Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits

I’ve been making this Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits about once a month since last summer and I’m still not tired of it. The biscuit topping soaks up just enough of the tomato juices without getting soggy if you time it right. It’s one of those dishes that looks kind of messy in the pan but tastes way better than it has any right to.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The onions caramelize for a full 8 to 10 minutes and that sweetness cuts through the tomato acidity in a way raw onions never could.
• Pimento cheese biscuits aren’t just regular biscuits with cheese—the pimentos add this tiny briny pop that you don’t expect.
• You can assemble the whole thing in under 20 minutes if you don’t count baking time.
• It serves 8 people from one 2-quart dish.
• The cornstarch-vinegar slurry thickens the filling without making it gummy, which I didn’t think would matter until I tried it without once.
• Southern comfort food that actually tastes like something specific, not just “comfort.”

The Story Behind This Recipe

I tested this last Tuesday after work because I had two 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes that were taking up space and I was tired of pasta. My mom used to make a tomato thing with Bisquick on top but it was always kind of bland and the topping tasted like cardboard. This version uses buttermilk and actual shredded cheese in the biscuits, plus the pimentos were my idea after I remembered that jar in the back of my fridge. The first time I made it I skipped the baking sheet underneath and tomato juice dripped all over my oven and smoked for days. Now I know better and it’s become my go-to when I need something that feels like I tried but didn’t actually require that much effort.

What You Need

You’ll need 2 tablespoons of melted butter for the biscuits and another 2 tablespoons that stays solid for cooking the onions. I keep forgetting they’re separate amounts until I’m halfway through.

For the biscuit part you need 1 cup of all-purpose flour, nothing fancy. Then 1/2 cup of buttermilk which you can’t really swap for regular milk without losing that tang. 1/2 cup of shredded cheese works best if it’s sharp cheddar but I’ve used colby jack when that’s what I had and it was fine. The 1/4 cup of diced pimentos comes from those little jars in the pickle aisle and you need to drain them first or your dough gets wet. 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder go in there too.

The filling starts with 1 medium onion that you slice thin because thick chunks don’t caramelize the same way. 3 cloves of garlic get minced up small. Then 2 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes and don’t drain them because that juice is what makes the whole thing saucy. Another 1/2 teaspoon of salt plus 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper season everything. The 1 tablespoon of white vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch is what thickens it all up without that weird gluey texture. And nonstick cooking spray for the dish and the biscuit tops.

How to Make Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits

Set your oven to 350°F first thing. Spray your 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray and just leave it on the counter.

Get out a large deep skillet and melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Throw in your thinly sliced onions and stir them pretty often for the full 8 to 10 minutes while they slowly turn golden brown. I know it feels long but if you crank the heat they’ll burn on the edges and stay raw in the middle which is exactly what happened to me the second time I made this.

Add the 3 cloves of minced garlic and stir for about one minute until you can smell it. Pour in both cans of diced tomatoes with all their juice and turn the heat up to medium-high. Once it starts bubbling add your 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.

Let the whole thing simmer for 5 minutes stirring every once in a while. The tomatoes will break down and the liquid reduces just a little bit.

Mix your 1 tablespoon of white vinegar with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl until it’s smooth. Stir that into the tomato mixture and keep cooking for 2 to 3 more minutes until it thickens up and you can see it coat the back of your spoon. Pour this hot filling into your prepared baking dish and spread it out so it’s even.

Now for the pimento cheese biscuits. In a medium bowl dump in 1 cup of flour, the 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, 1/4 cup of diced pimentos, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. Stir it just until everything’s mixed because if you keep going the biscuits get tough. There’s this moment when you add the pimentos where the dough turns from looking dry to suddenly coming together and that’s when you stop.

Spoon big blobs of biscuit dough all over the top of the tomato layer. They don’t need to cover every inch because they’ll spread a little while baking. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray which sounds weird but it really does help them brown.

Put the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet because tomato cobbler bubbles over more than you’d think. Bake for about 45 minutes until the filling’s bubbling hard around the edges and the biscuits are golden brown on top. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes before you serve it so the juices calm down and it’s not molten lava hot.

What I Did Wrong the First Time

The first time I made this I got impatient with the onions and turned the heat up after like 4 minutes because I wanted to get to the biscuit part. They burned in spots and stayed crunchy in others and the whole tomato base tasted bitter and weird. I had to throw the whole skillet out and start over with a new onion which meant I didn’t eat until almost 9 PM on a Tuesday. Now I just accept that 8 to 10 minutes means 8 to 10 minutes and I check my phone or clean something nearby while they cook. Low and slow actually matters here even though it feels like it shouldn’t.

Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits

By Emma

Prep:

15 min

Cook:

60 min

Total:

75 min

Servings:

8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup diced pimentos
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• nonstick cooking spray

Method

1. 1 Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 2-quart baking dish lightly with nonstick spray and set aside to avoid sticking later.
2. 2 Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat in a large, deep skillet. Add thinly sliced onions and stir frequently, watching the color shift slowly to a golden brown over 8 to 10 minutes. This caramelization is key, so keep the heat low and stay vigilant against burning.
3. 3 Toss in minced garlic, stirring for about one minute until its aroma fills the kitchen. Pour in the canned diced tomatoes with their juice and turn the heat up to medium-high. As the mixture starts to simmer, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. 4 Let the tomatoes soften and thicken over 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to break down chunks and coax flavors together. You’ll notice the aroma deepen and the liquid reduce slightly.
5. 5 In a small bowl, whisk white vinegar with cornstarch until smooth. Stir this tangy mixture into the tomato base and keep cooking for 2 to 3 more minutes until the sauce thickens noticeably and clings to the spatula.
6. 6 Pour the hot tomato mixture evenly into your prepared baking dish, spreading it out so every biscuit topping has a juicy bed.
7. 7 In a medium bowl, combine flour, melted butter, buttermilk, shredded cheese, diced pimentos, salt, and garlic powder. Stir gently just until everything comes together; overmixing biscuits is a rookie mistake that tightens the dough too much.
8. 8 Using a spoon, drop generous mounds of biscuit dough evenly over the tomato layer. They don’t have to be perfect—rustic is better here. Lightly spritz the biscuit tops with cooking spray, which helps them brown crisply.
9. 9 Set the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips and slide it into the preheated oven. Bake for about 45 minutes until the filling bubbles vigorously and biscuits are a golden brown with a tender crumb inside.
10. 10 Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes; the bubbling will settle and the flavors meld while the cobbler cools just slightly before serving.

Nutritional information

Calories

320

Protein

8g

Carbs

28g

Fat

18g

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Tips for the Best Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits

Don’t skip the baking sheet under your dish even if your oven looks clean. The tomato cobbler bubbles up aggressively in the last 15 minutes of baking and I’ve had juice drip down onto the heating element twice now which fills the whole house with burnt tomato smoke.

Your biscuit dough should look kind of shaggy and barely hold together when you’re done mixing. If it looks smooth and uniform you’ve gone too far and they’ll bake up dense instead of tender.

The pimentos need to be drained really well or they add too much liquid to the dough. I press them between paper towels now after the first time my biscuits spread flat across the whole pan instead of staying in nice mounds.

When you’re spooning the biscuit dough on top leave some gaps between the mounds so steam can escape from the filling. I used to try to cover every inch of tomato and the biscuits on the edges would get soggy underneath while the ones in the middle stayed dry.

The 10 to 15 minute rest after baking isn’t optional even though you’ll want to dig in right away. The filling is legitimately lava temperature and needs that time to thicken up as it cools or your first scoop will be all runny liquid with biscuits floating in it.

Serving Ideas

I eat this straight from the dish with a big spoon most nights because I’m lazy and it doesn’t need much else. A simple green salad with vinegar dressing cuts through the richness if you want something fresh on the side.

It’s really good next to fried eggs for breakfast the next morning. The runny yolk mixes with the tomato and it tastes like a fancy shakshuka without any of the work.

My friend brought cornbread to go with it once and that was overkill on the carbs but in a good way. You could also serve it with roasted sausages on the side if you need more protein to make it a full meal.

Variations

You can swap the canned diced tomatoes for fresh ones if you have a bunch that are about to go bad. Use about 4 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes but add an extra tablespoon of tomato paste for body since fresh ones are more watery than canned.

I tried adding a cup of cooked bacon bits to the filling once and it was too smoky and overwhelmed the pimento flavor in the biscuits. Half a cup works better if you really want meat in there.

Monterey jack instead of cheddar makes the biscuits milder and a little creamier which some people prefer. I think it loses some of the sharpness that balances the sweet onions but it’s not bad just different.

You can make this with refrigerated biscuit dough if you’re really tired and don’t want to mix your own. Tear each biscuit in half and tuck pimentos and shredded cheese between the layers before putting them on top which gives you some of that pimento cheese flavor without making dough from scratch.

FAQ

Can I make the filling ahead of time? Yeah you can make the tomato part up to 2 days ahead and keep it in the fridge. Just reheat it on the stove until it’s hot again before you pour it in the baking dish and add the biscuit topping. Cold filling with raw biscuits on top takes way longer to bake through.

Why are my biscuits tough and dense? You stirred the dough too much after you added the wet ingredients. Mix it just until the flour disappears and there are still a few lumps because those lumps turn into tender spots when it bakes. Overmixing develops the gluten and makes them chewy instead of fluffy.

Can I use a different size baking dish? A 2-quart is really the right size for this amount of filling and biscuits. If you use something bigger the layer will be too shallow and the biscuits will overcook before the filling bubbles. Something smaller and it’ll overflow even with the baking sheet underneath.

