Choosing the right ingredients like tomatoes for the chili recipe can make your chili from good to best in its taste. However, are you a restaurant owner or a professional chef, Looking for the best tomatoes for chili to enhance your food quality, taste and flavor?
Here you go! This article is prepared based on the most delicious tomatoes that will allow you to bring taste and a yummy flavor to your chili. These tomatoes will be the best, no matter whether you’re a professional or a home chef.
I’m going to introduce you to the 5 best tomatoes that will help you know what tomatoes chefs use to satisfy their customers.
Also, you’ll know about the types of tomatoes, the purpose of their uses, and how you can make chili recipes. Therefore, you’ll learn all the essential matters about tomatoes that you can use to make chili anytime.
Table of Contents
5 Best Tomatoes for Chili Recipe
Not all the tomatoes go perfect while you make chili at home. So, you need to be careful about choosing tomatoes. Here are my top researched picks. Hopefully, you’ll find them the best!
1. San Marzano Tomatoes
Professionals are highly familiar with the San Marzano tomatoes while it’s about their chili recipe. So, whether or not you’re a professional or home chef, you can rely on the San Marzano tomato for 100%.
This tomato originated in Italy, and you can use it to make your delicious chili item. The San Marzano tomatoes are superior in terms of their freshness and well-balanced flavor. It doesn’t come with too much sweetness or sourness, ensuring the chili taste.
It is fleshier, with a few seeds inside to allow you to clean the seeds quickly. Again, it will take no longer time to peel the San Marzano tomato due to its thin skin.
This tomato is perfect for using rich cheese and meat, garlic, cumin, onions, etc. Once you taste your chili made with the San Marzano tomato, you’ll be a big fan of it.
However, if you wonder why chili becomes so tasty with the San Marzano tomatoes, the reason is its DOP. The amplification of DOP is Denominazione d’Origine Protteta. It means the DOP boasts tomato texture and color to make it delicious.
2. Roma Tomatoes
My second choice is the Roma tomatoes because of their taste and flavor. The Roma tomatoes came into the market in 1995 with the hand of the USDA. This tomato is also known as Italian Plum Tomatoes.
The Roma tomatoes have their skin thinner and smoother to peel them trouble-free. Its fewer seeds made it a perfect choice for chili making. The bright color, natural taste, and rich aroma will make your chili surprisingly delicious.
It will offer you a combination of salt and basil. So, if you are searching for a kind of tomato ingredient that will offer a natural flavor, the Roma tomato will be the best.
Not only that, the Roma tomato has come with versatile use purposes. You can use this tomato not only for chili but for pizza, tomato sauce, sour cream, tomato juice, creamy tomato soup, etc. You’ll get it available in the nearby super shop if you want it as canned tomatoes.
Moreover, these fresh tomatoes will offer a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. So, there’s no risk if you’re a home chef and not that professional at making chili. In a word, this Roma tomato is perfect for any kind of your recipe. You don’t have to be confused about whether or not this tomato goes with other recipes you want.
3. Giulietta Tomatoes
The Giulietta tomatoes are here for you if you want mild-flavored and sweet tomatoes. You can either grow or purchase these tomatoes to make your chili delicious.
On the other hand, if you like to get it canned, it will be available on the market. The canned tomatoes will be peeled and ready to use directly. However, the Giulietta ripe tomatoes are suitable for making all kinds of classic chili recipes, especially for beef chili or classic beef chili.
Besides, you use the Giulietta green tomatoes for chili seasoning. For homemade chili seasoning, these tomatoes work just fine. This tomato will offer a decent taste to make your chili or some other recipes.
4. Stanislaus Cucina Tomatoes
Suppose you want pureed tomatoes that have a different taste and flavor from all other canned tomatoes on the market. In this case, you can go for the Stanislaus Cucina Tomatoes. Using this tomato to make or blend chili seasoning will bring you the best output.
If you want to enhance the taste, add some basil to it. Again, you need to reduce the water content in your recipe if you want it a bit tangy to make a rich tomato juice. Remember, you won’t get this tomato in the same size, juiciness, and shape.
If some tomatoes are more petite, some will be harder or larger. But, the size, shape or juiciness doesn’t matter to making your recipes. You can make whatever you intend to make, for instance, rich sauce.
