While choosing pre-crushed or pre-diced canned tomatoes may seem convenient, whole canned tomatoes offer better nutritional and practical benefits.

Whole canned tomatoes don't contain additives like calcium chloride, which helps diced tomatoes keep their perfectly square shape intact, even after cooking.

Whole canned tomatoes are also perfect for stocking your pantry since they're more versatile than other varieties. They can be diced, puréed, crushed, or left whole.

For chunky salsa or rustic soups, keeping the tomatoes' shape might be fine, but it's not always ideal, especially when cooking pasta or pizza sauce.

They also have a much longer shelf life than fresh tomatoes, lasting more than a year in pantries. They are also inexpensive, convenient, easy to store, and require less prep work.

Canned tomatoes are equally as nutritious as fresh tomatoes, if not more so. The canning process introduces heat to the red fruit, releasing lycopene.

Lycopene is a carotenoid, a natural pigment that gives the tomato its red color. It's also an antioxidant that may be linked to breast and prostate cancer prevention.

Some American whole canned tomatoes contain preservatives, but you can avoid them by checking the ingredients and buying Italian imports, which usually come free of additives.