Turn Canned Tomatoes Into A Classic Southern Side Dish With 2 Common Ingredients

Stewed tomatoes is a classic Southern side dish that checks all the right boxes for recipes originating in the Southern United States — namely that it's way more delicious than the name seems to imply. In fact, if you've never had this side before, the moniker "stewed tomatoes" may not sound especially appetizing. However, this warm, saucy side dish is tangy, sweet, and delicious on just about anything. Its deep flavor comes from fresh tomatoes being stewed together with luscious fat and simple seasonings until the tomatoes caramelize and the flavors bloom.

Though not everyone has access to fresh tomatoes, it's a well-known fact that canned tomatoes make a tasty foundation for things like 3-ingredient tomato soup and marinara sauce that tastes like it's straight from Italy. That makes them the perfect base for classic stewed tomatoes as well, coming together in minutes with the addition of two extra ingredients: sugar and butter. The sugar tames the tomatoes' acidity and helps them caramelize, while the butter adds body and a silky texture, as well as enhanced flavor.

You can use either diced or whole tomatoes, but whole tomatoes are denser and less watery, so they yield a batch of thicker, juicier stewed tomatoes while the diced create a thinner sauce. Which style you choose as your base depends mostly on personal preference, though you may want a thicker batch of stewed tomatoes if you plan to serve them solo, while a thinner consistency may be better for stirring them into macaroni (a common and tasty go-to with this dish).

Using only these three ingredients, you can make a surprisingly flavorful batch of stewed tomatoes in just about 20 minutes. You don't really need other seasonings besides the obligatory salt and pepper that's automatically included in most savory recipes. However, if you want even more authentic flavor, you can replace the butter with a few tablespoons of reserved bacon grease (one of many reasons why throwing out your bacon grease is a huge mistake) and add a chopped onion.

These two ingredients alone bring smoky meatiness and tangy astringence, respectively, to the finished dish. You can saute the onion a bit before stewing, if you like, but it's not necessary, as the onions will soften and become tender and translucent as things become bubbly. If you're worried your sauce is becoming a little too loose or you want to give it some extra substance, you can also toss in some torn day-old bread. The bread will soak up extra moisture and thicken the stewed tomatoes beautifully.

Though it's perfectly okay (and even recommended) to eat stewed tomatoes alone by the spoonful, they're also exceptionally delicious stirred into rice, pasta, or even layered on top of roasted potatoes. Stewed tomato rice is especially tasty served under a golden, flaky filet of fried catfish, while the potatoes are perfect for pairing with fried chicken. Stewed tomatoes and macaroni is a meal on its own, but feel free to zhuzh it up with ground beef and cheese.