Stuffed Tomatoes

You’ll love this recipe because it combines the familiar flavors of rice and tomatoes with a nourishing, satisfying, and aromatic filling made with chickpeas, spinach, and cumin.

This recipe is perfect for meal prep as the tomatoes get more flavorful as the ingredients meld in the fridge, and you can easily reheat them in the microwave for a healthy lunch or quick dinner.

This stuffed tomato recipe is heavily inspired by my nonna’s cooking, but I made some addition to turn them into a fulfilling meal.

For example, I added chickpeas, spinach, and cumin to the rice filling to make them a complete meal with fragrant Mediterranean aromas.

Thanks to the combination of spices, legumes, and veggies, our recipe doesn’t need meat or cheese. It’s suitable for gluten-free and vegetarian diets.

Find the complete recipe with ingredients and instructions in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Tomatoes

Pick vine tomatoes that are ripe but not excessively so. They should feel firm to the touch and preferably without bruises.

Olive oil

To fry the onion and the garlic. Substitute vegetable oil.

Onion & Garlic

Onion and garlic are essential for a tasty flavor base. We gently fry them in oil for a couple of minutes.

Spices

You’ll love stuffed tomatoes with cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes.

Substitute dried oregano or Italian herbs for cumin and coriander.

Rice

We use long-grain rice, white. You can use most rice varieties, including short-grain rice.

I’d recommend sticking to white rice for this recipe as it cooks faster.

Substitute quinoa for rice.

Chickpeas

You can use canned chickpeas or dry chickpeas that you previously soaked in water overnight and then boiled until tender.

Chickpeas (or any other legume) are an excellent complement to rice and make the meal complete from a nutritional point of view.

Substitute green or brown lentils, black beans, or pinto beans for the chickpeas.

Spinach

Spinach, rice, and chickpeas are excellent together.

You can substitute chard or kale for spinach.

Vegetable broth

To help the rice cook.

Fresh herbs

We use fresh parsley. Substitute fresh basil, fresh mint, or fresh coriander.

Salt & Pepper

We recommend sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Find the complete recipe with ingredients and instructions in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Prepare the tomatoes

Cut the top of the tomatoes and set them aside. With a spoon, remove the tomato flesh, seeds, and water and add it to a blender.

Season the inside of the tomatoes with a pinch of salt and put them upside down on a plate.

Tip: This step helps remove excess water from the tomatoes.

Blend the tomato pulp, juice, and seeds until smooth and set aside.

Make the filling

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

In a large skillet, fry the chopped onion in olive oil for 3 minutes.

Add pressed garlic, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, and rice, and fry for one more minute while stirring.

Add the blended tomato juice, drained chickpeas, and spinach, then season with salt and black pepper.

Simmer on medium heat, stirring often, for about 12 minutes or until the rice is al dente and has absorbed the liquid.

Stir in the chopped parsley, then taste and adjust for salt.

Stuff the tomatoes

Stuff the tomatoes with the rice mixture to the edge and above, pressing the rice gently with the back of a spoon.

Arrange the stuffed tomatoes on a baking pan, cover each tomato with their sliced top, and bake at 350°F or 180°C for 20 minutes.

Arrange the tomatoes on a serving platter and serve as a beautiful centerpiece. They are excellent as a starter, main dish, or side.

We like serving stuffed tomatoes on a bed of Greek-style yogurt, Labneh, or with our Yogurt Tahini Sauce.

Drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts, parsley, and a pinch of paprika or sumac.

Other spreads that work well with stuffed tomatoes are:

• Tahini sauce (tahini, water, garlic, lemon juice, etc.)
• Yogurt tahini sauce (Greek-style yogurt, tahini, water, garlic, salt, etc.)
• Tzatziki (cucumber, Greek-style yogurt, mint, olive oil, lemon, garlic, etc.)
• Hummus (chickpeas, cumin, tahini, lemon juice, etc.)
• Muhammara (roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, walnuts, etc.)
• Baba Ganoush or Mutabal (eggplant dips with tahini, etc.)

Lentil rice stuffing

The rice and lentil stuffing used in our stuffed bell pepper recipe is also delicious for stuffing tomatoes.

Check out our stuffed bell peppers with lentil and rice stuffing.

Make ahead: this stuffed tomato recipe is excellent to make in advance as the tomatoes get tastier as the flavors meld in the fridge.

Refrigerator: let the tomatoes cool down completely, transfer them to an airtight container, and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freezer: let them cool down completely, then transfer them into a freezer-friendly container and freeze them for three months.

Reheat: reheat stuffed tomatoes in the microwave for about 2 minutes.

If you love cooking with fresh tomatoes, take a peek at these healthy tomato recipes:

• Tomato galette (pie crust, ricotta, basil, cherry tomatoes, oregano, etc.)
• Easy tomato salad (heirloom tomatoes, red onion, balsamic vinegar, basil, etc.)
• Pan con tomate (grated tomato, olive oil, salt, bread, etc.)
• Bruschetta (diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, bread, etc.)

Get more wholesome and tasty meal inspiration from these stuffed vegetable dinners:

• Stuffed eggplant (eggplant, cherry tomatoes, basil pesto, pine nuts, etc.)
• Zucchini boats (lentils, walnuts, canned tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, etc.)
• Stuffed zucchini (zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, breadcrumbs, olive oil, ricotta, etc.)
• Microwave sweet potato (sweet potato, couscous salad, tahini dressing, etc.)
• Stuffed bell peppers (rice, lentils, vegetable broth, cumin, bell pepper, lemon, etc.)

For many more dinner ideas, check out our mains category page.