5 Best Stuffed Tomatoes

Hollowing out tomatoes, stuffing them with a savory mixture, and gently baking them until they are tender and bursting with warm juices is a delicious, time-honored classic at our dinner tables. From a simple seasoned goat cheese filling to an elaborate recipe bathed in a sauce made from the scooped-out flesh, juice, and seeds, here are our favorite ways to stuff and serve tomatoes.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Pork and Veal

Chef Daniel Gouret uses both ground pork and veal to give these tomatoes a more complex flavor. Fresh bread crumbs make the stuffing especially light.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Garlic and basil boost the creamy goat cheese filling for these buttery-soft roasted tomatoes. The result works both as a side dish or a main course with a salad and crusty bread.

Spinach-and-Ricotta-Stuffed Tomatoes with Piquillo Peppers

At Commanderie de Peyrassol, the wonderful Provençal winery, chef Guillaume Delauné uses ingredients from his kitchen garden to make dishes like these excellent stuffed tomatoes. He uses a melon baller to scoop out the insides of the tomatoes, leaving a sturdy shell to hold the spinach-and-cheese filling. The accompanying sauce is made from the scooped-out tomato seeds and juices.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Tuna, Cannellini Beans, and Capers

"These are the perfect picnic food," says chef Amanda Lydon because they're utterly portable. They're almost like an inverted tuna sandwich: creamy tuna with zippy capers, mellow cannellini beans and crunchy toasted croutons stuffed inside scooped-out tomatoes.

Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Couscous, Chanterelles, and Pine Nuts

Contributed by acclaimed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter, these stuffed tomatoes are roasted, filled with a tabbouleh-like mixture and sautéed chanterelles, coated with an aromatic herb oil, then warmed through briefly in the oven right before serving.