I wish you could taste this delicious Easy Classic Southern Tomato Pie! Oh my goodness, it’s scrumptious! It’s full of fresh summer heirloom tomatoes and oozy, gooey cheese with a decadent savory crust made with a surprise ingredient, buttery Ritz crackers.
If you are reading this and don’t know what tomato pie is, or how to make a tomato pie, read on. It couldn’t be easier!
To me, one of the best things about summer is fresh homegrown tomatoes. Other than appearance, they don’t bear any resemblance to their cousins, the tomatoes you buy at the grocery store during the winter. You know the kind. They look pretty good on the outside, but when you slice into them the inside is all grainy and has absolutely no taste. Summer tomatoes, on the other hand, are juicy and flavorful with a magical tomato taste all of their own. And, if you are lucky enough to find them, heirloom tomatoes are even tastier.
Fresh summer tomatoes are at their best sliced with just a hint of salt. They are wonderful in Caprese salad with fresh basil, and tomato sandwiches will change your life. But, tomato pies, oh my, tomato pies are where fresh summer tomatoes really shine. Tomato pies in the South have pretty much the same basic ingredients, in addition to the crust: tomatoes, cheese, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. The types of cheeses may change, the amount of mayonnaise varies, and some recipes add herbs, but all in all, they are basically the same. And, I can honestly say I have loved every last bite of every kind of tomato pie I have ever tasted.
If you love tomatoes like I do, you also might want to check out my recipes for Cherry Tomato Pie and Muffin Pan Tomato Tarts. My sister over at Pudge Factor Blog also has also just posted a yummy Fresh Tomato Tart in Puff Pastry recipe that looks divine too!
But my recipe for Easy Classic Southern Tomato Pie has a fun twist, and it’s in the crust. Now, if you have a pie crust recipe you love, feel free to use that, or you could save time and buy a pre-made pie crust, and your tomato pie will still be delicious. But why not try my easy Ritz cracker pie crust? It couldn’t be simpler or more delicious, and the crunchiness of the buttery Ritz crackers will elevate your tomato pie to the next level. Oh, and by the way, if you don’t have Ritz crackers, try saltines or cheese crackers. You can really use any crackers you have on hand to make the crust.
If I’ve convinced you that my Easy Classic Southern Tomato Pie is something you have to try, just follow my easy step-by-step directions below.
Here is the list of ingredients for the pie filling: fresh tomatoes, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, white cheddar cheese, sharp cheddar cheese (you can substitute other cheeses like gruyere or fontina if you like), parmesan cheese, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. For the pie crust, you will need a box of Ritz crackers and a stick of butter. That’s it!
When you are ready to make Easy Classic Southern Tomato Pie, gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the pie crust add the crackers to a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process the crackers until they are fine crumbs.
Add the melted butter and process until the butter and crumbs are combined. Pour this mixture into a nine-inch pie plate.
Use your hands or the smooth bottom of a glass to press the mixture down evenly and up the sides of the pie plate.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
While the crust is baking, slice the tomatoes (no need to blanch them or peel them).
Wondering how to keep your tomato pie from getting soggy? Simply sprinkle with a little salt and let the slices drain on a paper towel for at least 10-15 minutes. Blot the tops of the tomatoes with a paper towel to remove any additional moisture.
When the crust is cool, spread the Dijon mustard evenly over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle a layer of grated cheese over the mustard. Add a layer of sliced tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Repeat with another layer of cheese and tomatoes and top with the rest of the grated cheese.
Mix the mayonnaise and parmesan cheese in a small bowl and spread evenly over the top of the cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned and the mixture is bubbly.
Serve at room temperature.
Looking for other popular recipes from the South? Check out these delicious favorites: Southern Potato Salad, Southern Pecan Praline Cake, Southern Style Crab Cakes, and Southern Pimento Cheese Spread. Intrigued? Check out, even more, Southern Recipes.
