Substitute for Tomatoes

I am unable to use tomatoes in cooking for health reasons. Is there a substitute that I can use in recipes?

By Jeanette from Sydney, Australia

Answers:

Substitute for Tomatoes

I recently bought some jarred red peppers, not roasted, and have also used roasted red peppers. They will impart a different taste, but they are sweet and the same color as a tomato. I especially like them on sandwiches instead of a slice of tomato. Try using them in lieu of tomato.

By Ginny

Substitute for Tomatoes

Thank you for asking. I've been looking for years. Now I need to cut back on fats and every diet uses a tomato base for everything. I will use these suggestions with my new garden.

I like garlic and onion. Also try going green with pesto sauce. This can be used with most tomato base dishes straight across.

If your worried about fat try substituting walnuts or almonds for the pine nuts and use yogurt for the oil. The flavor will be different, but goes well with pasta or vegetables, most anything. Also this can be used cold as a dip. Makes a good salad dressing, too. (03/29/2010)

By Anna Bryant

Substitute for Tomatoes

Squash of your favorite flavor choice would work. It will depend on the recipe whether it needs to be cooked and pureed or cooked and diced before substituting to your recipe. (03/29/2010)

By Deeli

Substitute for Tomatoes

I'm also allergic to tomatoes, along with many other things, including all dairy products and eggs. There are many substitutes for dairy and eggs readily available, but to find something to substitute tomato has been a nightmare. Perseverance and experimentation has produced a really useful puree/base.

I've used:

• sweet pointed red peppers
• 2 ordinary red peppers
  (you could use either one or the other if sweetness isn't to your taste)
• 2 medium onions
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed/chopped
• half of a small squash, I used Coquina squash, but that's not so readily available, butternut would be fine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• half a teaspoon of salt and a good pinch of pepper (to taste though, please yourself!)

I simply cooked all of these together until soft and pureed them in a liquidizer until completely smooth. I've made batches of this and frozen it, it keeps very well. When defrosted I've put in whatever additions, such as chili, extra garlic or whatever herbs/seasoning, etc. suits your dish.

Of course this produces a sweeter puree than tomato so bear this in mind when creating your dishes. The addition of a bit of chili powder was a nice balance with the sweetness of the peppers.

We have successfully used this puree for pizza topping, bolognese or chili in place of tomatoes and even with adding a bit of soya yoghurt and/or cream substitute we used it last night as a base for a beautiful tikka masala sauce and it was equally as good as anything from an Indian restaurant.

Who needs tomatoes? hehe. I feel like I've scored a little victory!
(07/01/2010)

By sassy.woman