In addition, the Stanislaus Cucina tomatoes will be a perfect fit while making pizza. Its fresh flavor and vibrant color will allow you to bring a yummy taste to your pizza recipe. And, if you use this tomato for chili seasoning, it will be your yummy bonus tomato recipe.
5. Colavita Italian Tomatoes
While making homemade chili, you must focus on the tomato type that will offer an authentic natural taste, flavor, and aroma. So, when it comes to your tomato’s taste, flavor, or bright color, choose the Colavita Italian Tomatoes.
This tomato will provide 100% assurance of your chili taste. Most importantly, you can use these tomatoes for a long time if you keep them in your refrigerator. These will be perfectly alright in their taste, texture, and color.
Not only chili but pizza, tomato sauce, chili seasoning, tomato juice, etc., will also be perfect while it is Colavita tomatoes. And all these food items can be preserved in an air-tight container for any time use. Incredible!
Things to Consider Getting the Best Tomatoes for Chili
Although the 5 best tomatoes I have listed for your chili recipe, you still have some essential factors to consider before you buy tomatoes for chili. This section of my article will let you know what to focus on and what not.
Flavor
Unless the flavor of your tomatoes is good enough, you cannot expect to get the utmost taste from your recipe. In this case, you must focus on the tomato flavor. If the flavor isn’t suitable for making chili, skip buying these tomatoes.
Types of tomatoes
Plenty of types are available there on the market that can confuse you about which one to choose. In this case, select your recipe type in the first phase and buy tomatoes. But, the good news is that you can use almost all types of tomatoes for chili recipes.
Taste
Not all types of tomatoes come with the same taste. Different species of tomatoes will provide different flavors. Therefore, considering the tomato taste should also be your priority before buying tomatoes.
Texture
Tomato texture is essential to check out as the robust textured tomato can allow you to store it for a long time. Because if you buy incredibly soft textured tomatoes, they won’t stay for a long time using.
How to Cook Yummy Homemade Chili?
If you don’t have time to go to a restaurant every time while wishing to have chili, you can make it yourself at home. All you need is to get some ingredients ready in your hands to make the recipe perfectly.
Ingredients you need
Homemade chili requires common ingredients that you might always have at home. Let’s check out a quick list.
- Blend of chili seasoning that you can make at home
- Bean, cumin,
- Meat/ ground meat/ chunk of meat
- Ground beef/ beef stew meat/ cups of beef broth
- Broth/ chicken broth
- Teaspoon cayenne pepper/cayenne pepper/ optional cayenne/ bit of cayenne pepper
- Onions / yellow onions /green onions/ white onion / bits of onion
- Garlic/garlic cloves, cayenne, etc.
Steps to follow-
Let me share how easily you can make your weekly night chili meal within minutes-
- Take a large-sized soup pot and heat some olive on it.
- Add some onions (chopped) and let it be cooked for 5 minutes.
- Now, add some ground beef or chicken broth. You can break the broth slice using a spoon.
- Now, let it be boiled for 6-7 minutes.
- Add some spices like chili powder, tomato paste, salt, ground cumin, pepper, sugar, garlic or garlic powder, and a teaspoon of cayenne.
- Keep stirring to mix them well, and simmer the spice combination for 20-25 minutes.
- Your chili is ready to serve. But let it rest for 5-10 minutes before you serve it.
FAQs
1. Should I use crushed or diced tomatoes for chili?
Yes, it’s alright if you use crushed or diced tomatoes for chili.
2. Do you need to peel tomatoes for chili?
Not, exactly. But, peeled tomatoes are required if you want your job easier or take it a step ahead.
3. Can I use crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce in chili?
Using tomatoes in chili is ultimately the right decision, no matter how you use it. So, yes, you can use tomatoes in chili instead of sauce.
4. What is the difference between crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes?
Well, the diced tomatoes are the tomatoes that come chunky in a tomato juice packet. And the crushed tomatoes, on the other hand, are a mixture of tomato puree, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste.
5. Can you use cherry tomatoes for chili?
Yes, cherry tomatoes can also be an excellent choice for chili.
Before You Go
In the above guide, we have seen the best tomatoes for chili to get the chili tasty and well-flavored.
You can buy those tomatoes from the market or grow them in your vegetable garden. Here is a guide on how to grow tomatoes: Home Growing Tomatoes: A Start-to-Finish Guide to Growing Tomatoes at Home
