Stuffed tomatoes are always a significant and welcome change to your dinner menu.
Not only are they delicious and fast to make for a busy weeknight, but they also make for a colorful addition to your table.
The perfect combination of sausage meat, tomato juice, and bread nestled inside a perfectly ripe tomato. Heaven for your senses.
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In this Article
- Subscribe to Giangi's Kitchen!
- Which kind of tomatoes are best to use with this stuffed tomato recipe?
- Here are a few helpful tips for the ingredients needed to make this savory baked stuffed tomato recipe
- Equipment needed
- Cooking tips and step-by-step instructions to create these excellent stuffed tomatoes
- What do you serve with your stuffed tomato recipe?
- Substitutions and suggestions
- Storage and reheating options
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Look at my other recipes if you enjoy those delicious stuffed tomato recipes.
- Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Which kind of tomatoes are best to use with this stuffed tomato recipe?
Any variety of round plum tomatoes can be used for stuffed tomatoes.
I used heirloom tomatoes for this recipe.
However, the red Beefsteak tomato is readily available in all grocery stores.
Regardless of the tomato you select, look for one that is plump, round, and bright in color.
Please make sure they are large enough to hold up your stuffing.
There are so many beautiful tomatoes appearing on our market shelves. Since we live in a southern state, our season starts a bit earlier than the rest of the country.
Nothing like smelling a fresh tomato!
Here are a few helpful tips for the ingredients needed to make this savory baked stuffed tomato recipe
This is a short introduction. The ingredient list is also brief. It includes essential items that you may already have in your pantry. Please read the recipe for complete instructions.
Tomatoes: Medium size for a light dinner, larger size for a more consistent dinner. They should not be too ripe but just firm enough to the touch.
Garlic: adds the perfect touch to your tomatoes
Shallot: always welcome, and they have an excellent soft taste once cooked.
Flat leaf parsley: the best in all cooking as it is rich in parsley oils and gives a great flavor to all your cooking.
Cooked ham: regular store-bought or holiday leftover ham gives this dish a fantastic flair.
White bread: remove the crust, and break it into chunks. Once combined with the tomato seeds, you will never feel that there is bread in your dish. However, it is the perfect binding agent. You may use day-old bread if you wish. Make sure that it soaks up all the tomato juices.
Worcestershire sauce: gives a bit of an extra layer of flavor to your stuffing.
Sausage meat: Select one that is not too fatty and has not been blended with too many herbs. The most straightforward the sausage meat is, meaning no extra spices added, the better it tastes.
Equipment needed
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Mixing bowl: easy to save your seedling and mix the bread and the meat.
Food processor: easy to chop parsley, ham, and garlic quickly. Of course, this step can be eliminated by chopping everything by hand.
Ovenproof baking dish: make sure the borders are higher so your tomatoes are nicely nestled when baking.
Cooling rack: this helps eliminate the extra water the tomatoes contain before stuffing them.
Cooking tips and step-by-step instructions to create these excellent stuffed tomatoes
As with all cooking, have all your ingredients ready before cooking.
- Gently cut the cap or the team part of your tomato about 1 inch. Do save the caps.
- Remove all the internal seedlings and interior membranes with a small teaspoon and set them aside.
- Season the cavity of the tomatoes well with salt and turn them upside down on a cooling rack to render more of the water content.
- Add the chunks of white bread to the tomato seedling bowl.
- Meanwhile, chop the parsley, garlic, and ham in a food processor or by hand.
- When the parsley is well chopped, add it to the bowl with the bread and work with your hands to create a homogenous stuffing.
- Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
- Butter an ovenproof dish and start filling your tomatoes with the sausage stuffing.
- Fill the tomatoes and make sure that you have some filling overflowing.
- Place the stuffed tomatoes in your buttered dish, place the cap over your stuffing, and bake in the hot oven.
Depending on the size of your tomatoes, your roasting time will vary.
- Larger tomatoes will take about 45 minutes in the oven.
- More petite tomatoes will take about 25 to 30 minutes.
What do you serve with your stuffed tomato recipe?
I am a salad lover; therefore, perfectly seasoned butter lettuce with shallots vinaigrette is my pairing of choice.
In addition, mint peas make a fun combination of light flavors.
Substitutions and suggestions
You can make this vegetarian by substituting the pork meat with a sauteed mix of mushrooms with a couple of tablespoons of white wine.
Have leftover rice? This recipe is the perfect place to substitute pork with cooked rice.
Orzo pasta makes a great filling too. Cook your orzo with some frozen peas, making for a fun stuffing.
Furthermore, these stuffed tomatoes go well with all types of meat filling; therefore, you can enjoy them with ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken.
Storage and reheating options
If you are fortunate to have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator or freeze them.
