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These Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes are a simple way to turn ripe summer tomatoes into a garlicky, herb-packed side dish or chunky tomato base. Fresh tomatoes simmer with onion, green pepper, garlic, basil, and oregano until saucy and flavorful, making them perfect for serving with pasta, rice, chicken, mac and cheese, or freezing for later.
Updated note: This post has been updated with additional storage, freezing, and canning-safety guidance so readers can choose the best method for storing their stewed tomatoes.
Table of Contents
- Kellie’s Note Stew On It
- Why You’ll Love These Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes
- Best Tomatoes for Stewed Tomatoes
- Ingredients for Stewed Tomatoes
- How To Make Stewed Tomatoes
- What Are Stewed Tomatoes?
- How To Serve Stewed Tomatoes
- How to Store and Freeze Stewed Tomatoes
- Can You Can These Stewed Tomatoes?
- Stewed Tomatoes Recipe
- More Easy Tomato Recipes
Kellie’s Note
Stew On It
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.
These started as my favorite way to use up extra garden tomatoes, and they quickly became one of those recipes I reach for whenever I want something cozy, simple, and full of fresh tomato flavor. I love them because they taste like a cross between classic stewed tomatoes and a rustic Italian tomato sauce.
My husband loves them and puts them on everything including my favorite Mac and cheese. I hope they work their way into your dinner routine, too.
Why You’ll Love These Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes
These are not plain stewed tomatoes. They simmer with fresh garlic, basil, oregano, sweet onion, and green bell pepper for a chunky, savory tomato dish that works as both a side and a rustic tomato base.
- Easy to customize: Simmer longer for a thicker consistency or keep them saucier for spooning over dinner.
- Fresh and flavorful: Made with ripe tomatoes, garlic, herbs, onion, and pepper.
- Versatile: Serve them as a side dish or use them in pasta, rice, soups, casseroles, and sauces.
- Freezer-friendly: A great way to preserve extra garden tomatoes without canning.
A quick note on storing: This recipe is written as a fresh or freezer-friendly stewed tomato recipe. If you want to can stewed tomatoes for shelf-stable storage, use a tested canning recipe and follow current safe-canning guidelines, especially because this recipe includes lower-acid ingredients like onion, garlic, and green pepper.
Best Tomatoes for Stewed Tomatoes
Meaty tomatoes work best for stewed tomatoes because they have fewer seeds and less excess water. Good options include:
- Roma tomatoes
- Plum tomatoes
- San Marzano tomatoes
- Beefsteak tomatoes, if they are ripe and flavorful
If you are using large garden tomatoes, remove the tough core before cutting them into pieces. If your tomatoes are extra juicy, simmer the mixture a little longer until it reaches your preferred consistency.
Ingredients for Stewed Tomatoes
- Tomatoes: Roma, plum, or San Marzano tomatoes work especially well because they are firm, meaty, and less watery.
- Olive oil: Helps soften the onion and pepper while building flavor.
- Sweet onion: Adds mild sweetness and balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Green bell pepper: Gives classic stewed tomatoes texture and savory flavor.
- Garlic: Crushed garlic gives this recipe its bold Italian-style flavor.
- Fresh oregano: Adds earthy, herbaceous flavor. Dried oregano can be used in a pinch.
- Fresh basil: Stirred into the tomatoes for a bright, fresh finish.
- Sugar: Helps balance acidic tomatoes. You can reduce it or omit it if your tomatoes are naturally sweet.
- Salt and pepper: Season at the end so you can adjust after the tomatoes have simmered.
How To Make Stewed Tomatoes
This easy stewed tomatoes recipe comes together in a few simple steps.
- Blanch the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water for about 1 minute, then transfer them to the ice bath.
- Peel and cut. Once cool enough to handle, peel off the loosened skins. Cut the tomatoes into quarters or large chunks.
- Soften the vegetables. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and green bell pepper, then cook until softened.
- Add the flavor. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, oregano, and basil.
- Simmer. Cook uncovered until the tomatoes break down and the mixture becomes saucy and chunky.
