The letscho or lecso recipe is a typical Hungarian pepper stew, a delicious vegan meal with rice, or a perfect side dish for any kind of meat, sausage, or fish.
Lecso is the kind of dish you will find in many world cuisines; similar ones are the French Piperade, the Middle Eastern Shakshuka, the Turkish Menemen, the Spanish Pisto, and the Italian Peperonata. The Czech and the Slovak call it Leco, the Polish Leczo, the German Letscho, and the Russian, something in Cyrillic that I cannot read but which I am sure sounds pretty similar. 🙂
Peppers and tomatoes are smothered together to make a delicious and very comforting stew, often eaten with eggs cooked directly in the stew, yet still perfect for either eating plain with some rice, basic polenta, or yogurt flaxseed bread or alongside a piece of meat or fish.
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Ingredients
- Lecso, or a similar version of it, is a very common dish to find in many houses all over Transylvania, Romania.
- Peppers and tomatoes are plentiful in summer and autumn and, nowadays, making lecso in winter is not difficult either.
- If I can get ripe and juicy tomatoes in summer, I use them to make lecso. Otherwise, I use a can of tomatoes.
- I prefer to use pointed red peppers to make lecso, sometimes combined with 1 or 2 yellow pointed peppers.
- Red bell peppers can be used instead, but I have actually never used them for this dish; for me, the authenticity of lecso lies in the use of pointed peppers, like in Romania. 🙂
- Red chili is a must if you ask me. I use the Romanian kind of red chili, which is a rather long variety and not too hot. If you use another kind of chili, be careful with the dosage; start with less and add more to taste.
Variations of letscho or lecso
With potatoes or rice
- As mentioned above, it can be made plain the way I make it most of the time.
- It can be kept vegetarian/vegan by adding potatoes or cooked rice directly to the dish.
- Add enough vegetable stock (or chicken stock) to cover the vegetables and cook until everything is tender.
With meat
- If you decide to add meat, you should start by frying the meat (mostly pork) and the onions first, like you would do when making any other kind of goulash or meat stew, and then add the peppers and the tomatoes.
- Cook until the meat is tender.
- Instead of meat, you can add cubed sausages or deli meats. Deli meats or wiener/ frankfurter-style sausages can be added towards the end of the cooking process as they are already cooked.
With eggs
- If you would like to make lecso with eggs, cook the pepper stew following this recipe
- Add 3 beaten, salted, and peppered eggs to the mixture at the end of the cooking time. Stir for some more minutes until the eggs have set.
Recipe FAQs
Refrigerate in an airtight container for about 3 days.
Reheat on the stovetop or enjoy the leftovers at room temperature.
Yes, in an airtight container for about 3 months.
Defrost in the refrigerator and reheat.
Don't freeze lecso if you've made it with potatoes; frozen and defrosted potatoes are not nice.
More vegan stew ideas
Recipe
Lecso - Hungarian Pepper Stew
Ingredients
- 2 large onions
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 lb red pointed peppers or bell peppers, 450 g
- 1 red chili Note 1
- 1 lb ripe tomatoes or 1 can of tomatoes 450 g/ 1 lbs 450 g, Note 2
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- ½ teaspoon hot paprika powder
- 1 bunch of parsley
- fine sea salt and pepper
- Optional: 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Cook onions: Quarter the onion and thinly slice the quarters. Heat the oil and cook the onion until slightly golden. Add 3 tablespoons water, cover the pot and cook the onions until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir several times in between.
- Add peppers: In the meantime, deseed the chili and the peppers and slice them thinly. Add them to the pot, add another 2-3 tablespoons of water, cover, and cook on low heat for further 10 minutes.
- Add the sweet and the hot paprika powder and stir well to coat the vegetables.
- Add the chopped tomatoes or the tomatoes from the can including all their juices. If using fresh tomatoes you might need to add a bit more water, it really depends on how juicy they are. Start with 2-3 tablespoons and add more later if the dish looks dry.