Easy Classic Southern Tomato Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Tomato Pie Filling
- 4 large fresh tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard **Updated 6/20/2017, reduced the amount of mustard by half
- 4 ounces grated white cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
Cracker Pie Crust Ingredients
- 11 oz Ritz crackers
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- To make the pie crust add the crackers to a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until they have broken down into fine crumbs.
- Add the melted butter and process until the butter and crumbs are combined. Pour this mixture into a nine-inch pie plate. Use your hands or the smooth bottom of a glass to press the mixture down evenly and up the sides of the pie plate.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- While the crust is baking, slice the tomatoes (no need to blanch them or peel them). Sprinkle with a little salt and let the slices drain on a paper towel for at least 10-15 minutes. Blot the tops of the tomatoes with a paper towel to remove any additional moisture.
- When the crust is cool, spread the Dijon mustard evenly over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle a layer of grated cheese over the mustard. Add a layer of sliced tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Repeat with another layer of cheese and tomatoes and top with the rest of the grated cheese.
- Mix the mayonnaise and parmesan cheese in a small bowl and spread evenly over the top of the cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned and the mixture is bubbly.
- Serve at room temperature.
Megan McDuffie says
June 11, 2017 at 10:48 pmI’ve never made a tomato pie before but this looks like a fantastic way to take advantage of the summer tomato bounty. Can’t go wrong with fresh tomatoes and cheese 😉
Gritsandpinecones says
June 13, 2017 at 9:40 amHi Megan, You have to try it, tomatoes, and cheese are a match made in heaven!
Monica | Nourish & Fete says
June 12, 2017 at 4:57 amThis looks terrific – how fantastic for summer! Pinning to try this very soon. 🙂
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says
June 12, 2017 at 2:11 pmI absolutely loooove tomato season. What a beautiful way to use those beauties!
Gritsandpinecones says
June 12, 2017 at 3:30 pmThanks so much Ashley! I’m obsessed with tomatoes right now and love them too!
Patsy Robshaw says
June 20, 2017 at 5:42 pmNot sure how many Ritz crackers I will need to make 11oz. The box contains 13.7oz. Can you tell me how many cups I would need to make 11oz of crumbs? Making this this Thursday 6/22 so would appreciate a reply ASAP.
Thank you.
Gritsandpinecones says
June 20, 2017 at 9:16 pmHi Patsy,
The box of Ritz crackers I have is 11.8 oz and contains 8 stacks of 14 crackers each. That makes each stack about 1.475 oz. I multiplied that by 7 stacks and that gets you to just under 11 ounces. So 98 crackers should be pretty close to 11 ounces and you should be good with that. I don’t think a few crackers more or less will make that much difference in the crust.
The other thing I wanted to mention is a few folks that have made this recipe have commented about the mustard taste taking away from the fresh taste of the tomatoes. I am going to add a note about this to my post but wanted to mention it to you too. Unless you are a real fan of Dijon mustard, I would only use half as much or leave it out altogether.
I hope you enjoy the pie!
Henriette Hall says
August 18, 2017 at 6:24 pmI am sure the Ritz crackers are a tasty touch–I had a circle of pastry in freezer–I let it thaw–rolled out and continued on with recipe—instead of Dijon, I used 1 Tbl. of Durkee to cover bottom after it was blind baked.-Sometimes, I just prick ( using the tines of a fork ) the bottom of pie shell-then bake..
I use several cheeses–mainly asiago, parm, and mozz…I find that using a lot of cheddar reminds me that if I were to add drained ground chuck, and onions, I would have a cheeseburger pie.
I love the gritsandpinecones recipe and many of their others……..this is just an example of the “Mater” pie that was made for us in Charleston, SC. when I was a kid. Thank you.
Gritsandpinecones says
August 19, 2017 at 10:48 amHi Henriette,
Thank you so much for sharing! I love the idea of adding lots of different kinds of cheese and your cheeseburger pie sounds awesome!