To be confused about the price/quality trade off for tinned tomatoes?

[Thetailfeather]

I'm cooking the dinner and the recipe requires "a tin of quality plum tomatoes". I had bought cirio ones because the last time I had a tin they were good, but they're really expensive. Napolina used to be expensive but are now maybe less so, but they also don't seem to be as good as they used to be. I really like the sauce in the Aldi chopped tomatoes but they're chopped, not plum.

So MN, come one, come all and tell me where I should be buying chopped tomatoes for everyday use, and where to push the boat out to get the quality plum tomatoes a certain posh Essex git thinks I need to magic an aubergine into spaghetti alla Noma ad astra.

And I'm obviously NBU to be confused!

I remember Nigella saying that some times tomatoes contain a lot of skins and the expensive ones don't.

They just have the actual ripe, bursting with juicy flavours. Succulent and firm.
Something like that!

TBH I really don't like tinned tomatoes so just buy the Sainsbury's basic brand for things like Bolognese sauce. By the time it's slow-cooked for hours I defy anyone to tell the difference.

*some tinned

I love the Mutti brand, they aren’t as watery as some of the cheaper brands and the texture is like a chunky passata.

I just cooked tonight with a tin called Polpe, for a quid. Definitely of better quality for the puttanesca sauce I made. Cheaper tomatoes for bolognese etc

Morrisons own brand are perfectly fine. Asda's not quite so good but fine in sauces, I avoid the smart price ones these days as they're too watery for my liking.

Interestingly, I bought Cirio Passata yesterday in Tesco and it was cheaper than Napolina.
If the recipe calls for whole plum tomstoes I substitute any fragrant smelling whole tomatoes I can find, and skin them myself.
If they need chopped, I use passata, cirio for preference.

I can taste the difference if I eat them on their own such as a topper for toast, but no so much if they're used as an ingredient in a meal. The skin thing sounds about right!

Ah wait a minute, we're not going to start on the whole "fresh tomato" thing. This is store cupboard chat here. If I was going to get all fresh tomato I'd be running a ripening cycle and boiling the kettle to get the skins off. That's a level of faff that I genuinely canny hack.

Interested in polpo and that you've got a line on ciro being cheaper than napolina.

Anyone done the comparison between Asda Morrison and Tesco/Sainsbury's/Waitrose etc on quality/price?? I generally just chuck them in for long slow cook but Essex git has me on the back foot!

I once bought a load of different tins and brands, and there was no discernable difference between cheap and expensive. So I've always bought own brand cheap since.

For basic bolognese sauce, I use supermarket own tinned tomatoes (or what ever is on offer).

However, a vegetable chilli recipe I make says to use tinned cherry tomatoes (which I didn’t know existed until this recipe). They cost more, but certainly adds flavour to the recipe.

Mr Organic cherry tomatoes are amazingly good. Any Italian brand are good too.

@Riverlee

For basic bolognese sauce, I use supermarket own tinned tomatoes (or what ever is on offer).

However, a vegetable chilli recipe I make says to use tinned cherry tomatoes (which I didn’t know existed until this recipe). They cost more, but certainly adds flavour to the recipe.

I used to have the cherry tomatoes at the end of my cupboard for special recipes...they are so flavoursome...I was lucky few years ago they used to have them in Home Bargains for a bargain.

I've just chopped a tin of Tesco own brand plum tomatoes (not value ones) because I picked them up accidentally instead of chopped. No skins at all, good plump plum tomatoes and a thick passata type liquid , I actually said to DH I think I'll start buying them and chopping them as they seem richer than the chopped ones

I used to be napolina all the way. But now, mufti polos no contest.

Mutti polpa ffs

@RishiRich

TBH I really don't like tinned tomatoes so just buy the Sainsbury's basic brand for things like Bolognese sauce. By the time it's slow-cooked for hours I defy anyone to tell the difference.

100%. We've just had chilli for dinner, Sainsbury's basic chopped tomatoes. It was lovely and six clean plates to prove it.

@AlisonDonut

I once bought a load of different tins and brands, and there was no discernable difference between cheap and expensive. So I've always bought own brand cheap since.

Agree, as long as they don't have herbs in them they are all equal imo. Tinned cherry tomatoes are better for pasta dishes but more expensive.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/19/tinned-tomatoes-the-best-and-worst-taste-test

Couple of years old though.

I buy whole tinned tomatoes - even the expensive ones have bits of skin still attached that need to be removed.
The cheaper brands can seem a bit acidic, but a tiny pinch of sugar cures that.

Mutti is the answer - nicest tinned Toms ever! Sainsbury’s or Amazon is where I get mine

Mutti when affordable. They're the best quality.

If not use Mutti tomato puree with whichever tinned toms.

Mutti tinned tomatoes and purée are frequently on offer in various supermarkets.

Also Mutti here. Not watery, full flavoured.

I use mutti if they're not going to be cooked for too long or with too many other ingredients (like a quick pasta sauce or on pizza). If they're going into something like a chilli or stew and cooked for ages with loads of other things I use whatever is cheapest.

@RewildingAmbridge

I've just chopped a tin of Tesco own brand plum tomatoes (not value ones) because I picked them up accidentally instead of chopped. No skins at all, good plump plum tomatoes and a thick passata type liquid , I actually said to DH I think I'll start buying them and chopping them as they seem richer than the chopped ones

^ This

I'm convinced the whole plum tomatoes are better quality than the chopped ones, across all brands.