Old-Fashioned Macaroni with Stewed Tomatoes
Macaroni with stewed tomatoes brings back fond childhood memories. My grandpa loved it, so my grandma cooked a lot of it. My daddy love it, too, so we had it home often. But I also remember my grandma making it when she cooked in the cafeteria at my grade school – oh so many years ago. I was a lucky little girl – I got to eat food my grandma cooked every day!
The women’s club that I belong to meets once a month and a friend and I were in charge this month. We decided to theme the dinner meeting “From Grandma’s Kitchen” and asked each member to bring a dish that was a family recipe or something they remember fondly from childhood. Our members range in age from 40-almost 80!
We had a pork roast that was a go-to dish for one member’s mother. Crockpot BBQ ribs were a stand-in for another’s memories of BBQ raccoon – remember, I’m in the rural Midwest, raccoon and other critters are commonplace! Another member brought “pink fluff” – strawberry jello and whipped cream. She also brought a pineapple and cheese dish that is unique to our area. Zucchini relish and potato salad also graced our dinner table. My grandma’s macaroni and tomatoes dish was the perfect addition to the eclectic meal!
This recipe feeds a crowd! Using canned tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes make this a quick dish to put together. Make sure you select stewed tomatoes with celery – not all brands are created equal. I’ve found that Hunts and the Aldi brand have flavor that is the closest to my grandma’s version of this comfort dish.
Old-Fashioned Macaroni with Stewed Tomatoes
12
-16 servings10
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 box 16 ounces elbow macaroni
1 can 15 ounces tomato sauce
3 cans 15 ounces stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
- In a large pot, cook the elbow macaroni according to package instructions, but stop short of al dente. Drain the macaroni and return it to the pot. Add the tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and sugar to the drained macaroni, stirring it all together so the macaroni is well coated with sauce. Continue to cook the macaroni for about 10 more minutes for the flavors to combine. Serve immediately.
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Before you go, tell me in the comments below what your favorite family dish is … I’d love to know!
Of all the Macaroni & Stewed Tomatoes recipes I looked up this is the only one that was 95% close to my grandmothers etc way of making. She just added few other spices, then if there was any leftovers she’d throw in some kidney beans and some sort of meat. Oh, my we’d have bread and another full course meal. My grandmother use to say they never knew there was a depression on, cause they didn’t live any different. Any thanks for the recipe and this is whats for dinner tonight and leftovers!
95% is probably as close to my grandma’s that I’ll ever get, too. I think there is just something about the way grandmas cook that can’t ever be replicated. Mine would had ground beef, too (I have that recipe posted as well). Most of where I live never new there was a Depression… we were already depressed! Enjoy dinner!
My grandmother grew up in Alabama and never knew there was a depression, she lived in a shack near the railroad old number 8.
My mother was from eastern Kentucky and made the almost same recipe, and went thu the depression but never knew it, some of the meals she would make on the farm when I was little was wonderful and out of very little!
My grandparents always said the same about southern Illinois. Everyone was already living like there was a depression. There were several CCC and WPA projects in this region, tho.
Yes, that’s all I was going to add. Hamburger meat topped it off!
My favorite dish. 4 generations now.
My grandma use to make this very same recipe. I am glad I found this recipe, because experimenting to find it wasn’t working.
I’m glad you found it, too! It was always one of my favorites.
Perfect dish on a cold Ohio winter my mom also brought my family up on this love it I had been forgetting the sugar so glad I found this recipe.
Glad you found it, too! I suppose sugar is a personal preference, but I love it made this way!
Just like grandma use to make!
And definitely one of my favorites!
My BFF from Kentucky made this for lunch one day, well needless to say I was in Love with it.
I add garlic salt to mine , when I fix it. Thanks for the heads up about the sugar.
Garlic salt would be a great addition! Thanks for the tip.
Very good dish reminds me of moms cooking
Do you think Italian sausage would be good added to this?
Thanks
Hi Stacey! Yes. We ad ground beef to this a lot, so I’m sure the sausage would be delicious.