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Mediterranean Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes are filled with a flavorful mix of nutty quinoa, briny olives, salty feta, sweet balsamic vinegar, and crunchy pine nuts. They make a fantastic vegetarian main – just add a salad for a complete meal. Or serve them as a side with chicken, steak, or seafood!
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: Mediterranean
- Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free option, Dairy-free option, Vegetarian option
- Skill Level: Easy
Why You’ll Love These Stuffed Tomatoes
Stuffed tomatoes are one of those simple but special recipes I love to pull out for a summer BBQ or an easy holiday side. They use familiar ingredients, but come together in a way that feels flavorful and a little fancy. And since they’re naturally gluten-free and vegetarian, they’re perfect for mixed-diet gatherings and satisfying enough for meat-eaters, too.
Fluffy quinoa gets tossed with briny olives, salty feta, pine nuts for crunch, and a little sweet tang from balsamic vinegar. The mixture is spooned into juicy, ripe tomatoes and baked until warm and fragrant. You can serve them hot or at room temp, and they freeze well, too, so they are great for make-ahead meals, potlucks, or buffets.
Easy to make and full of bold Mediterranean flavor, I hope these stuffed tomatoes become one of your go-to recipes. Here’s why you’ll love them:
- Full of flavorful ingredients. Quinoa, broth, balsamic, feta, and herbs bring big taste with simple ingredients. It’s truly delicious!
- So versatile. I love eating a Mediterranean stuffed tomato for lunch, maybe placed atop a pile of baby spinach or salad greens with a little extra drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You can also have more than one for a more hearty dinner, or serve stuffed tomatoes along with some of the meaty main dish suggestions outlined below.
- Naturally gluten-free. No swaps needed – every ingredient in these baked stuffed tomatoes is naturally gluten-free. It’s my favorite way to cook one meal for my mixed diet family!
What You’ll Need
Here’s a list of everything you’ll need to make quinoa stuffed tomatoes. Scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post for the full ingredient amounts.
- Quinoa: I like to use white quinoa in these stuffed tomatoes. Make sure to rinse it first to remove any bitterness.
- Broth: To keep this meal vegetarian, use vegetable broth. Or you can use chicken broth.
- Dried Oregano.
- Tomatoes: Choose large tomatoes so that you can easily fill them with the quinoa mixture.
- Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is preferred!
- Balsamic Vinegar.
- Kalamata Olives: You want the briny flavor, so I don’t recommend substituting black olives. You can try Greek green olives, though.
- Feta Cheese: Crumbled. You can omit or use a vegan alternative for a dairy free option.
- Pine Nuts: For crunch.
- Salt and Pepper.
How to Make Stuffed Tomatoes with Quinoa
Preheat your oven to 350°F, then follow along with my method below to make the best-ever stuffed tomatoes:
- Prepare the tomatoes. Slice about a half-inch off the tops of the tomatoes, and set the tops aside. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dice the tops of the tomatoes and set aside.
- Preheat the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Cook the quinoa. Combine the quinoa, broth, and oregano in a saucepan. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is absorbed.
- Finish the filling. Once the quinoa has finished cooking, stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chopped olives, half of the feta, pine nuts, and reserved diced tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Fill the tomatoes. Divide the quinoa mixture among the tomatoes and pack in slightly. Sprinkle the remaining feta cheese over the tops of the tomatoes.
- Bake the tomatoes. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through, and the cheese has browned slightly.
Recipe Tips & Variations
This is a straightforward recipe, but I have a few tips that will help it turn out well, plus some variation ideas. See below:
- Make it vegan. This is a great recipe to serve to vegan guests or those who need to eat dairy-free because it could hardly be easier to adapt to being vegan. All you need to do is skip the feta cheese. You could add more chopped olives or use a dairy-free cheese with similar results, but I think this quinoa is plenty flavorful enough even without the feta.
- Prepare the quinoa in advance. If you need to, you can make just the quinoa a few days in advance and store it in the fridge, or you could prepare the entire filling ahead of time. Store the filling in the fridge for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Then fill the tomatoes when you’re ready to cook them. It’s even delicious to enjoy on its own.