- Balance and season. Add the sugar, then season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Serve or store. Enjoy right away, refrigerate for later in the week, or freeze for longer storage.
For thicker stewed tomatoes, simmer a little longer. For a saucier texture, stop cooking once the tomatoes are tender and juicy.
I love to serve them with rice or over leftover pasta for a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
What Are Stewed Tomatoes?
Stewed tomatoes are peeled tomatoes simmered with vegetables and seasonings until they become tender, chunky, and saucy. They are more seasoned than plain diced tomatoes, but chunkier and less smooth than tomato sauce.
This Italian-style version is made with garlic, basil, oregano, onion, and green bell pepper, so it has a savory flavor that works as a side dish, a simple tomato topping, or a rustic base for soups, casseroles, pasta, and rice.
How To Serve Stewed Tomatoes
These Italian-style stewed tomatoes are incredibly versatile. Serve them:
- Spooned over scrambled eggs or baked potatoes for a savory breakfast or brunch option.
- With baked chicken breasts, beef, pork, or seafood as a saucy side dish.
- Alongside mac and cheese for a cozy comfort-food pairing.
- With parmesan crisps or garlic bread for a simple lunch.
- In soups, beef stew, chili, or casseroles when you need a chunky tomato base.
- As a substitute for diced tomatoes in recipes where extra flavor would be welcome.
How to Store and Freeze Stewed Tomatoes
Let the stewed tomatoes cool completely before storing.
- Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in freezer-safe jars, containers, or zip-top freezer bags.
- Freezer jar tip: If freezing in glass jars, leave at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches of space at the top so the tomatoes can expand as they freeze.
- To thaw: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- To reheat: Warm gently on the stovetop over low heat or reheat in the microwave at reduced power.
Can You Can These Stewed Tomatoes?
This recipe is best treated as a fresh or freezer-friendly stewed tomato recipe. Because it includes lower-acid ingredients like onion, garlic, and green bell pepper, use a tested canning recipe from a trusted canning source if you want to preserve stewed tomatoes in shelf-stable jars.
When in doubt, freeze this recipe instead of water-bath canning it.
Stewed Tomatoes Recipe
Equipment
- dutch oven or large stockpot
- ladle
- Freezer-safe jars, containers, or bags
Ingredients
- 5 pounds tomatoes, preferably Roma, plum, or San Marzano
- 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, optional or to taste
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
- Add the tomatoes, a few at a time, to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Immediately transfer to the ice bath. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes.
- Carefully remove the peels from the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into quarters or large chunks and set aside.
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and green bell pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and basil. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.
- Stir in the sugar and continue cooking for 15 minutes more, or until the tomatoes reach your desired consistency.
- Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately, or transfer to airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
- To freeze, cool completely and transfer to freezer-safe containers, jars, or bags. Leave headspace if using jars.
- If you want to can stewed tomatoes for shelf-stable storage, use a tested canning recipe and follow current safe-canning guidelines.
Notes
- Roma, plum, and San Marzano tomatoes work especially well because they are meaty and less watery. If using tomatoes with a large core, remove and discard the core before cutting.
- For thicker stewed tomatoes, simmer uncovered a little longer. For saucier stewed tomatoes, stop cooking once the tomatoes are tender and juicy.
- This recipe freezes well. If freezing in jars, leave 1 to 1 1/2 inches of headspace so the tomatoes can expand.
- This recipe has not been tested for water-bath canning. If you want shelf-stable jars, use a tested canning recipe and follow current safe-canning guidelines.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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!
Peeling gives stewed tomatoes a smoother texture. If you do not mind a more rustic texture, you can leave the skins on, but the finished tomatoes will have more noticeable tomato skin pieces.
Yes. Whole canned tomatoes can work if fresh tomatoes are not available. Drain some of the extra liquid if needed, then simmer until the mixture is thick, chunky, and flavorful.
Some tomatoes release more liquid than others. If the mixture looks watery, simmer uncovered a little longer until the extra liquid reduces.
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.