Lecho – Bell Pepper, Tomato and Onion Stew

Lecho is a bell pepper and tomato stew that is cooked together and then preserved in jars for months to enjoy as a side dish or simply as a topping on black bread. This recipe has the addition of carrots, onions and garlic to add more flavor and texture.

Lecho - Pepper, Tomato and Onion Stew

Lecho is a salad in a jar, made by stewing bell peppers in tomatoes. The flavors are so simple, but nevertheless, very satisfying. In our family, we always added carrots, onion and garlic as well. It is great to have on hand to serve as a side dish and I love it so much I often eat it all by itself as a snack. If you’re wondering what to do with a huge harvest of bell peppers, this is the perfect recipe to make and then enjoy for months to come.

For the perfect texture, I like to cook the onions, carrots and bell peppers separately and then add them all to a large stock pot full of tomato juice. At the end, with the addition of some sugar, vinegar and garlic, I simmer it until all the flavors marry and come together in the most delicious, rich stew.

You can serve this over rice or as a topping on black bread but there are so many other options. Most of the time, we open up the jars and serve the Lecho as a cold salad with meat, poultry or seafood. You can also warm it up, add some fresh herbs and serve it with Beef Fajitas, as an omelet filling or topping and so much more.

What Is Lecho?

Lecho is a Hungarian recipe, sometimes spelled Lecsó, and is a delicious bell pepper and tomato stew. It is well loved in many other countries. In our Belarusian family, we really enjoyed this recipe as well and my mom would make it every year with our garden produce. The bell peppers are cooked together in a tomato stew and then canned for the winter months.

In our family, we made our Lecho with the addition of carrots, onions and garlic. I most definitely do not claim that this is an authentic recipe. I am simply sharing the recipe that we have loved in our family for decades.

Ingredients:

  • onions (yellow or white onions)
  • carrots
  • bell peppers
    • Most of the time, we used sweet red bell peppers, but you can use any color or sweet peppers. You can also add some hot peppers if you want to add some heat to the recipe.
  • olive oil (or avocado oil)
  • tomato juice
    • You can use homemade tomato vegetable juice or store bought tomato juice. Use a juice that you would enjoy drinking.
    • Many recipes use crushed tomatoes or tomato puree, but I love using tomato juice. It’s much easier and gives the Lecho the best texture.
  • sugar (granulated or raw cane sugar)
  • distilled white vinegar (5%)
  • garlic
  • salt, ground black pepper, to taste
Ingredients For Lecho

How To Make Lecho

  1. Prep all the veggies.
    • Cut the onions into half circles or from pole to pole into strips.
    • Peel and slice the carrots into thin circles.
    • Remove the seeds and stems from the bell peppers, then cut them into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces.
  2. Bring the tomato juice to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven, then reduce to a simmer.
  3. Saute the veggies. Heat about 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large skillet, then saute each of the vegetables in batches.
    • Saute the onions in 2 batches, season with salt and ground black pepper to taste.
    • Next, saute the carrots in 2 batches, seasoning with salt and ground black pepper.
    • Lastly, saute the bell peppers in 3 batches, also seasoning with salt and ground black pepper to taste.
    • Each of the vegetables should be softened and cooked through, but not falling apart. They should still have a bit of crispness. You can cover the skillet to create steam to make this process faster. Cook everything on medium heat. Add more oil each time you start a new batch.
  4. Meanwhile, add each batch of vegetables as soon as they are done cooking to the hot tomato juice. Keep it at a very low simmer.
  5. After adding the last of the sauteed veggies, add the sugar, vinegar and garlic. Season with salt, if needed. (The amount will depend on how salty the vegetable juice is. If it’s low sodium juice, you will need to add more than to the regular juice.) Bring to a boil again, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for an additional 10 minutes or so. (If you don’t saute the vegetables long enough, you may need to simmer them together longer.)
  6. You can add more sugar, vinegar, salt and/or garlic to adjust the flavor of the Lecho to your taste preference.
How to make Lecho, step by step tutorial

