Use These Tomato Recipe Equivalents in Cooking

This handy chart shows tomato recipe equivalents for both fresh and canned tomatoes and answers the question, “How many tomatoes do I need for this recipe?”

Measuring can be tricky. Knowing how many fresh tomatoes to use can mean the difference between wasting tomatoes and not using enough – or between a successful dish and a flop.

Fresh tomato equivalents by approximate weight

1 small tomato	3-4 ounces
1 medium tomato	5-6 ounces
1 large tomato	7+ ounces
1 cherry tomato	½ - 2 ounces
1 pound fresh tomatoes	4 small tomatoes 3 medium tomatoes 2 large tomatoes 15-20 cherry tomatoes

Fresh tomato equivalents by cup measure

2 ½ pounds fresh tomatoes	3 cups chopped, drained fresh tomatoes
2 ½ pounds fresh tomatoes	2 ½ cups seeded, chopped cooked tomatoes
1 pound fresh tomatoes	3 cups pureed tomatoes
25 to 30 cherry tomatoes	2 cups chopped tomatoes

Canned tomato equivalents by weight and cup measure

1 (16-ounce) can	2 cups undrained tomatoes 1 cup drained tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can	3 cups undrained tomatoes 2 -2 ½ cups drained tomatoes
1 (35-ounce) can	4 cups undrained tomatoes 2 ½ -3 cups drained tomatoes