- Simmer: Stir well and cook for further 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
- With eggs: If you would like to add the eggs, whisk them well in a small bowl, add some salt and pepper and pour them into the lecso. Stir and cook the eggs gently until they are set.
- Serve: Sprinkle the dish with lots of chopped parsley and serve with rice, polenta, or bread or as a side dish for meat, fish, or sausages (only the eggless version is suitable as a side dish).
Notes
- With seeds or deseeded, only ½ or more than 1, depending on the taste and hotness of the chili.
- Only use ripe and flavorful fresh tomatoes; if you cannot find them stick to the canned tomatoes or add about 1 or 2 tablespoons tomato paste to the dish together with the paprika powder.
Judith Czegledi says
Excellent
Adina says
Thank you, Judith.
Raf Slotwinski says
You mis-spelt the Polish version it is Leczo (pron. Lecho) and not Lezco!!!
A very popular summer dish in Poland, often made with addition of courgettes (particularly if vegeterian) and smoked or cured sausage. Simple to and quick to make: a good meal to teach your children to cook before they go to uni 🙂
Adina says
A great dish and I am sure it's even better with sausages.
Jen says
Adina...te nem vagy Magyar! Lecso can only be made during the summer as the Hungarian wax peppers are only available then....we do NOT use bell peppers or any other peppers in traditional Hungarian lecso and we use only fresh tomatoes and onions. Please do not refer to your recipe as Hungarian lecso when it is not!
grace says
hearty, delicious, and so vibrant! this dish has it all, adina. 🙂
Sissi says
Your lecso looks beautiful! I had no idea it was made in so many countries! I actually prepare lecso quite often, but my favourite are the light yellow long peppers. They have such an amazing aroma... if I don't put them into the fridge quickly the whole kitchen smells like peppers. Like you, I always add some fresh chilli peppers too of course!
Adina says
I like it with yellow peppers as well, or better said a combination of red and yellow. I have them all the time in the fridge, either red or yellow, they are my favorite kind of peppers, I have them raw or cooked every day.
Evi @ greenevi says
Oh, lecso is so good! I used to eat this all summer long in Hungary when I was small 🙂 It's such a simple dish, but tastes always so amazing! Wonderful recipe, Adina!
Adina says
I refused to eat it as a child because I hated cooked peppers! How that changed! 🙂
François says
Lesco is sooooooo delicious!!! that's the real taste of Hungary : )
Adina says
You're right, Francois! 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
I love the bright red colour and wonderful flavour! A simple yet very delicious meal.
Adina says
Thank you, Angie.
Inge Kohl says
I grew up eating something like this, but it never had eggs in it. My parents lived in Yogoslavia before moving to Germany in 1957. We called it Satarasch. I googled it and found some recipes similar to yours. A lot of them did add meat to it as well, but when you look for vegtarian Satarasch you can find some similar to yours. One of the seasonings they used and I always have on hand is Vegeta. I remember my mother used to have friends bring it from Hungaria when they would travel there. Luckily I have been able to find it here in California.
Adina says
Hi Inge,
Yes Vegeta, my grandmother used it a lot as well. 🙂 I have never seen it here, but then I have never really searched, I should have a look in the Russian store, I can imagine finding it there. Lecso is very common all over Eastern Europe and there are probably a million versions of it. I tried some of these versions and I liked them all.
Marvellina|What To Cook Today says
I wonder if we can find Romanian peppers here, probably not here in Minnesota. This dish looks amazing ! Love the vibrant red color
Adina says
Maybe if you find a Turkish or Middle Eastern shop, they sell this kind of pointed red and yellow peppers as well.
Denise Browning says
How delicious, Adina! I need some vegetarian recipes like this as sometimes I don't eat meat one and a while.
Adina says
Thank you, Denise, I hope you will get a chance to make it.
Kate @ Framed Cooks says
This is such a bright and colorful dish! And I can totally see making it into a full meal by adding sausage or chicken, and I LOVE the idea of cooking eggs in it! Perfect for fall! 🙂
Adina says
I love it with sausage as well, it really adds something, I've even made it with chorizo once, a really hot kind, it was great! 🙂