Do I have to use buttermilk or can I substitute regular milk? You really need the buttermilk for the tang and the way it reacts with the flour. If you don’t have any mix 1/2 cup of regular milk with 1/2 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes. It’s not exactly the same but it works in a pinch.

How do I store leftovers? Cover the baking dish with foil or plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for up to 4 days. The biscuits get softer as they sit in the tomato juices which isn’t necessarily bad just different from when it’s fresh.

Can I freeze tomato cobbler? I haven’t tried freezing it after baking because I think the biscuits would get mushy when you reheat it. You could freeze the filling by itself before adding biscuits and then thaw it and top it with fresh dough which would probably work better.

What’s the best way to reheat it? Cover it with foil and put it in a 300°F oven for about 20 minutes until it’s hot all the way through. Microwaving makes the biscuits rubbery and weird. If the biscuits seem too soft after reheating take the foil off and run it under the broiler for 2 minutes to crisp up the tops.

My filling is too watery even after I added the cornstarch slurry, what happened? You either didn’t let the cornstarch mixture cook long enough after you added it or your heat wasn’t high enough to activate the thickening. It needs a full 2 to 3 minutes of actual bubbling to work right. Also make sure you mixed the cornstarch and vinegar completely smooth before adding because lumps won’t thicken evenly.

Can I double this recipe? Sure but you’ll need two separate 2-quart dishes because one big pan changes the baking time too much and the middle won’t cook through before the edges burn. Just make the filling in a bigger pot and divide it between two dishes then split the biscuit dough on top of both.

Do the pimentos really make a difference or can I skip them? They add little bursts of briny sweet flavor that make these different from regular cheese biscuits. Without them it’s just cheddar biscuits which are fine but not the same thing. You could use chopped roasted red peppers instead if you really hate pimentos but the flavor will be smokier.

Why do I need to spray the biscuit tops with cooking spray? The spray helps them brown and get a little crispy on top instead of staying pale and soft. Butter would work too but spray is easier and you don’t have to melt anything extra. I forgot once and they were still cooked through but looked kind of anemic.

How thin should I slice the onions? About 1/4 inch thick works best. Any thinner and they’ll basically dissolve into the sauce. Thicker than that and they won’t caramelize evenly in the 8 to 10 minutes. I use a sharp knife and just try to keep them consistent because if some pieces are way bigger they stay crunchy.

Can I use pre-shredded cheese? Yeah that’s what I use most of the time because I’m not grating cheese by hand on a Tuesday night. It has that anti-caking stuff on it so the biscuits might be slightly less fluffy but honestly I’ve never noticed enough difference to care.

What does it mean when you say the filling should coat the back of a spoon? When you dip a spoon in and pull it out the tomato mixture should stick to it in a layer instead of running right off like water. If you drag your finger through it the line should stay visible for a second. That’s how you know the cornstarch thickened it enough.

My onions burned on the edges but were still raw in the middle, what did I do wrong? Your heat was too high even if you thought it was medium-low. Every stove is different and some run hotter than others. Turn it down lower than feels right and just accept that it’s going to take the full 10 minutes. Stir them more often too especially around the edges where they touch the hot pan.

Can I add other vegetables to the filling? You could add diced bell peppers or zucchini with the onions but they’ll add more liquid so you might need extra cornstarch. I’d stick to about a cup of whatever you add or it’ll be too crowded. Mushrooms would probably be good but I haven’t tried it yet.

Do I really need garlic powder in the biscuits and fresh garlic in the filling? The powder in the biscuits gives you even garlic flavor throughout without chunks and it’s dry so it doesn’t mess with the dough texture. Fresh garlic in the filling cooks down and gets sweet and mellow. You could skip the powder if you really wanted but the biscuits would taste more plain.

How do I know when the biscuits are done baking? They should be golden brown on top and if you peek underneath one with a fork the bottom should be cooked through not doughy. The filling will be bubbling hard around all the edges. If the biscuits are browning too fast but the filling isn’t bubbling yet cover the whole thing loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Can I make this in a cast iron skillet instead of a baking dish? If you have a 10-inch cast iron skillet that’s oven-safe you could cook the filling in it and then drop the biscuits right on top and bake it in the same pan. Just make sure the handle is oven-safe to 350°F and put it on a baking sheet anyway because it’ll still bubble over.

Why does my tomato filling taste flat even though I added salt? You might need the full 1/2 teaspoon of salt or even a tiny bit more depending on your tomatoes. The vinegar in the cornstarch slurry adds brightness too so make sure you measured that right. Sometimes canned tomatoes are less acidic than others and you need an extra splash of vinegar at the end.

The top of my biscuits are perfect but the bottoms are soggy, how do I fix that? The filling was probably too liquidy when you added the biscuits on top. Make sure you cook it long enough after adding the cornstarch mixture so it’s actually thick before baking. Also don’t let it sit too long after baking because the longer it sits the more juice the biscuits soak up from underneath which is fine up to a point but eventually they get waterlogged.