This macaroni and tomatoes recipe is simple, quick, and flavorful and uses only a handful of ingredients from your pantry. Don't let the simpleness fool you - this pasta dish is loaded with flavor and will have you coming back for seconds! And it only takes 30 minutes from start to finish.
This old fashioned recipe makes a hearty side dish for any occasion and just may remind you of your childhood (like it does me). Same with my Easy Homemade Biscuits recipe, which my mom handed down to me.
Great served with my London Broil Crock Pot recipe along with my perfectly Sauteed Broccoli with red peppers or my Green Beans Almondine with bacon.
If you love pasta, don't forget to try my luscious Gouda Mac and Cheese.
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💖 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Simple - So simple to make and uses only a handful of ingredients that are likely already in your pantry.
- Quick - Takes only 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Flavorful - Hearty seasonings and juicy tomato chunks make this pasta dish a tasty keeper.
🥘 Ingredients
What You'll Need:
Ingredient Notes:
- Tomatoes - I like to use petite diced, so I don't get a big chunk of tomato in each bite. I like the tomato flavors to be distributed throughout the dish better, and smaller is better for this (in my opinion). You can also use crushed tomatoes. Don't drain the tomatoes before adding.
- Broth - I used chicken broth, but you could use beef or vegetable broth instead. This recipe was tested multiple times using chicken broth only.
- Herbs - I used dry oregano and basil, but you could substitute Italian seasoning (without salt) or a combination of similar herbs to your liking.
(See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and printable instructions)
📖 Substitutions / Variations
This is an easy recipe to adjust based on what you have on hand.
- Broth: If you don't have chicken broth, you can just use water. It's more flavorful with chicken broth, but it can be adapted. You could also use a tablespoon of butter for extra flavor if you'd like, and a chicken bullion cube would add excellent flavor to the water if you don't have broth.
- Tomatoes: Adapt the canned tomatoes to what you prefer (or have on hand). I like smaller chunks myself, so I prefer petite diced mixed with pureed tomatoes. Also, if you only have tomato sauce, that will work well too.
- Garlic: For the garlic, you can use fresh or jarred garlic. I like keeping jarred minced garlic on hand for ease of use, and the flavor is very close to fresh. Alternately, you can use garlic powder. Make sure that you're using garlic powder instead of garlic salt, however, as this will add more salt to the recipe and will need to be adjusted further.
- Butter: Adding a dollop (or large blob) of butter adds additional slight creaminess flavor, but it's not necessary to make this dish a flavorful success.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
How to Make Macaroni and Tomatoes:
Step 1: Heat Dutch oven to medium heat. Add oil to pan along with garlic and herbs. Stir to mix while cooking. Cook 1-2 minutes or until beginning to brown.
Step 2: Add chicken broth and macaroni and stir. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat and cover.
Step 3: Cook for 15 minutes or until liquid is mostly absorbed by the pasta, stirring about every 5 minutes to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Step 4: Add undrained tomatoes, salt, and black pepper and stir. Heat briefly on low before serving. Top with parmesan cheese if desired.
(Scroll down for full recipe and print capabilities)
💭 Expert Cooking Tips
- You do not drain the liquid, as it will all be absorbed by cooking the macaroni. So you will want to cover the mixture after adding the macaroni and bringing it to a boil, reducing the heat beforehand.
- Serve topped with parmesan cheese and dry parsley if desired.
- I like to start with a flavor base of garlic, basil, and oregano. You can substitute any unsalted Italian seasoning blend in place of the basil and oregano.
- In place of the stock, you could use a bullion cube along with water, or you could simply use water if that's all you have on hand.
🧐 Recipe FAQs
Canned tomatoes are a delicious addition to pasta. Diced or crushed tomatoes work better mixed with pasta since the pieces are bite sized and easier to eat and blend in with the dish. With smaller tomato pieces, you get more flavor variety in each bite and a better eating experience overall.
This macaroni and tomatoes recipe has about 342 calories per serving, which is enough for an average size bowl.
Yes, you can freeze macaroni and tomatoes, but the texture of the pasta will be altered a bit upon reheating. The taste will be just as good as long as you eat it within about 3 months of freezing. The longer the freeze time, the more likely it is to lose flavor. However, since this dish is so quick to make fresh, I recommend just making it fresh each time.
You can drain the tomatoes, but this recipe calls for undrained tomatoes. If you feel the liquid is too much, you can certainly drain at least part of it before adding to your pasta. Some cans may have more juice than others. When adding to the pasta in this macaroni and tomatoes recipe, some of the juice will be absorbed by the pasta, which intensifies the flavors.
🍜 More Pasta Recipes
If you tried this Macaroni and Tomatoes Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
📋 Recipe
Macaroni and Tomatoes (easy w/ few ingredients)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or 1 teaspoon each of basil and oregano)
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth (water if you don't have broth)
- 3 cups macaroni , uncooked (or pasta of choice)
- 29 ounces canned tomatoes , 2 cans - crushed and/or diced, undrained
- ½ teaspoon salt , more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper , more to taste
- parsley to top (optional)
- parmesan cheese to top (optional)
Instructions
- Heat Dutch oven or stock pot to medium heat.
- Add oil to pan along with garlic and herbs. Stir to mix while cooking. Cook 1-2 minutes or until begining to brown.
- Add broth (or water) and pasta. Heat to high to bring to boil (uncovered).
- Reduce heat to low and cover.
- Cook 15 minutes covered, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent sticking. Pasta should have absorbed all or most of the liquid by this time.
- Add tomatoes and stir. Heat for another 5 minutes or so and serve hot.
Notes
- I like to start with a flavor base of garlic, basil, and oregano. If you have an Italian seasoning blend you can use that.
- In place of the stock, you could use a bullion cube along with water, or you could simply use water if that's all you have on hand.
- None of the liquid will be drained after cooking the pasta, as all the liquid will be absorbed during cooking.
Morgan says
I craved tomato and macaroni so much with my first pregnancy. I'd just add canned tomatoes to precooked macaron and eat it cold. I'm pregnant with my second now and knew there had to be a better way to make my favorite pregnancy dish. I found this and I was right! I've cooked this 2x in the past week and will be making it again today. The macaroni noodles taste so good cooked in broth. I use my home canned whole tomatoes and crush with my hand. Store bought will do too. The seeds from the tomatoes make this recipe even better. Thanks for this! I'll be adding it to my recipe book I'm making/saving for my family.
Sally says
Awesome to hear, Morgan! Happy eating!
Jackie Goggins says
Just like my Mom used to make! Thanks for the recipe it’s fantastic!
Sally says
So happy to hear, Jackie!