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A savory summertime Tomato Pie made by layering tomatoes slices, basil onion and a cheese spread into a pie crust and baking it until golden and bubbly. This is the perfect recipe for using up your excess fresh garden tomatoes!
I don't have my own garden to care for (it's still on my bucket list), but every summer I like to go to Farmer's markets and buy a big box of fresh tomatoes. I'll make a big batch of our favorite homemade salsa and I usually end up canning tomatoes and making this amazing tomato pie!
If you've never tried tomato pie, you absolutely have to! It's a southern dish that is one of my favorites–especially when it's made with fresh garden tomatoes.
How to make Tomato Pie:
Start by pre-baking your pie shell for a few minutes. I highly suggest using a homemade pie crust for this recipe, not just because it tastes better, but because it will not brown as quickly as a store-bought crust.
I make this recipe for perfect pie crust, and I follow the instructions at the bottom of the post for blind baking the crust by putting parchment paper and pie weights down on the pie crust and baking for just 15-20 minutes. (If using a store-bought crust, only bake for a few minutes, and probably even less than instructed on the package. Store-bought crusts are thinner and will brown faster.) Then I continue with this recipe.
I think roma tomatoes work best for this recipe, but you can use any tomatoes you have on hand.
While the crust is pre-baking, slice the tomatoes into thin slices and lay them in a single layer in the colander. Sprinkle salt over the tomatoes to help bring out their liquid, and let them rest for 10 minutes.
Use a paper towel to blot the excess juice out. This step is really important if you don't want to end up with a soggy tomato pie.
Make the cheese topping by combining the mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese and mozzarella.
Layer the tomato slices into the bottom of your pre-baked pie shell. Chop your basil and green onions and sprinkle them over the tomatoes. Smooth the cheese mixture onto the top of the pie, and then it's ready to bake! Bake the tomato pie for 30 minutes or until it is lightly browned!
Be sure to allow the pie at least 15-20 minutes to cool off before you cut into it. The longer it rests, the most it well set up and it will be easier to serve.
I've found that tomato pie is best served fresh, but you can store the leftovers covered, in the fridge.
What kind of tomatoes should I use for tomato pie?
To make tomato pie, I recommend using Roma tomatoes. Roma tomatoes are a more firm tomato that are not as juicy and don't contain as much liquid as other tomatoes. This is important because if your tomatoes contain a lot of liquid, they can cause your crust to get soggy. That being said, you can be successful making this recipe with any type of garden tomato.
Can you freeze tomato pie?
While freezing tomato pie is possible, I would have to discourage you from doing this. The tomatoes make the crust soggy and the topping on this recipe contains mayonnaise, which doesn't freeze well. However, you can use a frozen pie crust to make tomato pie! See my perfect pie crust recipe for tips for freezing and blind-baking (pre-baking) your pie crust!
Looking for more tomato recipes? Consider trying these tomato based recipes:
- Tomato Basil Mozzarella Toasts
- Tomato Basil Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Tomato and Spinach Tortellini Soup
- How to Make Canned Tomatoes
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Tomato Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 roma tomatoes, , peeled and sliced
- 10 fresh basil leaves, , chopped
- 1/2 cup green onion, (or red onion), chopped
- 1 9-inch pre-baked pie crust
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise, (or half mayo, half Greek yogurt)
- 2 Tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.
- Use a paper towel to pat-dry the tomatoes and make sure most of the excess juice is out. (You don't want wet (juicy) tomatoes or your pie will turn out soggy).
- Layer the tomato slices, basil, and onion in pre-baked pie shell (see my note above in the post about how I prepare the pie crust.) Season with salt and pepper.
- Combine the grated cheeses and mayonnaise or Greek yogurt together.
- Spread mixture on top of the tomatoes and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
- You might also like, Garden Vegetable Pie.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe in July 2014. Updated July 2018.
LOVE this recipe! The first bite took me back to baking tomato pies in the kitchen with my mama, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
I have made this tomato pie about 6 times this summer. OMG!!! It is absolutely delicious. I have shared them with family, friends and neighbors and everyone raved about how good they were. I have given out many copies of the recipe!!!
One of my all-time favorite summer dishes and this one is delicious! Yep, drain those tomatoes first! I love the suggestions of the additions that posters have shared! Tomato Pie, a great side, and good company….doesn’t get any better than that!
IF you are around the Mississippi, Louisiana area, and see a frozen pie crust called Dutch Ann’s, do yourself a favor and grab some up for your freezer! You can thank me later! 😉🤣😂
This tomato pie was fabulous! We have tried several other versions and this was, by far, the best!!! I have a terrible reputation for never following a recipe. I always seem to make a change here and there. I did make one alteration. I did not have any greeen onions so I substituted Videlia onions. Other than that, I followed the recipe faithfuly. I did use a frozen premade pie crust. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! The tomatoes I used were fresh from our garden, all heirlooms. They were quite juicy but it didn’t matter. The taste was amazing. I would have eaten it with a spoon if I had too! The recipe was easy to follow and the outcome was perfect. I would reccomend this to any “tomato lovers” out there.
Very good. I followed the recipe exactly. I think next time I’m going to saute the onion with a little minced garlic.
Other than that, we loved it.
I do not like tomatoes. The texture, the taste – just yuck (ketchup included).
But this… This is pure gold. It was so good, I made it for dinner two days in a row. I made some modifications due to lack of ingredients.
Instead if mayonnaise, I used ricotta cheese and two tbsps of plain Greek yogurt. Used pesto instead of basil and whichever cheese I had on had.
It was a hit and the whole family loved it. Going to make it everytime tomatoes go on sale 😍 also going to try it without the crust and see how that goes.
What did you use instead of the tomatoes?
I just made this using all vegan ingredients! I ommitted the onions (as they give me migraines) and chopped up the remainder of the fresh sage and fresh thyme I had from Thanksgiving, mixed that in with the cheese and mayonnaise (Yep, that was vegan too!), sprinkled each layer of tomatoes with a bit of pepper, wrapped the crust with foil, baked it for 20 minutes, took the foil off, and baked it for another 15 minutes. Delicious. Can’t even tell it’s vegan!
very good!!!!
I wonder if this could be made without crust or a rice or shredded veggie crust instead? Gluten is not friendly at my house.
I have found gluten free bread crumbs. I do a quiche and spread soften butter in the pie plate and then sprinkle the bread crumbs. makes a nice thin crust.
This is absolutely delicious! The only change I made was to use half mayonnaise, half sour cream as someone had suggested. I also sprinkled a layer of seasoned breadcrumbs on the bottom before layering. This came out great. I did dry off the tomatoes with paper towels on both sides after draining them in the colander. I did salute the onions in a little butter before layering. My grandson asked me for the recipe to make one for his girlfriend who loves Italian food! Great way to use those garden tomatoes. This is a keeper!
Absolutely delicious!! I made two & the second one I added BACON to the cheese mixture & also garnished the top with basil, onions & crushed bacon!! 🥰😋
Excellent! I had a lot of tomatoes from garden. I canned a lot them. Decided to try making this recipe. It was great. Thank you for sharing! Wanda