How to Preserve Lecho

  • Sterilize the jars that you will be using.
    • Wash the jars and lids in hot and soapy water. Place the glass jars in a 200 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 15 minutes. (You can also just run the jars through a dishwashing cycle to sterilize.)
  • Put all the lids into pot full of boiling water to sterilize them. Do not boil the lids, just let them stand in the hot water for about 10 minutes.
  • Pour the hot Lecho into the sterilized jars and top with clean and sterilized lids. Leave a little bit of room at the top of each jar. Make sure to wipe the rims of the jars before placing the lids on top.
  • Remove any air bubbles, by using a metal skewer (or a long fork, etc) and moving it up and down each jar, helping the Lecho settle.
  • Top each jar with the lids and screw it on. If you will eat it within 2 weeks, you can store it in the refrigerator just like this.
  • If you want to preserve it longer, pressure can the jars of Lecho.
    • You can also do this in a stockpot.
    • Place the jars into boiling water and make sure they are covered with water up to the top of the jars. Boil for at about 10 minutes. Take the jars out of the boiling water. Cool the jars in a towel for about 12 hours. The lid should be concave.
    • I use 32 oz jars to store the Lecho and I got almost 5 of these jars. I preserved 4 full jars and we served one jar right away.
Preserved jars of Lecho

Serving

Lecho is wonderful to have on hand. Of course, you make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator, or preserve it as a pantry staple. Anytime you need a quick side dish, all you have to do is pour it into a serving dish. It’s also a great addition to other dishes, such as Lazy Cabbage Rolls.  

Lecho - Pepper, Tomato and Onion Stew
Print

Lecho – Bell Pepper, Tomato and Onion Stew

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

Lecho is a bell pepper and tomato stew that is cooked together and then preserved in jars for months to enjoy as a side dish or simply as a topping on black bread. This recipe has the addition of carrots, onions and garlic to add more flavor and texture.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield: 5 (32 oz) jars 1x
  • Category: Sides

Ingredients

Scale
  • 5 large onions
  • 2 lbs carrots
  • 4 lbs red bell peppers
  • 8 cups tomato vegetable juice
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 46 garlic cloves, minced
  • salt, ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Prep all the veggies. Slice the onions into half circles, peel and slice the carrots thinly and cut the bell peppers into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces (remove the seeds and stems). 
  2. In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, pour in the tomato juice and bring it to a boil, then reduce to a very low simmer. 
  3. While the tomato juice is coming up to a boil, in a large skillet, heat up about a tablespoon of oil and then saute all the veggies in batches, seasoning each batch with salt and ground black pepper to taste. The veggies should be softened and cooked through, but still have a bit of crispness in them, not mushy and falling apart. 
  4. Saute the onions and carrots in 2 batches each and the bell peppers in 3 batches. After each batch is sauteed, place the veggies into the pot of tomato juice. Keep adding each batch of sauteed veggies into the tomato juice and add more oil to the skillet before sauteing the next batch. 
  5. Cover the pan with a lid to make the process faster. You can also use 2 skillets. Cook the veggies on medium heat and if the bottom of the skillet is getting too brown before the veggies are cooked through, add a bit of water. 
  6. After the onions, carrots and bell peppers are all sauteed and added to the tomato juice, add the sugar, vinegar and minced garlic. Season with salt, if needed. That will depend on the tomato juice that you use. Bring it all to a boil, covered, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. 
  7. If you will serve the Lecho within 2 weeks, you can just store it in mason jars in the refrigerator, but if you want to preserve it longer, sterilize the jars and pressure can them. In that case, you can store them at room temperature or in cold storage for at least a year. 
  8. Sterilize the jars and lids. Pour the hot Lecho into the sterilized jars, wipe the rims, screw on the sterilized lids. 
  9. Place the jars into boiling water and make sure they are covered with water up to the top of the jars. Boil for at about 10 minutes. Take the jars out of the boiling water. Cool the jars in a towel for about 12 hours. The lid should be concave. Preserved lecho will be good for at least a year. 

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

7 Comments

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.