14 Cold Weather Dinner Ideas ft. Canned Tomatoes

14 Cold Weather Dinner Ideas ft. Canned Tomatoes

Stay warm this winter season with these cold weather dinner ideas featuring our favorite pantry staple — canned tomatoes.

Bundle up, it’s frigid out there! With snowflakes falling, icy winds blowing, and winter’s chill settling in, there’s no escaping the cold. However, there’s a remedy for that frosty feeling – cozy recipes to keep you warm! That’s why we’ve curated the best cold weather dinner ideas to ward away the chill — whether you crave soothing soups, hearty curries, or convenient Instant Pot dinners, this collection has something for everyone!

These recipes are courtesy of our own cookbook collection as well as several Tomato Wellness members (including Red Gold, Pacific Coast Producers, Del Monte, and Take Root Organics), and they all tote health benefits thanks to canned tomatoes, vegetables, and whole grains, so you can feel good about serving these to friends and family.

So, without further adieu, here are the best cold weather recipes to keep you warm this winter season!

14 Cold Weather Dinner Ideas ft. Canned Tomatoes

Stay warm this winter season with these cold weather dinner ideas featuring our favorite pantry staple -- canned tomatoes.

Hungry for more? Check out these healthy canned tomato recipe ideas in our cookbook! This collection of 17 recipes captures the wholesome essence of classic home-cooked meals for the whole family. Each recipe was created by our diverse team of registered dietitians, representing many food traditions and cultures around the world.

TPWC Member Highlight: Del Monte

TPWC Member Highlight: Del Monte

Get the scoop on Tomato Wellness member, Del Monte. We are proud to have this company as part of the Tomato Wellness Family!

Del Monte was established in 1886, and continues to grow their reputation with a singular dedication to quality, as they always strive to cultivate the best tomatoes to help you live a life full of vitality and enjoyment. Their produce is also picked at the peak of ripeness, so when canned, you know you’re getting a delicious flavor along with vitamins, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients.

We love that 95% of Del Monte’s produce is grown on farms in the USA, all of which travel less than 100 miles from farm to manufacturing gate. And because Del Monte partners with growers on a variety of programs to yield healthy, productive crops, they are able to protect the planet while promoting responsible growing and food production practices. Learn more about how they want to grow a healthier tomorrow. 

We applaud the values of Del Monte as an authentically quality and sustainably minded processor and appreciate their contributions to our industry. Coupled with a focus on long-term relationships with customers and growers, it’s easy to see why we are so honored to profile this Tomato Wellness member.

Try out some of Del Monte’s delicious recipes:

Clean Eating: The Healthiest Canned Foods to Keep in Your Pantry

Clean Eating: The Healthiest Canned Foods to Keep in Your Pantry

If the pandemic taught us anything, it was the importance of stocking your pantry with shelf-stable canned foods you can count on to help get a meal on the table, without a trip to the grocery store. But historically, canned foods have gotten a bad rap as second-rate options that come up short in nutrition and flavor – almost to the point where most people are slightly embarrassed to roll up to the check-out counter with a cart populated by foods stuffed into tins. This is a shame, because the truth is many canned foods are still nutrient-rich.

In fact, the canning process has less impact on nutrition than you may think. A study in the journal Nutrients found that people who ate a lot of canned foods had a higher intake of 17 essential nutrients compared to people who rarely ate canned foods. And in terms of flavor, items like canned corn, peaches and tomatoes are harvested at peak ripeness and packed shortly thereafter, so they actually can taste fresher than out-of-season fresh options.

Not all canned items are processed foods. It’s time to embrace canned foods and stop shunning them.  With a seemingly never-ending shelf life, canned goods can encourage creativity and flexibility in the kitchen (and survival during a zombie invasion, naturally).

Get your can opener at the ready, because these are the canned foods you always want to keep in your pantry.

#CannedTomatoes

It’s a total misconception that for vegetables to be healthy, they must be fresh and live in your crisper. Just take canned tomatoes as an example!