- Add and subtract ingredients. For more veggie oomph, you could add a handful of baby spinach to the filling for both color and nutrition. Or if you like almonds, swap the pine nuts for slivered almonds. If olives aren’t your thing, you can leave them out, or replace them with sliced cherry tomatoes or dried cranberries.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Store leftover stuffed tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: To reheat, place the tomatoes in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet. Cover them with foil and reheat in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes. Uncover the tomatoes and bake for another 15 minutes, or until heated through.
- Freezer: Follow the recipe instructions up until the point of cooking the tomatoes. Then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid. Once they’re frozen, transfer the tomatoes to an airtight container or freezer-safe plastic bag and place them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost the stuffed tomatoes in the fridge before cooking them.
Make It A Meal
Quinoa stuffed tomatoes are a fantastic and satisfying vegetarian meal or a side dish to a meaty main dish. Here’s how to serve stuffed tomatoes:
- Add a salad. You can serve stuffed tomatoes with a light or hearty salad, depending on your preference. For heartier salads, I like my Easy Three Bean Salad recipe. On the lighter side, an Easy Greek Salad is a natural choice to serve with Mediterranean stuffed tomatoes! Or you can try my Caprese Zoodles Salad.
- With meat. Stuffed tomatoes are a great side to meat dishes. They’d taste great alongside Greek Burgers (skip the fries) or Grilled Flat Iron Steak. Get everything a drizzle of Tzatziki Sauce.
- Next to fish. Quinoa stuffed tomatoes are wonderful when paired with fish, like with my Five-Ingredient Strawberry Red Wine Glazed Salmon recipe. You could also serve these tomatoes with my Pesto Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner, with or without the potatoes.
- Serve atop salad greens. As mentioned earlier, I love popping a stuffed tomato on top of salad green for a light lunch. You could also serve tomatoes on top of wilted spinach drizzled with olive oil.
More Vegetarian Recipes
Mediterranean Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes
Mediterranean Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes are filled with a flavorful mix of quinoa, briny olives, salty feta, balsamic vinegar, and crunchy pine nuts. They make a fantastic vegetarian main or side!
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 6-8 large tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup Kalamata olives, chopped
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 oz.), divided
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup uncooked quinoa, 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken stock, and 1 teaspoon dried oregano in a saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked and liquid is fully absorbed (or cook as per package instructions).
- While the quinoa is cooking, slice about ½-inch off the tops of 6-8 large tomatoes, and set the tops aside. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes so that you have just a shell remaining. Sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish.
- Dice the tops of the tomatoes so that you have about 1/4 cup diced tomatoes, and set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Once the quinoa has finished cooking, stir in 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup Kalamata olives, half of the 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (set aside ½ cup for topping) ¼ cup toasted pine nuts, and reserved diced tomatoes. Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Divide the quinoa mixture among the tomatoes and pack in slightly.
- Divide the remaining ½ cup feta cheese over the tops of the tomatoes.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through, and cheese has browned slightly.
Notes
The quinoa mixture can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, but you may have to bake the tomatoes slightly longer in order to warm the quinoa through completely.
Nutrition Facts
Mediterranean Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes
Amount Per Serving (1 tomato)
Calories 269
Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 4g20%
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 22mg7%
Sodium 695mg29%
Potassium 513mg15%
Carbohydrates 27g9%
Fiber 4g16%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 10g20%
Vitamin A 1330IU27%
Vitamin C 17mg21%
Calcium 159mg16%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Disclaimers: Please discuss your individual dietary needs (i.e. gluten free) with a physician. Even when not specified, be sure to verify all ingredients are gluten free, if needed, by reading labels on all packaging and/or confirming with the manufacturer this varies by brand and can change at any time. Nutrition information shown is an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Love this post. I was just having a convo this am at the farmers’ market with the owner of three boys farms about tomatoes and italians. apparently, the US wouldn’t let italians bring tomato or eggplant plants into the country when they immigrated here because the were considered toxic. When family would come, they would ask them to sneak in seeds, which is why rooftops all over brooklyn and queens were covered with tomato plants– no one could buy them at a grocery store. Anyway, great blog- wanted to say hello 😉
Your photos are lovely and your recipe looks very tasty and healthy!
I found you through #SundaySupper Nice to have discovered a new food blog today 🙂
What a pretty presentation!! I love tomatoes on sandwiches, roasted in the oven, in sauces..I could go on and on! Fresh tomatoes are always best!