Zucchini Uncle Bens recipe. Uncle bens for the winter: the best recipes with photos. Zucchini salad "Uncle Bens": step-by-step home recipe
Uncle Ben's salad is our answer to the American canned salad dressing, very popular in the 90s. At that time, many people liked the bright and unusual taste of the salad, but the price of the original American product was rather high, but the composition turned out to be quite affordable.
Zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and carrots are affordable products, and they are always in abundance during the season. All that was left to do was to select seasonings and spices to bring the taste of the homemade salad as close as possible to the original. There was plenty of room for the imaginations of cooks and thrifty housewives to run wild, and many versions and varieties of this preparation appeared.
I admit, I no longer remember what the original sauce tasted like, but I still love our folk “Uncle Bens”. And even though the 90s are far behind me, I am happy to stock up on a few jars of this bright and tasty preparation for the winter. Lots of vegetables and a spicy, sweet and sour tomato sauce - Uncle Ben's salad is very tasty and versatile. Can be served as a salad and appetizer, or as a vegetable gravy for any side dish. Try it!
To prepare the Uncle Bens salad from zucchini for the winter, prepare the ingredients according to the list.
Combine the ingredients for tomato sauce: tomato paste, water, vegetable oil, salt and sugar. Stir until the tomato paste dissolves. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Wash and cut the zucchini and bell peppers into small pieces, onions and tomatoes into half rings. Grate the carrots.
Add chopped zucchini to the boiling tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for 15–20 minutes over medium heat, covering with a lid. The exact time depends on the maturity of the zucchini. If the zucchini is no longer young, it is better to age them a little longer.
After 15-20 minutes, add onions, carrots and bell peppers to the zucchini. Bring to a boil again and cook for another 15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes last. Stir, bring the future “Uncle Bens” to a boil again and cook for another 15 minutes.
5 minutes before cooking, add vinegar and curry powder. Add more salt and sugar to taste if necessary. I sometimes also add 1 tsp. ground coriander.
Place the hot salad in prepared sterilized jars. Seal with sterilized lids. Turn over and wrap until cool.
“Uncle Bens” zucchini salad is ready for the winter!
From the specified amount of ingredients, it is possible to prepare approximately 1.5–2 liters of Uncle Bens salad for the winter.
I continue to share my canning recipes. I regularly close up this canned zucchini salad for the winter every year, but just recently learned that it is called Uncle Bens. Where does this name come from, I can only assume that during perestroika, imported ketchup (tomato sauce) “Uncle Ben’s” appeared on store shelves. Most likely, it was included in the composition, but later it disappeared from sale, and we continue to prepare our favorite zucchini salad, but with tomato paste.
By the way, Ankle Bens salad is prepared with both zucchini (zucchini Ankle Bens) and eggplants (eggplant).
Uncle Bens Zucchini Salad Recipe
- Zucchini – 2 kg
- Onion – 200 g
- Sweet pepper – 5-6 pcs.
- Tomatoes – 1 kg
- Vegetable oil – 1 cup (200ml)
- Sugar – 1 cup (200ml)
- Salt - 1 table. spoon
- Tomato paste – 200 g
- Water – 1 l
- Vinegar 9% – 100 ml
Prepare jars in advance, wash and sterilize. Many housewives sterilize jars in the oven, in the microwave, but I sterilize them the old fashioned way over steam. 
From this amount of products you will get approximately 4.5 liters of finished salad.
Dissolve tomato paste in 1 liter of water. (I think you can replace it with tomato juice or chopped tomatoes in the same amount.)
Then wash thoroughly, peel all the vegetables and cut them. Decide for yourself how to cut into cubes or strips. For the Ankle Bens zucchini salad, I cut all the cuts into strips, I like it better that way. If you decide to dice, then cut all the vegetables into cubes. 
I cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and in half again lengthwise, then easily cut into equal cubes.
I cut the onion into strips, 
sweet pepper stripes.
Cut the tomatoes into slices as for a regular salad.
Bring the tomato solution to a boil, add all the prepared vegetables, add spices (sugar, salt) and pour in vegetable oil.
Stir and cook for 20 minutes. Cooking time is always counted from the beginning of boiling. At the end of cooking, add vinegar and stir.
Place the finished salad in sterile jars and roll up.
Turn the lids down and cover with a blanket.
The next day you can hide it in the pantry, and in winter you can enjoy it, serve it as an appetizer or as a side dish.
Bon appetit! If anything is not clear, ask in the comments.
I also roll it up for the winter, choose which one you like.
Strictly speaking, “Uncle Bens” is a brand, a trademark of the Mars Corporation. The company produces products, including a line of sauces - seasonings for rice dishes. These delicious sauces with a bright taste are the basis of our favorite winter preparations, popularly called “Uncle Bens”.
