Can you use Celery and Peppers in Stewed Tomatoes ?

Stewed tomatoes recipes often include celery, onions, and bell peppers. In my stewed tomatoes recipe, I leave out the celery—and that can raise questions.

This short video answers a common follow-up question about the stewed tomatoes recipe I use and explains how vegetable substitutions work when canning.

If you want exact measurements and full processing details, be sure to follow the complete stewed tomatoes recipe linked here.

Sue asked: “I noticed you don’t combine celery and bell peppers in your stewed tomatoes recipe. Wondered what the reason is. I would like to have both, and I’m just wondering if I can.”

Great question.

The simple reason I leave celery out when I’m canning stewed tomatoes is that we just don’t prefer it. So I use onions and peppers instead. That said—you absolutely can use celery if you want to.

The rule you should follow.

To maintain safety you need to maintain the ratio of veggies to tomatoes. So, you can adjust which vegetables of the three vegetables you use (celery, peppers, or onions)… but don’t change the total amount.

How the Vegetable Amounts Work

If you look at the recipe, in the ingredients list, I have celery or peppers, and onions. You want to use whatever combination of veggies you like , but use the same total quantity indicated in the recipe.

Here are a few ways that can look:

• Onions and peppers only (what we do):

  Skip the celery and add more peppers or onions to make up the difference.
• Onions and celery only:

  Leave out the peppers and use onions and celery instead.
• All three vegetables:

  Use a mix of onions, celery, and peppers. Stay within the total number of cups recommended.

The recipe is good as it’s written. Make sure to stay within the total number of cups of vegetables per the amount of tomatoes that you have, so you stay within safe processing levels.

Great Question

I’m super glad you’re not just adapting recipes without understanding why they work. That’s really important. You got this!

If you want exact measurements and full canning details, follow the complete stewed tomatoes recipe linked here.