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These Baked Stuffed Tomatoes are a fresh and flavorful dish filled with a savory mixture of rice, Italian sausage, and cheese. Perfect as a light main course or a colorful side, they’re easy to make and bursting with garden-fresh goodness.
If you like stuffed peppers, you are going to love these! Stuffed Pepper Casserole is one of my favorite shortcut recipes for stuffed peppers. And of course I have a Mexican twist version with Taco Stuffed Peppers.
But today we are making baked stuffed tomatoes to make it a filling and tasty meal you can make any night of the week
The one thing I don’t like about stuffed peppers is the time it takes to make them. Bell peppers take forever to bake if you want them to get soft enough to enjoy. But tomatoes cook much quicker! And there is just something delicious about a warm baked tomato.
Baking the tomatoes means that you don’t have to only use the peak of freshness in the middle of summer. Baking them, cooks them down and really brings out the sweetness. So even in February you can make these and they will be absolutely delicious!
Erin’s Notes
- Quick weeknight dinner — tomatoes bake much faster than bell peppers, so this comes together in about 40 minutes.
- Make-ahead friendly — the filling can be made a day in advance, so all that’s left to do is stuff and bake.
- Easy to customize — swap the protein, the cheese, or the rice to match what you have on hand.
- Year-round comfort food — baking brings out the sweetness in tomatoes, so this works just as well in February as it does in August.
What You’ll Need
- Beef Steak Tomatoes – you want super ripe and large tomatoes so there is plenty of room for the filling.
- Italian Sausage – I like to use hot Italian sausage, because my family likes things spicy. But you can use mild, sweet, pork, turkey…whatever you like.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Cooked White Rice – you could also use brown rice or quinoa; see my notes on grain swaps below.
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Panko Breadcrumbs
- Fresh Basil
- Melted Butter
- Salt & Pepper
Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 large beefsteak tomatoes
- 1/2 pound Italian Sausage
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cup cooked white rice
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º F.
- In a large skillet over high heat, brown the sausage with the onions, breaking it apart for 7-8 minutes, until it is cooked through. Drain the grease away.1/2 pound Italian Sausage, 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until you can start to smell it.2 cloves garlic
- Mix in the cooked rice and cheese until everything is well blended. Taste the filling and add salt and pepper if necessary.1 1/2 cup cooked white rice, 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- While the sausage is cooking, cut the tops off of your tomatoes, and scoop out the insides.4 large beefsteak tomatoes
- Fill each tomato with the rice mixture and place in a baking dish.
- In a small bowl mix together breadcrumbs, melted butter, basil, salt and pepper until well combined.1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over each tomato and bake for 20-25 minute until the tomatoes start to split on and the top is lightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How To Make Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
- Cook Meat. Brown the sausage with the onions, breaking it apart for 7-8 minutes, until it is cooked through. Drain the grease away. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until you can start to smell it.
- Make Filling. Mix the rice and cheese with the sausage mixture until everything is well blended. Taste the filling and add salt and pepper if necessary.
- Prep Tomatoes. While the sausage is cooking, cut the tops off of your tomatoes, and scoop out the insides.
- Fill Tomatoes. Fill each tomato with the rice mixture and place in a baking dish.
- Make Topping. In a small bowl mix together breadcrumbs, basil, salt, pepper, and melted butter.
- Bake. Sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over each tomato and bake for 20-25 minutes until the tomatoes start to split on and the top is lightly golden brown.
- Serve. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Best Tomatoes To Use
Any large, ripe tomato will work well for this recipe. The most important thing is choosing one big enough to hold a generous scoop of filling without falling apart.
- Beefsteak – my go-to. They’re large, sturdy, and hold their shape well once hollowed out and baked.
- Heirloom – great flavor, and many varieties are large enough to stuff. Just look for ones with thicker walls.
- Early Girl – a good option if you’re working with what’s ripe in the garden; pick the largest ones from the vine.
Whatever variety you choose, look for tomatoes that are firm, plump, and ripe, but not overripe or soft, they need to hold their structure through baking. Smaller tomato varieties can work too if you want appetizer-sized portions, just reduce the filling amount and shorten the bake time slightly.
Rice & Grain Swaps
This recipe is written with cooked white rice, but I’ve made it with both brown rice and quinoa and they both work great as a 1:1 swap, no changes needed to the amount called for in the recipe.
- Brown Rice – use the same amount of cooked brown rice in place of white rice. It adds a slightly nuttier flavor and a bit more chew.
- Quinoa – cooked quinoa swaps in 1:1 as well, and is a great option if you want a lighter, protein-packed filling.
Just make sure whichever grain you use is fully cooked before mixing it into the filling it won’t cook further once it’s inside the tomato.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- You can make the filling ahead of time! Cook the sausage and mix everything together. Store in an airtight container for 24 hours before filling your tomatoes and baking. You will need to increase your bake time by 5-10 minutes. Or you can heat the filling slightly before stuffing if you are short on time.
- Feel free to mix up your cheese! Add Parmesan cheese if you want more flavor or use Colby Jack or whatever your favorite cheese is.
- My family loves this spicy, so I always use Hot Italian Sausage in this recipe. It does add lots of extra flavor as well. So be sure to taste the filling mixture after you mix everything together to adjust for the salt and pepper based on the sausage that you used.
- Don’t like sausage? You can use ground turkey, ground beef or even ground chicken in this recipe. I would add Italian seasoning as well, so you get more flavor. But use whatever protein you like!
Recipe Variations
All of the swaps below are ones I’ve personally tested in this recipe:
- Protein: ground turkey, ground beef, or ground chicken in place of Italian sausage (add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning for extra flavor).
- Cheese: Parmesan or Colby Jack in place of mozzarella.
- Grain: brown rice or quinoa in place of white rice (1:1 swap — see Rice & Grain Swaps above).
Dietary Call Outs
- Gluten-Free: swap the panko breadcrumbs for a gluten-free breadcrumb or gluten-free panko.
- Lower-Carb: try the quinoa swap above for a lighter option; for a lower-carb filling, reduce the rice/quinoa amount and add extra cheese or vegetables to fill out the volume.
- Dairy-Free: omit the mozzarella or use a dairy-free shredded cheese, and swap the melted butter in the topping for olive oil.
Storage & Reheating
- Make-Ahead: prepare the filling up to 24 hours in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Stuff and bake when ready, adding 5-10 minutes to the bake time.
- Refrigerate: store leftover baked stuffed tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: you can freeze the baked tomatoes in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Reheat: warm in a 350ºF oven, covered with foil, for about 15-20 minutes until heated through. You can also microwave individual portions for 1-2 minutes, though the tomatoes will be softer.
These look absolutely amazing. I have never thought of stuffing tomatoes like peppers before. I can’t wait to make these for the family!
These stuffed tomatoes are so flavorful! Perfect for busy weeknights too because they’re so easy to make!
What a great summer dinner idea! These stuffed tomatoes would be perfect for an appetizer, too!
So great- I am gonna stuff with cauliflower rice – you think it would work if I peeled the tomatoes first?
The tomatoes you bake them in? No you don’t want to peel those. The already split when you bake them to get the filling hot, if you peeled them I think they would just completely fall apart as they baked.