Tuscan White Bean Stuffed Tomatoes

This recipe for Tuscan White Bean Stuffed Tomatoes is hearty, warming, and deeply satisfying. These stuffed tomatoes can easily be served over a bed of pasta or rice—super budget-friendly and extremely filling! Every time you cut into one of the tomatoes, it’s like you’re making the sauce for whatever you’ve paired them with. This recipe is absolutely delicious and a great way to use up those summer tomatoes!

What Are Tuscan White Bean Stuffed Tomatoes?

Stuffed tomatoes are such an underrated dish. You can stuff them with almost anything you have on hand—grains, beans, meats, veggies, cheese! In this recipe, I take inspiration from Tuscan cuisine and stuff the tomatoes with a hearty mixture of cannellini beans, four types of diced vegetables, breadcrumbs, Italian seasonings, tomato sauce, and shredded cheese. Each tomato is then baked until it’s tender, juicy, and bursting with flavor. They’re like mini casseroles in tomato form!

What Type Of Tomato is Best for Stuffing?

You want large, firm, and ripe ”slicing” tomatoes for this recipe. Beefsteak and large heirloom tomatoes are also great options because they’re big and easy to stuff. Roma tomatoes could also work, but the oval shape makes stuffing a bit more challenging. For serving a crowd, I use smaller vine-ripened tomatoes so the filling goes further. Whichever variety you choose, make sure your tomatoes are firm and not mushy!

Storage Instructions

Leftover Tuscan white bean stuffed tomatoes will last up to 3-4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container. To reheat, cover with foil and bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes or until heated through. I wouldn’t freeze this recipe as the tomatoes may become too watery after thawing. However, the filling freezes well.

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Tuscan White Bean Stuffed Tomatoes

This Tuscan White Bean Stuffed Tomatoes recipe is hearty, warming, and deeply satisfying. It's also budget-friendly and easy to make!

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Total Cost ($9.42 recipe / $2.35 serving)

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 51 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 6 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings, 1 tomato per person

Calories 197kcal

Author Jess – Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 4 large “slicing” tomatoes* $4.54
• 1 can cannellini beans $0.86
• 1 carrot, peeled $0.10
• ½ yellow onion $0.47
• 2 sticks celery $0.10
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided $0.38
• 1 zucchini, diced small $0.93
• 1 sprig rosemary** $0.19
• ½ Tbsp dried Italian herb blend $0.29
• 1½ tsp salt $0.01
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar $0.03
• ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper $0.12
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes $0.06
• 3 cloves garlic, minced $0.15
• 8oz can tomato sauce $0.74
• ¼ cup bread crumbs $0.16
• ½ cup shredded Italian cheese blend*** $0.29

Instructions

• Hollow out 4 large tomatoes, keeping the tops and transferring the juicy seeds and inside flesh to a medium mixing bowl. Reserve everything!
• Dice the carrot, yellow onion, and celery sticks into small pieces to make mirepoix (which is a combination of diced veggies used to flavor a recipe).
• Pour 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil into a saucepan with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herbs, and the diced carrots, onions, and celery.
• Once cooked down, about 5 minutes or until veggies are softened and glossy, add the insides from the tomatoes, diced zucchini, rosemary, garlic, and apple cider vinegar and simmer of on medium heat uncovered until a chunky filling forms and some of the juices cook down, about 10 min.
• Add bread crumbs, white cannellini beans and tomato sauce. Stir until combined. Cook for 3 minutes.
• Turn off heat and fold in shredded Italian cheese blend. Set aside.
• Place hollowed out tomatoes in a lightly oiled baking dish. Fill each hollowed out tomato with the cheesy white bean filling and put their tomato “lids” on. Fill in around each tomato with any extra filling. Brush remaining olive oil on top of all 4 tomatoes and cover the entire baking dish lightly with tinfoil. Bake for 15 min at 375°F.
• Remove tinfoil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Broil on high for the last 3 minutes to get some color on top of the tomatoes, if needed.
• Serve each tomato over pasta or rice.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*If you want to stretch this recipe further for more than 4 people, you can buy slightly smaller tomatoes on the vine and follow these same instructions, serving the smaller stuffed tomatoes with more pasta or rice to keep your guests happy and full! In my experience, you can find tomatoes for much cheaper (and more flavorful!) when they are in season.

**Dried rosemary also works well.

*** I chose the shredded Italian cheese blend at my local Kroger, but provolone, mozzarella, Parmesan, and even cheddar cheese work well in this recipe—use whatever you have on hand!

Nutrition

Serving: 1stuffed tomato | Calories: 197kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 12g | Sodium: 1245mg | Fiber: 4g

how to make Tuscan White Bean Stuffed Tomatoes – step by step photos

Hollow out 4 large tomatoes, keeping the tops and transferring the juicy seeds and inside flesh to a medium mixing bowl. Reserve everything!

Dice 1 peeled carrot, ½ a yellow onion, and 2 celery sticks into small pieces to make mirepoix (which is a combination of diced veggies used to flavor a recipe). Pour 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil into a saucepan with 1½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp red pepper flakes, ½ Tsp Italian herbs, and the diced carrots, onions, and celery.

Once cooked down, about 5 minutes or until veggies are softened and glossy, add the insides from the tomatoes, 1 diced zucchini, 1 sprig of rosemary, 3 minced garlic cloves, and 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar and simmer of on medium heat uncovered until a chunky filling forms and some of the juices cook down, about 10 min.

Add ¼ cups of bread crumbs, 1 can of white cannellini beans, and an 8-oz can of tomato sauce. Stir until combined. Cook for 3 minutes.

Turn off heat and fold in ½ a cup of shredded Italian cheese blend. Set aside.

Place hollowed out tomatoes in a lightly oiled baking dish. Fill each hollowed out tomato with the cheesy white bean filling and put their tomato “lids” on.

Fill in around each tomato with any extra filling. Brush remaining ½ Tbsp of olive oil on top of all 4 tomatoes and cover the entire baking dish lightly with tinfoil. Bake for 15 min at 375°F.

Remove tinfoil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Broil your baked stuffed tomatoes on high for the last 3 minutes to get some color on top of the tomatoes, if needed. Serve each tomato over pasta or rice.

You NEED to try these protein-packed Tuscan white bean stuffed tomatoes the next time you’re craving something warm, hearty, and delicious!

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