Lazy Winter Stewed Tomatoes

Name: Lazy Winter Stewed Tomatoes
Ingredients: 800 g canned diced tomatoes; 100 g onion, diced; 50 g celery, diced; 50 g green pepper, diced; 0.5 bird's eye chili, thinly sliced; 3 g salt; 1 g black pepper

By Greg · April 26, 2026

Adapted from my grandma's recipe

freezer
vegetarian
make-ahead

Equipment

Enameled dutch oven
Heat diffuser
Cutting board and knife prep only
Freezer-safe containers

Ingredients

Dish A *

100 g onion, diced
50 g celery, diced
50 g green pepper, diced
0.5 bird's eye chili, thinly sliced

Dish B

3 g salt
1 g black pepper

In Their Cans

800 g canned diced tomatoes

* larger than my standard 90ml prep dish

Steps

Combine everything in a dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Drop to low (use the diffuser) and cook uncovered for 60–90 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has thickened slightly.
1 hr 30 min · Simmer tomatoes ✓ Enameled dutch oven
Cool to room temperature, then portion into freezer containers.

Notes for next time

Try a small amount of tomato paste stirred in at the start for more depth
Fresh thyme in the pot works well if you have it

Cook log

May 24, 2026 2.5x batch as the control half of an elevated-technique A/B (see separate notes). Lazy ran clean. Elevated pot caught a tej patta accident — froze as "warm base" for curry/dal/chili. Retest elevated technique with proper Mediterranean bay in a couple weeks. 6 portions frozen
Apr 27, 2026 Full 90 min simmer. Tastes like I remember, great texture. Froze 4 portions.