Vintage to Modern Kitchen

  • Home
  • Appetizers
  • Entrees
  • Ethnic
  • Sides and Vegetables
  • Casseroles
  • All In One Meals
  • Canning
  • Desserts
  • Drinks
  • Stews and Soups

Canning Sauces, Rubs, Gravy

Basic Stewed/Diced Tomatoes (unseasoned)

For all purpose use in a variety of recipes,  plain,  unseasoned stewed tomatoes (or more simply ‘canned diced tomatoes’ —  provided that you are actually canning them) — fill lots of recipe niches.

There are those who argue for over ripened tomatoes for these but normal ripeness will work just fine.

You’ll want to remove the stems and then also the skins.  Peeling is easiest to do if you slice an “X” into the skin then drop them (carefully) into a pot of boiling water. Then turn the heat off. Let them sit for no more than three minutes or just until you notice the skin, where the “X” slice was made, starting to come away. Drain. Allow to cool until no longer hot but still slightly warm to the touch. Peel away!

If in a hurry, you can do an ice water bath or “shock” them as I call it. But the idea is to have outsides cool enough to handle while still warm but not overly hot inside for easiest peeling. If they get too cold then they will not peel as easily.

Unlike tomato sauce, you do not want to keep the heat going on the boiling water for diced tomatoes. With sauce it doesn’t hurt to have them ‘cook’ a bit before peeling. But you want to keep diced tomatoes firmer than that. It is also one of the reasons I don’t mind using tomatoes that are ripe but not over ripened for this recipe but I want over ripe ones for making tomato sauce.

Don’t Toss Those Over Ripe Tomatoes Just Yet!

Slice into approximately 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch cubes.  It doesn’t have to all be perfectly sized or shaped — nor will it be as you get to those curved outer edges.   Don’t cut the majority of the tomato any smaller or you could end up with more of a chunky tomato sauce instead (unless that is what you are going for).

NOTE: If desired, you can slice in half first and remove seeds then strain them to keep as much of the surrounding pulp as possible. As for me, I don’t bother. And I use Roma or if possible certain heirloom tomatoes to avoid having to remove all the tough, woody greenish, white, or beige center parts but if you are using other varieties you may need to do just that. Most of the tomato varieties today have lots of woody parts and tendrils inside unlike “in the old days” when tomatoes only needed the stems removed and for recipes like this one the skins. Otherwise the skins just cook and peel away floating to the top — possibly — but not always, which is why we peel them to avoid it and also because skins may be tender or they may turn out somewhat chewy or tough, depending upon age and variety,  unless being used in longer cooking recipes such as spaghetti sauces that slowly simmer for several hours. If you know that is what you are going to be using these for then by all means skip the peeling!  I certainly do in that case!

Place your diced tomatoes and all the juice and pulp into a saucepan.

Bring to a boil on moderate heat setting, add 1/4 tsp salt —  to help pull the juices out more for the tomatoes to bath in faster rather than for seasoning purposes so no risk of over cooking into mushy sauce before enough of the juice happens, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.  (If canning, go the full ten minutes).

Congratulations! You’ve just made unseasoned stewed tomatoes!

While still hot, pour into hot sterilized canning jars and proceed with proper canning technique and you will have made “canned diced tomatoes” which can be stored at room temperature for 12 to 18 months.

Update: They no longer recommend canning tomatoes unless lemon juice is added and only fresh tomatoes are used! GMO tomatoes today have a different acidity and we now have “super bugs” so previous canning recipes and methods are no longer recommended.

Otherwise, if planning to use within the week, pour your “unseasoned stewed tomatoes” into a clean jar to be refrigerated up to a week.

Print

Unseasoned Stewed or Canned Diced Tomatoes

Basically this a recipe for unseasoned canned diced tomatoes, but if not canning because planning to use within a week then they are referred to as unseasoned stewed tomatoes. 
Servings 3 cups
Author Tammy

Ingredients

  • peeled, skinned, diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 tsp salt (not for seasoning but to leach fluids from tomato meat/pulp)

Instructions

  1. Prepare tomatoes by removing skins, stems, and any woody components within the core.  Removing seeds is optional but if so be sure to preserve as much pulp as possible. 
  2. Place in saucepan with salt and bring to boil.  Gently stir, only once it has reached the boiling point, very briefly.
  3. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes.  Do not stir until finished cooking then stir gently and briefly.
  4. Pour into hot sterilized jars and proceed with proper canning technique.  Be sure there is enough tomato liquid/juice to cover the tomatoes in each jar.  Or if planning to use within the week, pour into clean jar, cap it,  and store in the refrigerator.

Note: 1/4 tsp salt for leaching fluids quickly works for "up to" 6 cups diced tomatoes. For over 6 cups use 1/2 tsp.

Tweet
Pin
Share4
4 Shares


Leave a Comment

« Tam’s Homemade Cajun Seasoning Blend
Let’s Make That Gumbo! »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




About Me

Hi, I'm Tammy!

I live in Idaho but I am a southerner and moved here for career reasons in 2000. However, I am now a retired widow and have lots of time to focus on what makes me happiest -- cooking, sharing recipes, as well as teaching and sharing with others what I know about cooking and nutrition.

I don't claim to know everything there is to know about cooking and I'm not a chef, although I do know a few and helped them out from time to time and my late husband was a trained cook and baker as well as a master at smoking meats and making BBQ, and I have studied nutrition at two colleges and one university along with other degrees. I like cooking from scratch and recipes made with prepackaged items are the exception rather than the norm.

However, being disabled, I have good days and bad days so I do use what I call "cheats" on occasion. For the most part though I've learned to pace myself and with a little preplanning I manage to do the prep one day and the cooking the next so the cheats still don't happen very often.

I have an enormous collection of recipes dating from the 1700s to the present (hence, vintage to modern). Because of my late husband's health issues I also have many diabetic and heart healthy recipes or my recipes often include substitutions along with the regular ingredients.

I do just about everything when it comes to cooking so other than predominantly scratch cooking, I don't really have a set focus on any particular cuisine. I even make a few cheeses, canning, homemade ginger ale, candies and confections, and the list goes on. If there is a recipe for something you'd like to see just leave a comment or write to me at: vintage2modernkitchen@gmail.com

Copyright © 2023 Vintage 2 Modern Kitchen · Page design by Tammy and Allen

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in