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The best thing to do with a surplus tomato crop! This Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes recipe is perfect for canning and makes weekday meals come together in a snap. Loaded with fresh garlic, basil, oregano and ripe tomatoes, it’s an amazing side dish for meaty main courses, too!
When we finally moved to a house with a yard, a flat, perfect yard for a vegetable garden, I had a small plot dug up behind my kitchen. I planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, kale, green beans, peppers of every variety, carrots, cantaloupe, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce. The lettuce, it was perfection.
Everything else, not so much. Except, the tomatoes. I had plenty.
And so, I made you these Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes. My husband loves them and puts them on everything including my favorite Mac and cheese.
It you like tomatoes, you’re going to LOVE these Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes. I threw in some extra things to add some flavor that ended up making them taste like a super chunky soup. But I’m not complaining at all because I went from a stewed tomato hater to a stewed tomato LOVER in a matter of an hour or so.
This healthy stewed tomato recipe is loaded with huge cloves of crushed garlic, leaves of fresh basil, chopped fresh oregano and freshly picked tomatoes which are stewed together with sautéed onion and green pepper. Totally and utterly amazing….magical almost.
How To Make Stewed Tomatoes
This easy Stewed Tomato recipe makes the BEST stewed tomatoes ever. Packed with flavor and super simple to make, THIS is what you use when for canning your tomatoes.
- Prep the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Blanch tomatoes in the boiling water for 1 minute and immediately transfer to an ice bath. Remove the peels from the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes (or cut into quarters.)
- Make the Stewed tomatoes. Heat oil in a large stock pot. Add the peppers and onions. Cook until softened. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, oregano and basil. Simmer. Add the sugar and simmer a bit longer. Season with kosher salt and black pepper, to taste.
- Store your canned tomatoes. Can your stewed tomatoes using your preferred canning method or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Or enjoy immediately.
I love to serve them with rice or over leftover pasta for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
What Are Stewed Tomatoes?
Homemade stewed tomatoes are like summer’s grand farewell. The last of the season’s tomatoes ready to be canned and stashed away to enjoy during the grayest winter days.
This easy stewed tomato recipe is a blend of tomatoes, peppers and onions stewed until saucy, thick and savory. Studded with garlic and ribbons of basil, this easy tomato sauce is a great addition to so many recipes!
How To Serve Stewed Tomatoes
You could used them as a substitute for regular diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes in so many recipes like this Skillet Chicken Cacciatore and this simple Marinara Sauce. Or just heat up a big bowl and dip in a few parmesan crisps…..call it dinner, it’s totally cool.
It’s also great alongside this 10 minute Mac and Cheese recipe for a super speedy weeknight dinner the kids will LOVE!
More Easy Tomato Recipes
- Easy Fried Green Tomatoes with Spicy Remoulade
- Super simple Tomato Jam
- I love these Marinated Tomatoes for an easy pasta sauce.
- The Very Best Tomato Soup
- Easy Fresh Tomato Salsa
- Tomato Upside Down Cornbread….award winning!
- Cheesy Baked Tomato Bisque
- Tomato Goat Cheese Crostata
- Quick and easy Gazpacho
Be sure to follow us over on Instagram for even more easy recipe inspiration and behind the scenes fun!
Stewed Tomatoes Recipe
Equipment
- dutch oven or stockpot
- ladle
- canning jar
Ingredients
- 5 pounds tomatoes, Plum tomatoes, roma tomatoes or San Marzano work best.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Add the tomatoes (a few at a time) to the boiling water and cook for 1 minutes. Immediately transfer to the ice bath. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes.
- Carefully, remove the peels from the tomatoes and cut into quarters. Set aside.
- In a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium/high heat.
- Add the onion and pepper to the pot. Cook until softened, approximately 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil. Simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes.
- Stir in the sugar and continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes or until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste, if desired.
- Place in hot sterilized mason jars, and place in hot water bath, bring water back to the boil and boil for about 20 minutes longer, remove and let cool, re-bath any jars that don’t seal.
- Alternatively, you can transfer to a resealable container and store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m going to guess 25 minutes for pints in a pressure canner would yield good results based on many other recipes using onions, peppers, and fresh herbs.
That sounds about accurate but I will not guarantee as I’m not a canning expert. FoodinJars.com is a great resource for canning, if you need help.
For those of you asking if these can be canned, I would say the only thing missing to make these shelf stable is the citric acid/lemon juice. We will be adding this today to the canning process and I have every bit of faith that they will have the stability of any other canned tomato recipe if cooked and sealed properly.
Makes very delicious tomatoes for use in my spaghetti sauce recipe.
I love that! I’m going to try it for spaghetti sauce soon.
Can’t wait to can this up, sounds out of this world. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Delishious! I added more garlic because I love it, otherwise followed the recipe.
Thank you so much!
Can I can this recipe using frozen tomatoes
I haven’t tried it, however, I’m 99% sure if you used whole peeled canned tomatoes it would turn out great!
this was a great recipe, loved it.i did add cilantro also..
Love the addition of cilantro!
easy to do …even for me …bottled 4 small n 2 large agee jars ….very happy with myself n yummmm
So glad you liked it!
Is this a tested recipe for canning? Is it safe?
Thank you. I would love to use it.
I haven’t tested it for canning BUT I have frozen it with great success.
If the recipe is not tested for canning then why is that the process used in your recipe? I’m now throwing away six jars I canned with this recipe thinking it was safe & apparently not. Very disappointing
Hi Caroline, I’m so sorry you had a bad experience. We’ve been canning these tomatoes using a water bath method for years (decades, even.) One slight change can throw off the chemistry and lead to spoilage. I’ll be removing the canning reference until I can retest but I did use this method a couple weeks ago and have tomatoes stocked in the pantry right this minute. Again, apologies for the waste. there’s nothing worse than a recipe that fails and I don’t want any of my readers to lose faith in my offerings. Best regards, Kellie
Kelly,
Did you test the recipe for canning?
Ramona
I have not but I’m testing it next week myself since many people are asking for instructions and I want to be sure to explain it correctly.
Hey there!! These sound yummy! How many San marzanos generally make up 5 pounds?
That’s a good question, I would say about 20? It really depends on the size.