Have a tin of chopped tomatoes handy and looking for inspiration? Check out our ideas for how to use this store cupboard essential (here is our best tinned tomatoes taste test) in batch cooking, midweek meals and restaurant-w0rthy dinners. If you've got some fresh tomatoes on hand, why not try our recipes made with homemade passata. We also have ideas for using tins of chickpeas here, plus plenty more pasta bakes to try here. After, try our broccoli recipes, asparagus recipes and best healthy veg recipes.

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Easy tinned tomato recipes

Spinach, chickpea and potato curry

Use chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and store cupboard spices in this lightly-spiced vegan curry for a wholesome midweek meal for four.

Spinach, chickpea and potato curry in a skillet with some naan breads

Best ever chilli con carne

When you’ve got a bit of time on your hands and want to use up store cupboard ingredients, this chilli is a winner. Tins are your best friend in this recipe: tinned tomatoes, kidney beans (though black beans, turtle beans and pinto beans all work brilliantly too) and you can even add sweetcorn if you like!

The secret to the best chilli is building layers and layers of flavour and long-slow cooking to let all of those flavours meld and develop. For that reason, it’s a perfect dish to cook in a slow cooker. Try our slow-cooker chilli here.

Easy Chilli Con Carne Recipe

Quick quinoa and black bean vegan chilli

This quinoa and black bean chilli recipe is high in protein, low calorie and vegan – but still tastes impossibly creamy. Use tins of chopped tomatoes and black beans with quinoa and store cupboard spices to assemble this easy meal.

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Easy Vegan Chilli Recipe with Quinoa

Baked meatballs

Super easy to make, easily freezable for family meals, and ready in a dash. Make two at the weekend and thank yourself midweek.

Italian Baked Meatballs Recipe

Baked cod with tomato and chorizo sauce

Ready in 20 minutes, this is a great meal to whip up using very few ingredients. It’s pretty healthy too, at only 252 cals per serving. The combination of tinned tomatoes, chilli flakes and chorizo creates a sweet, spicy, smoky trio of flavours. Use whatever white fish you can get that’s fresh, sustainable, and in season.

Cod with Tomato Recipe and Chorizo Sauce

Creamy tomato and basil rigatoni bake

Check out our veggie pasta bake with juicy chopped tomatoes, nutty parmesan and creamy mozzarella. This super simple one-pot recipe is ready in less than an hour, an easy mid-week filler for all the family. Try more pasta bake recipes here.

Vegetable Pasta Bake Recipe with Tomato and Basil

Healthy chicken curry

This healthier chicken curry recipe bulks up on veg and uses chopped tomatoes to keep the calories low. Freeze in portions for quick, midweek meals.

Healthy Chicken Curry served in a large silver frying pan ready to be served

Aubergine parmigiana

This is a crowd pleaser that’s great for veggies and meat eaters alike. Melty cheese, soft aubergine and tomato sauce are layered for Italian comfort food.

Make individual dishes for more of a restaurant feel. Serve with a crisp green salad and garlic bread on the side.

aubergine parmigiana

Puttanesca pasta

Spaghetti puttanesca, or ‘tart’s pasta’, needs no introduction. Salty, tangy and subtly sweet, this recipe uses fresh or tinned cherry tomatoes, chopped anchovies and pitted black olives.

Linguine with fresh puttanesca sauce

Puy lentil bolognese

Meat takes a back seat in this bolognese as we swap beef mince with hearty store cupboard lentils and chopped chestnut mushrooms. Tagliatelle or linguine is best with this recipe, so the rich tomato sauce sticks to the pasta.

Lentil Bolognese Recipe

Cauliflower rice with aubergine ragoût

By blitzing cauliflower in a food processor, and quickly cooking, you get the consistency and texture of rice but without the carbs and with fewer calories. It still fills you up, and it’s quicker to cook, too.

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Cauliflower rice with aubergine ragoût

Chilli chicken stew

This is one for the whole family, and you can add loads of veg for a healthy one-pot without worrying about the washing up. Tinned tomatoes make a perfect base for a chilli-spiked stew, served with buttered couscous or a herby quinoa.

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Authors

Janine Ratcliffe Portrait
Janine RatcliffeFood director

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