Uncle Bens is both a way to preserve grown vegetables and a vitamin seasoning for the winter table.
Uncle Ben’s sauce appeared in Russia in those years when the country was massively interested in homemade preparations. The seasoning was expensive, but extremely tasty. It is not surprising that the housewives “figured out” the recipe and began making preparations from vegetables grown in their own gardens.
That is why there is no initial “correct” recipe, but there are many options, which are based on a delicious combination of zucchini, sweet peppers, tomatoes and seasonings.
Hence the many names for the Uncle Bens preparation, all of which are correct: appetizer, seasoning, lecho, sauce.
Although the sauce was originally invented as a seasoning for rice, it goes perfectly with many dishes: meat, fish, pasta. It enriches the taste of any food, saturates the body with vitamins, and can be a good addition to side dishes and an independent snack.
Which vegetables to choose
The basis of Uncle Bens is vegetables, the range of which depends on the chosen recipe. The main components are tomatoes, zucchini, peppers. For additional taste, add carrots, beans, and onions. For spiciness - hot peppers, garlic. For aroma and spicy taste, add aromatic herbs to the salad: basil, parsley, marjoram and others.
It is important that the products are of high quality and fresh. Overripe and damaged ones will not make a tasty sauce. It is ideal if the vegetables are collected on your own site - this guarantees the complete absence of harmful chemical impurities.
For a winter snack, it is better to use more tender young zucchini up to 20 cm long. You can also take mature zucchini, but you will have to peel the skin and select the seeds. You should not take heavily overgrown fruits - they are already hard, with a fibrous structure, which will have a bad effect on the taste of the finished dish.
If zucchini is bought in a store or market, they need to be soaked in cold water for an hour. During this time, the fruits will get rid of nitrates and other chemicals. But soaked zucchini is no longer stored; they are immediately used for cooking.
Vegetables are thoroughly cleaned. Do not remove the skin from the zucchini, this gives the appetizer a special aroma. The seeds are removed from sweet peppers.
Products are washed in advance with warm running water. You need to wash it thoroughly, preferably with a brush, since remaining dirt will lead to rapid deterioration of the product. Greens should be washed with running water for a long time, 8–10 minutes.
Vegetables and herbs must be completely dry before cutting; they can be wiped with a towel.
You will also need vinegar, salt and sugar, vegetable oil, which must be refined. But it is better to use olive oil. Sugar can be adjusted to taste.
If the percentage of vegetables can be changed according to your taste, then the norms of salt and vinegar, comparable to the total weight of the fruit, must be strictly maintained. These ingredients are required not only for good taste, but also for proper preservation of the salad. Violation of the proportions will lead to damage to the product; the jars may simply “explode”.
How to cut and stew vegetables for Uncle Bens
Chopping techniques vary, but the general rule is that, as far as possible, all vegetables are cut in the same way. This is necessary to make the winter snack look appetizing and beautiful.
You can chop vegetables:
- cubes;
- cubes;
- straws;
- grate.
It should be borne in mind that different cutting shapes will give the seasoning a slightly different taste and density. The pieces should be small - 0.5–1 cm in size.
Tomato and zucchini slices may be slightly larger. Then the salad will be more like lecho.
It is better to remove the skin from tomatoes. A cross-shaped cut is made on the tomatoes in the area of the stalk, then immersed in boiling water for 2 minutes. After removing the tomatoes from the water, immediately place them in cold water. Then the peel can be easily removed.
Parsley roots, onions, and herbs are cut very thin. Garlic cloves are passed through a garlic press.
If you want to get a delicate texture for the finished salad, simmer all the vegetables at the same time over medium heat for 20 minutes. Water is added as a last resort when there is little juice in the fruits.
If a recipe calls for tomato paste, replace it with ketchup or pureed tomatoes for a brighter taste.
Uncle Bens should be simmered over low heat with constant stirring.
Which jars to use
Ready-made Uncle Bens from zucchini is placed in small jars of 0.5–1 liters. They are made in such a way that the contents can be eaten quickly.
The jars are carefully washed with soap and soda solution and sterilized by boiling for 10 minutes. The lids are washed by first removing the rubber bands. Then rinse thoroughly from the detergent and put the elastic bands back. Then boil the lids for at least 5 minutes.
Glass jars are heated in the oven at 120°C for 10–15 minutes. Place the dishes in a cold oven. And after warming up, the door is not opened for another 15–20 minutes. The point is that the jars must cool down somewhat so that the glass does not burst when cold air suddenly hits them.
Uncle Bens recipes
There is no need to pasteurize the finished salad, since the recipe requires long-term cooking of the ingredients.
