes, peppers and onions coming out my ears. Your recipe sounded so good. I used a variety of tomatoes, green and yellow bell pepper and added some onion. It is very good, but it was saltier than I expected it to be. I will be harvesting a bunch more tomatoes before the season is over, and I will definitely be making this again, I will just use less salt.
Pamela says
Hey Tonya, hah, that’s so funny! But I know how hard it is not to grow a ton of plants! Glad you liked the stewed tomatoes recipe! Thanks for commenting!
Kathy Lindenmuth says
Your stewed tomatoes are the best!! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Sue says
The best way to saved tomatoes from the garden!!
Martha says
Hi, I made the stewed tomatoes this morning and they are so delicious. I will use this recipe when I have extra tomatoes that we need to hurry and use. Thanks for this recipe and it was so easy. Have an awesome day!
Cindy says
Oh my – I must agree the best ever. I did go one step further- I added a Jalapeño. Oh yeah!!!
Tina says
Do you serve them warm or cold?
Pamela says
I serve them warm.
Debbie says
Warm. I mainly use them in cooking.
wen says
Delicious and super easy.
Pamela says
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Wen!
Buffy says
These are fabulous! I had some tomatoes that needed to be used up. I made this and fell in love. Definitely make again. Thanks for a great recipe!
Pamela says
Hey Buffy, thanks so much for commenting and letting me know you liked the stewed tomatoes!
Debbie Mcmahon says
I just made this recipe today! I added bay leaf, fresh parsley, small onion and red and green peppers and a little fresh pepper! Extremely good and fresh from my garden!
Pamela says
Hey Debbie, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for commenting!
Kristen Acosta says
Do you think this recipe would work with tomatillos instead of tomatoes?
Thanks,
Kristen
Kristen Acosta says
I did both stewed tomatoes and stewed tomatillos and they are both delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Pamela says
Hey Kristen, I love that you made stewed tomatillos, a lady after my own heart! Thanks for commenting!
Hailey says
Hay! About how many oz does this recipe generate?
Eva says
If I am pressure canning this dish, would I use lemon juice, vinegar or citric acid to keep them fresh longer? how much of each? ty
Pamela says
Hey Eva, we use lemon juice with our tomatoes when canning. Use 1 tablespoon for a pint, or 2 tablespoons for a quart. Enjoy these stewed tomatoes!
TJ says
So Pamela, to can these tomatoes the only thing different I need to do is add the lemon juice to each jar as I fill them? I am a rookie canner, just learned this past Tuesday. But I have a counter of tomatoes I must process before they ruin. Plus in my garden I have no less than 24 tomato plants producing now. Just not getting any bigger than golf or small go fetch balls! :/
Pamela says
Hey TJ, that’s right, you will need to add some lemon juice to each jar when canning. Good luck! What made you grow 24 tomato plants? HAH!