Canned tomatoes, including the deeply tomato-flavored crushed variety, are laced with the plant compound lycopene. This is a member of the carotenoid family that may help in the battle against premature cognitive decline as we age. A report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute also suggests that greater intakes of lycopene can lower the risk for developing breast cancer. Acting as a potent antioxidant, lycopene can help vanquish the free radicals in our bodies, which can damage DNA and initiate cancers and worsen brain functioning.

And when it comes to the lycopene found in tomatoes, it’s worth noting that the processing that goes into producing canned tomatoes can increase its bioavailability. In other words, it makes the compound more accessible so we can better reap its health rewards.

Vitamin C is another nutritional benefit of canned tomatoes; it’s a nutrient linked to improved blood pressure numbers. Plus, vitamin C enhances our absorption of iron from plant-based foods such as beans – and it’s necessary to make sure the immune system is operating properly. And who isn’t pondering immunity these days?

Perhaps most importantly, canned crushed tomatoes are full of delicious flavor all year round. This is in contrast to out-of-season fresh options, which are frequently second-rate. While some canned options contain added sugar and higher amounts of salt, it’s relatively easy to limit this problem. Just look at labels to find cans with no sugar listed in the ingredient list and with lower sodium levels displayed on the nutrition panel.

Using canned crushed tomatoes for pasta sauce is already a no-brainer, but there are plenty of other uses you might not have thought of. They’re convenient to have on hand and make an easy addition to burritos, meat or lentil stews, Indian curries, shakshuka and, yes, classic tomato soup. And don’t forget that you can blend crushed tomatoes with a canned chipotle pepper for a sauce that delivers a serious kick. Try poaching a fillet of fish in this jazzed-up red sauce.

Read the rest of the Canned Foods Clean Eating Magazine recommends here! 

The BEST crockpot soup recipes to get you through the cooler months

The BEST crockpot soup recipes to get you through the cooler months

Looking for crockpot soup recipes to get you through the cooler months? We have you covered with the best healthy crockpot meals for fall and winter. With delicious flavors and budget-friendly options, these recipes are sure to be a hit.

Crockpots have taken the culinary world by storm, and it’s not hard to see why. This kitchen essential is a one-and-done piece of equipment, as it really does do it all–from enhancing flavor to being easy on your wallet and requiring minimal time and effort. It can also boost your health, as some studies suggest that heating produce—such as in canning or cooking—can increase the bioavailability of some nutrients, like lycopene. This is great news for slow-cooked meals, as they often feature processed products (like canned and jarred tomatoes) that seem to offer a boost of nutritional benefits.

While you can enjoy them all year-round, crockpot recipes tend to taste best during fall and winter, as they can be a comforting addition to your menu rotation. So, get cooking with these easy crockpot soup recipes featuring canned tomatoes! 

The BEST crockpot soup recipes to get you through the cooler months

Looking for crockpot soup recipes to get you through the cooler months? Here are some of the best healthy crockpot meals that are sure to be crowd-pleasers.

For other tomato-forward recipe collections, check out some of our favorites:

TPWC Member Highlight: Silgan Containers

TPWC Member Highlight: Silgan Containers

Get the scoop on Tomato Wellness member, Silgan Containers. We are proud to have this company as part of the Tomato Wellness Family!

As the largest provider of metal food packaging in the United States, Silgan Containers is trusted by America’s most respected brands. Their reputation is based on a foundation of quality, excellence and unsurpassed technical expertise, enabling them to be a dedicated solutions-based partner to their customers.

Silgan’s steel food containers are 100% recyclable, and are used primarily by processors and packagers for many food items including tomato based products. And we love that Silgan also is committed to providing knowledge about the sustainability, health benefits and unmatched convenience of metal packaging. They do this through their learning center, which is packed full of videos, interactive tools, and more to help you better understand the benefits of this type of packaging.

In addition to their quality products and desire to help further knowledge, Silgan has a deep-rooted passion about giving back to communities, assisting charitable organizations, and participating in a variety of civic and social events. We applaud Silgan’s employees for being a proactive member of their local communities! 

We are proud to have Silgan as part of the Tomato Wellness family. Coupled with a focus on quality and technical expertise, it’s easy to see why we are so honored to profile this Tomato Wellness member.

Look out for Silgan’s canned tomato products, and give them a try in these delicious recipes: