What is a good substitute for tomato? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 4 days ago by darthelmet@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So I have some food sensitivity issues and in particular I don't like raw tomato. They're gooey and seedy and they just make me feel kind of weird. Unfortunately there are a lot of things, especially sandwiches, which use tomato as a fairly critical part of the flavor of the dish. So just taking it out isn't ideally because it sometimes just makes the dish bland. I feel like processed tomato things like ketchup and tomato sauce don't really fulfill the same kind of role in these dishes.

Does anyone have any opinions/suggestions on what types of foods could plausibly be used as a substitute for raw tomato? It could be anywhere, but I'm thinking of things like sandwiches, salads, etc.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] stepintomydojo@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago

Tomatoes are mildly acidic, so something similar should get you an approximation of the flavor. Pickled onions might be a good choice, or some other lightly pickled fruit/veg (maybe beets for salad). Actual dill pickles are not going to be too acidic to be a good substitute (but are a great thing to put on sandwiches in addition to tomato anyway).

Pineapple might work in some cases, but it has a strong flavor and sweetness that won't work everywhere a tomato does. Salsas are a good place for this as a tomato substitute (along with mango and corn), but pineapple does also work well in some sandwiches.

[-] Eq0@literature.cafe 2 points 3 days ago

I support beets as a substitute. Roasted they are sweeter with almost no acidity, while pickled would hit most of the tomato notes.

this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2025

34 points (100.0% liked)

Asklemmy

51023 readers

637 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 6 years ago

MODERATORS