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 thought all tinned tomatoes tasted similar until I tried Mutti tinned tomato products. Undoubtedly richer, sweeter, less acidic taste but they do cost more.

I used to swear by the expensive rand tinned tomatoes but now use Aldi own brand and my bolognaise, tomato sauces taste good. However if cooking anything like that I cook Lon low heat and for a longer time.

brand & on fat finger moment

Yes plum tomatoes much better than chopped. I'm pretty sure Jamie Oliver told me that. Top tip...open can then chop with scissors while still tinned.

I was always of the opinion that a tin of tomatoes was a tin of tomatoes. I always used Aldi own brand and they were fine. But I recently started using Mutti or Cirio and they are better, not least because they don’t seem to be bulked out with juice (which either gets cooked or drained off anyway).

I’d prefer to use Mutti or Cirio but that doesn’t mean the other ones are bad; I’d be perfectly happy to use them (and I always put a whack of tomato purée which makes up any loss in flavour.

I read years ago to always buy plum and never chopped. You get more tomato and less juice with whole tomatoes m and they are less acidic. Just squash them before adding them in. For a homemade pasta sauce I just chuck in whole and then squish down after cooking.

Are Mutti not San Marzano tomatoes? They would generally be of a superior taste as they are a D.O.P product, and generally what Italians recommend for pasta/pizza sauce.

They may be referring to San Marzano tinned plum tomatoes. You can taste the diffences.

@mrsbyers

We buy a dozen cans of san Marzano from Amazon every few weeks they are delicious

Definitely the best.

@Pinktruffle

Are Mutti not San Marzano tomatoes? They would generally be of a superior taste as they are a D.O.P product, and generally what Italians recommend for pasta/pizza sauce.

Mutti do make San Marzano but also much cheaper varieties.

Aldi actually do sell plum tomatoes which are whole- they're actually decent. In a thick sauce that isn't too dissimilar to cirio. Waitrose is slightly better than the Aldi ones

Tesco is less good quality, but not too dissimilar,

Asda bottom of the pile. Made a decent chili with them earlier but they're in a watery sauce, which is obviously harder to get taste in the dish.

Ooh! Just remembered costco tinned tomatoes are good! Very rich sauce!

Mutti for all things tomato.

Can't help with your comparison as not in U.K. but decent ones do make a difference! I got some own brand chopped tomatoes that just weren't ripe - sauce ended up really watery. Went back to Napolina. Interested to try Aldi!

Local bio shop ones are great, but they are 79c compared to the decent supermarket ones which are 49c. And the supermarket ones are whole, which means I have to chop them! However was buying supermarket ones for a while in the interests of economy as taste was similar - until, as a final straw, they took away the ring pull! Not having to wrestle with a tin opener (I'm a leftie, to boot) is definitely worth the extra 30c to me!

Waitrose for best price/quality balance, IMO.

If you add tomato puree once you've cooked your onions/sofrito and properly caramelise it, rather than adding it once the tomatoes and liquid are in, it gives cheaper tomatoes a much richer taste.

I too recommend buying tinned whole Plum tomatoes and just mashing them up in the pan. They really taste so much better than any ones which are already cut up.

I like the Mutti ones. Asda posh brand (special selection?) tinned cherry tomatoes aren't too bad either

@RidingMyBike

Have found the tinned tomatoes from M and S and Waitrose to be good quality, on a par with the more expensive ones. I found the other own brand ones rather watery.

The M and S ones are 50p a tin, haven't bought the Waitrose for a while.

Me too, perfectly adequate, not watery - Waitrose are £1.80 for a pack of 4 tins. Cheaper than many other places, but much better quality even the juice is thick. Dislike Aldi, Lidl, Asda ones.

I was beginning to suspect that whole plum tins attacked by scissors was going to be the way to go.

Thanks everyone.

Unfortunately, it does seem to be that you get what you pay for a bit on this one.

Off to see if I can find mutti.

I now buy M&S chopped tinned tomatoes 1.65 for 4 up from 1.40. They also do half tins which I find handy if something is a bit dry but you don't want to use a full tin. My local Spar sells Epicure which is expensive and which I used to buy years ago.

I’ve only recently tried Mutti and liked them but found them much richer than the M&S/Waitrose/Sainsburys ones I usually use so adjusted my recipes. No need for added tomato purée if using Mutti in my opinion.

I really like KTC, who afaik are a south Asian ethnic food manufacturer. Never acidic, just sweet enough and a bargain.