Stuffed tomatoes are a lovely, light entree for the summer season. Most stuffed tomato recipes include bread, making them off limits for those avoiding gluten. In this variation, I use quinoa as a healthy protein-infused stuffing. Goat cheese and basil pesto pack a flavor punch. These Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes with Pesto and Goat Cheese are gluten free, filling, healthy, and delicious! It’s a vegetarian entree I look forward to enjoying each summer.
I’ve tried many stuffed tomato recipes in the past, but none of them have really knocked my socks off. Many of the stuffing mixtures seem bland and turn out somewhat dry after baking. Also, I hate throwing away the inner seeds and gel of the fruit. It seems a waste, but most recipes don’t call for including the seeds in the stuffing.
I solved the problem in my recipe by using a wire mesh sieve and spoon to extract the flavorful juicy liquid from the tomato seeds. I used that liquid to cook the quinoa, along with crushed garlic, which infused it with a wonderful flavor. After that, I mixed the cooked quinoa with fresh basil, pesto and parmesan, which made it moist and gave it a terrific herby, cheesy flavor. I topped each tomato with a dollop of pesto and a tablespoon of goat cheese. The tomatoes baked up to warm, gooey perfection– a perfectly satisfying meal when paired with a side salad.
You can use pesto from a jar, or make it fresh using one of my homemade pesto recipes. If you’re a vegetarian, make sure your parmesan is made with a vegetarian rennet. Enjoy!
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Beauty Shot Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes with Pesto and Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 tomatoes (7-8 oz each)
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons + 4 1/2 teaspoon pesto, divided
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
- 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- Whole fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Slice the very tops of the tomatoes off (where the stems are) and remove the caps.
- Use a knife to cut around the inside and remove the inner core and seeds from the tomatoes, leaving the walls intact.
- Scoop any remaining seeds out of the tomatoes with a small spoon (I use a metal 1/2 teaspoon). Pour all of the gel, seeds, and pulp into a medium bowl.
- Reserve the cored tomatoes.
- Use a spoon to push the gel, seeds, and pulp through the wire mesh sieve, releasing their juice into another bowl. Press down on the solid ingredients and agitate the mixture to extract as much juice as possible. You will need to do this in batches; when one batch is juiced, scoop the solids into the trash and start on the next batch.
- Pour the tomato juice into a measuring cup. You will need 1 cup of liquid total. If the tomato juice does not make a full cup, top it off with water.
- Pour the juice (and water, if you added any) into a small saucepan.
- Rinse the tomato pulp out of the mesh sieve. Pour the dry quinoa into the sieve and rinse it with cold water for a few minutes. Drain.
- Pour the quinoa into the saucepan with the tomato liquid. Add the crushed garlic to the pan.
- Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover the pan. Simmer the ingredients for about 20 minutes till all of the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- While quinoa is cooking, grease the bottom and edges of your cooking pan or dish with olive oil. Lightly brush the outside of each tomato with olive oil and place them into the baking dish.
- When quinoa is finished cooking, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork.
- Use the fork to stir in 2 tbsp of pesto along with the grated parmesan and fresh basil. Season the quinoa with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the quinoa evenly between the six tomatoes, stuffing each one loosely with the mixture.
- Top each tomato with 3/4 tsp of pesto...
- then top each portion of pesto with 1 tbsp of goat cheese.
- Place the tomatoes into preheated oven. Let them cook for 20-25 minutes till the tomatoes are tender and the goat cheese starts to brown at the tips.
- Serve hot. Garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.
Nutrition
Delicious just as is! This was a hit with family & friends. I’ve tried several of Tori’s recipes and they are all so good. This site feels like a gift & so glad I happened upon it. Thank you for sharing these wonderful recipes.
Glad you liked it Jennifer, thanks for writing!
I adjusted this recipe and used farro. It was a bit runny so I added a bit of panko. It was so delicious and flavorful.
I used to be able to email these recipes (very recently), but for some reason the “email” icon is gone. I don’t belong to facebook or anything else. Can you please bring back the ability to email specific recipes? It’s so much easier for me to email (even to myself) and have the exact recipe name as the subject, to find easily on another day. Thanks! LOVE so many of your recipes!
Hi Andrea! We will be adding a very similar button soon, thank you for letting me know it’s helpful!
Just wondering if feta cheese could be substituted for the goat cheese?
I love fried red tomatoes so this gives another amazing way I can eat tomatoes!! Yay!
Hi Deb! Yes, it can – just keep in mind that feta is quite salty, so you may need to adjust the salt seasoning in the quinoa mixture to balance things.
Fabulous recipe! I only had 2 tomatoes so I filled the rest in a pre dated large red bell pepper that I roasted in oven for about 15 minutes with just a little olive oil cut in half open side down . Delicious.
OMG!
This one of my favorite recipes of all time… I have made it numerous times. It is a lot of work but well worth it!
I prefer red quinoa instead of white. You will have to cook it longer and add more tomato juice… It will be a little more grainy… More of a bird seed texture. I prefer that to the white.
My big tip on this recipe is to use a grapefruit spoon to clean out the tomatoes! Works fabulously!
Thank you so much for this healthy amazing recipe!
Rick
So happy you like it as much as I do Rick! Grapefruit spoon is a great tip. 🙂
Hi Tori! I absolutely love you and your recipes. I’ve made this one before and it was a huge hit. Quick question: if I make too many, can leftovers be reheated? Or are they good served cold? Thanks so much!
Hi Michelle, sorry it took me so long to respond. They can definitely be reheated in a 325 oven for 15-20 minutes till warmed through, though they may become a bit more delicate after reheating. You can also reheat them in the microwave on 50% power for a few minutes till warmed through.
Dear Tori: I cooked the stufed tomatoes today. Outstanding. I put some slivered almonds in the mix and I pureed the core of the beefteaks in the food processor to cook the quinoa in (it tool longer to cook…). Raving reviews at the table. Thank you
I loved this recipe! It was a huge hit with my family. However, I had a bit of a problem with the tomatoes. They sort of collapsed as soon as I tried to move them onto the plates. Did I do something wrong, or is that normal?
Hi Annelisa! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. I think it depends on the type of tomatoes you get from the store. Some tomatoes have a thinner outer wall, while others are more sturdy. Beefsteaks are the strongest, but they sometimes lack flavor (especially at this time of year). Vine-ripened tomatoes tend to be more delicate (but are more flavorful– especially the organic ones). Next time you can try cutting the baking time by 5-10 minutes. Since the filling is basically cooked already, the baking simply allows the flavors to blend and the cheese to melt into the quinoa, so cutting the cook time a bit won’t hurt the tomatoes. They should be tender, but they shouldn’t collapse.