Canned diced tomatoes are a pantry staple.
You can use store-bought canned diced tomatoes when they are affordable. You can even can your own tomatoes when they are in season as a way to stock up and prepare for the months when store-bought produce is more expensive and does not taste as good. Canned tomatoes have many uses in the kitchen including sauces, soups, drinks, salsa or even as a replacement for fresh tomatoes in most recipes.
Salsas
You can use canned tomatoes in salsas if you are particular about what you use. Some canned tomatoes can have a slight "tinny" flavor making it difficult to use them for fresh food preparations. Home-canned tomatoes and those preserved in glass mason jars do not have this issue. Either drain out the liquid and make sure your canned tomatoes are thoroughly diced, or blend your salsa to a smooth consistency after you add all of the ingredients. This allows you to have a fresh-tasting salsa whether it is the peak of tomato season or the dead of winter.
Soups
Many delicious soups are tomato-based. Whether you are preparing a cream of tomato soup or a hearty chili, canned diced tomatoes can be a convenient way to reduce your preparation time. Some store-bought canned tomatoes have basil, jalapeno peppers or other ingredients added to make them better-suited to specific recipes. Most recipes call for either a 14 1/2 oz. or 28 ounce can of tomatoes.
Sauces
Tomato sauces are a common accompaniment to meats, pastas and many other dishes. Depending on the cooking time, your flavors can vary drastically. A long cooking tomato sauce like a bolognese has a deep flavor. The meat, cream and constant reduction of liquids makes for a very intense flavor. Lightly cooked sauces like marinara generally have a lighter flavor. While a bolognese can take hours, a lighter cooked marinara may only take 20 to 30 minutes.
Replacing fresh tomatoes
Some recipes may call for fresh tomatoes, but you can just as easily use canned produce. Meals with longer cooking times, like a stew, can use either fresh or canned tomatoes without changing the finished product. The long cooking time of a stew gives fresh tomatoes plenty of time to break down. However using canned tomatoes saves time because it means you do not have to worry about removing skin or seeds.
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