Cucumber & Tomato Lecho for Winter
A favorite classic, but with an unusual flavor! A gentle cucumber note in the famous lecho - made from cucumbers and tomatoes. In my view, it’s an especially successful combination for homemade preserves. Easy to make from simple ingredients, and it’s eaten quickly and with pleasure.
Updated : 06 March, 2026
Easy
About 30 min.
Ingredients
600 grams
Cucumber
300 grams
Tomato
200 grams
Bell pepper
2
Garlic
50 grams
Carrot
1 tablespoon
Salt
2 tablespoon
Sugar
40 milliliters
Vegetable oil
30 milliliters
Vinegar
100 milliliters
Water
to taste
Hot pepper, ground
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you make lecho with cucumbers? Prepare all ingredients. Use pickling-type cucumbers (with small spines). Choose small cucumbers; they don’t have to be perfectly straight. Rinse all vegetables under running water. Remove stems and seeds from the peppers. Peel the carrots. We’ll remove the skin from the tomatoes, so check whether it peels off easily or if you’ll need to blanch them with boiling water. Use refined oil and 9% vinegar. If you have vinegar essence, dilute it in advance according to the instructions.
Step 2
Cut the carrots into thin matchsticks and the peppers into thin strips. Fry in vegetable oil for 5 minutes, until the sides lightly brown.
Step 3
Pour filtered water into the pan and quickly cover it with a lid - there will be splattering. Simmer the vegetables over low heat until soft. The pepper skin should become almost tender. This is important: if you undercook the peppers, they’ll be tough in the finished preserve.
Step 4
Remove the stems from the tomatoes and peel off the skins. Mine peeled easily. If the skin comes off poorly, score an “X” on the skin and pour boiling water over the tomatoes for 5-10 minutes. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces and put them into a blender bowl. Add the garlic, finely grated.
Step 5
Pulse-blend the tomatoes into a smooth mixture. This tomato juice is the base of any lecho.
Step 6
Pour the juice into a pot and add the peppers and carrots.
Step 7
Trim the ends off the cucumbers and cut them into batons. If the cucumbers are overripe, peel them first and remove the tough seeds.
Step 8
Add the cucumbers to the pot and, once the lecho comes to a boil, add salt, hot pepper, sugar, and vinegar. It may seem like there’s too little liquid, but that’s normal at this stage - the cucumbers will release more juice into the lecho.
Step 9
Simmer the lecho over low heat, covered, for about 30 minutes until done. Meanwhile, sterilize the jars in any convenient way. Simply pour boiling water over the lids.
Step 10
The lecho is ready when the cucumbers change color and all the vegetables soften. Taste the lecho. This is the last chance to add more salt or sugar if needed.
Step 11
Ladle the lecho into jars, seal with lids, and turn upside down. Wrap the jars in a warm blanket and leave them until completely cool at room temperature. Then store in a pantry. I ended up with one 1-liter jar, plus a little extra left for immediate tasting.
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