Refrigerator:
- Store any leftover stuffed tomatoes in a high-side plate glass container for up to three days.
Freezer:
- Allow any leftovers to be completely cooled off, transfer them to an airtight container and place them in your freezer for up to a month.
- You can place them in an ovenproof container and place them frozen in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes at 350F.
Freezing will affect the texture of the tomatoes. For the best results in flavor and texture, I prefer to bake and eat these on the same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best-eating tomato?
Some varieties are known for their rich flavors such as Brandywine, Cherokee purple, San Marzano and Sun Gold. Each variety is unique in acidity, sweetness, and texture.
What is the best tomato for slicing and eating?
Big beef is one of choice as it will produce large, round fruits that are perfect for slicing.
What are the benefits of tomatoes?
Tomatoes can be a valuable part of a healthy diet as they improve heart health, cancer protection, and protection against sunburns. Rich in antioxidants.
Look at my other recipes if you enjoy those delicious stuffed tomato recipes.
Equipment and ingredients needed to make those stuffed tomatoes
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes, medium size
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 shallot
- 3 tablespoons italian flat leaf parsley
- 4 slices cooked ham
- 2 slices white bread, crust removed and cut into rough pieces
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ pound sausage meat
- salt and pepper
- butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Cut the cap of the tomatoes off about 1 inch from the stem and set aside.
- Remove all the seeds and interior membranes from the tomatoes and set aside in a bowl. Season the interior of your tomatoes with salt and turn them over on a cookie cooling rack to allow more water to be disposed of.
- Meanwhile, in the food processor, chop the parsley, garlic, and ham.
- Add to your bowl with the tomato seedling, the white breach chunks, and the sausage meat. Mix well and add the chopped parsley, garlic, and ham to the bowl. Season with pepper and salt and add Worcestershire sauce. Mix well to obtain a homogenous stuffing.
- Butter an oven-proof dish. Fill the cavity of your tomatoes with the stuffing and add a bit more to overflow a bit, and place in the buttered dish.
- Place the cap over your tomatoes and place them in the hot oven for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of your tomatoes.
- Let it sit for a few minutes before eating as the content will be quite warm.
Nutrition
Giangi’s Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.
- Course: Dinners, Pork, Vegetables
- Cuisine: French
- Occasion: Mother’s Day
- Season: Summer
- Type: Affordable Gourmet, Under 45 minutes
Did you make this?
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Grace
Tried them last night for dinner and they were amazing! Even my picky eater gave them two thumbs up! Love how flavorful and super easy it is to make. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Giangi Townsend
The pleasure is all mine, and thank you for making my recipe.
This is one of our favorites and my son always devour it.
Enjoy!
Halyna
I made these last night for my hubby, who is a tomato lover but also skeptical of new meals – he likes his routine! But these turned out so great he wants them in the rotation every week! He’s not easiest to impress so this recipe is a keeper. Thanks!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you, Halyna for your kind compliments. I am married to a routine man too, so I do understand and your compliment means the world to me.
Thank you for making one of my recipes.
Enjoy!
Mina
These stuffed tomatoes look so good! I can’t wait to try it over the weekend!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you and enjoy them.
Jerika
Yum! I love tomatoes especially if it’s stuffed. So delicious! Thanks for this recipe.
Giangi Townsend
My pleasure, anytime.
Andrea
these stuffed tomatoes turned out absolutely amazing! such a yummy and fancy dish!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you and so happy you enjoyed them.
Amy Liu Dong
This is such a great recipe and a very unique one! Loving this stuffed tomato, looks so yummy!
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
I love stuffed tomatoes.
Angela
I am obsessed with this recipe! The tomatoes look so great on a serving plate.
Audrey
This was a great recipe for my garden tomatoes!
Jes
I made these stuffed tomatoes with dinner last night and they were incredible!
Giangi Townsend
So happy to hear, thank you!
Nancy
So juicy and easy to make
Addison
These stuffed tomatoes were so hearty and flavorful! Love this healthier dinner option for my family.
Elizabeth S
These were so good AND EASY! I didn’t have ham so I subbed it out for bacon. Definitely an “on repeat” kind of summer dinner.
Giangi Townsend
Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.
Enjoy!
Traci
What a fun change up from stuffed peppers! We really enjoyed the delicious taste and ease of making this recipe!
Giangi Townsend
I am so happy you enjoyed it.
Thank you!
Bella
I loved these stuff tomatoes. I used tomatoes from the market and can’t wait to try using ones from the garden this summer. Delish!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you! A game changer with fresh tomatoes from the garden.
Enjoy!
Sharina
These stuffed tomatoes are must-try! Packed with flavors and they looked and tasted sooo good! Definitely making these again!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you for your kind feedback.