The weight of the products is indicated “clean” - after removing the stalks, skins, seeds, and slicing.
The simplest classic
This recipe makes a mild, moderately spicy sauce.
Ingredients:
- zucchini - 2 kg;
- tomatoes - 2.5 kg;
- sweet pepper - 1 kg;
- garlic - 200 g (5 medium heads);
- salt - 60 g;
- granulated sugar - 200 g;
- vegetable oil - 200 g;
- 9% vinegar - 100 g.
- zucchini - cubes;
- tomatoes and garlic - in a meat grinder;
- pepper - into strips.
Place chopped zucchini and tomatoes in a saucepan, add vegetable oil, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes over low heat, add pepper, garlic, and vinegar. Simmer for another 20 minutes.
You will get approximately 4 kg of finished Uncle Bens.
Uncle Bens with curry
This salad recipe is for those who like it a little spicier.
Place curry, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil the zucchini in this marinade for 10 minutes. Add onion and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add garlic and simmer for another 2 minutes.
Very spicy
This zucchini sauce has a special taste - very spicy and at the same time sweet and sour. If desired, you can reduce the amount of pepper and garlic.
Place spices, butter, sugar, salt in a saucepan until boiling. Drop the zucchini. Cook for 10 minutes. Add onion and pepper, simmer for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add garlic 2 minutes before the end of cooking.
With Krasnodar sauce
Krasnodar sauce adds a special piquancy to the overall bouquet of Uncle Bens flavors: it contains allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. But the most important thing is that it is based on apples, which add a pleasant sourness.
With tomato paste
This is a more economical option than the method of cooking zucchini and tomatoes. If desired, the paste can be replaced with tomato juice.
Pour sugar and salt into a saucepan with water, pour in the oil, and add the paste (juice). Boil. Add the zucchini and cook for 10 minutes. Add pepper, onion, simmer for 10 minutes. Then pour in the vinegar and add the garlic. Cook for another 10 minutes.
With rice
A zucchini appetizer can be made with rice. The result is a delicious dish that just needs to be reheated before serving.
Place everything except the vinegar in a saucepan. Boil for 30 minutes. Add well-washed raw rice. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Pour in vinegar, add garlic, cook for 10 minutes.
If you want to make a salad with hot peppers, add it to the sauce along with garlic and vinegar.
How to store Uncle Bens
Pour the zucchini sauce into dry, hot jars immediately after cooking. The container is hermetically sealed.
Once the jars of hot sauce are tightly sealed, turn them upside down and place them on a flat surface. The top of the container must be closed so that they do not cool down very quickly. You definitely need to check if any juice is leaking out from under the lids: this will mean that the jars are not tightly sealed and the salad will not be stored.
After complete cooling, the snack can be removed to a permanent place. Zucchini preparations are stored well at room temperature in a cool room where light does not penetrate. But, of course, the ideal place to store homemade salads is the cellar.
Delicious vegetable salad "Uncle Bens" is prepared for the winter in a variety of ways. For those who want to add several interesting recipes to their arsenal, we suggest you study this article.
Uncle Ben's Salad Recipe
To prepare a vegetable dish for the winter according to this recipe, you will need the following set of ingredients:
- tomatoes in an amount of 2 kg (choose ripe and red fruits);
- ripe bell pepper about 15 pcs. (the fruits should be medium in size; if you are preparing from large peppers, reduce their number to 10 pieces);
- carrots (small) in the amount of 2-3 pcs.;
- sugar - half a glass (about 100 g);
- incomplete art. l. salt;
- table vinegar 9% volume 50 ml;
- 100 ml vegetable oil.
"Uncle Bens" salad for the winter: step-by-step cooking instructions
1 step
Start by preparing the vegetables. Peppers, tomatoes, carrots should be washed and peeled well. If desired, you can remove the skin from the tomatoes (to do this, place them in boiling water for a minute), this allows you to make the consistency of the finished dish more delicate. Be sure to remove the stems and seeds from the peppers. Grate the carrots on a grater (any grater, you can use the one you usually use to make carrots in Korean). Peel the onion and cut into half rings.
Step 2
Grind the peeled tomatoes in a meat grinder (or use a blender). Add salt, sugar and the specified amount of butter to the puree. Pour the crushed tomatoes into a cooking pot and bring to boil for 15 minutes.
Step 3
Once the time is up, add the remaining vegetables to the pan. Cook for about 20 minutes more. Then pour in the specified volume of vinegar (a little more if you like it sour) and stir. Simmer the appetizer on the fire for another 5 minutes and package it in jars. You have a vegetable salad "Uncle Bens" for the winter. The amount of ingredients is indicated for preparing 3-4 liters of snacks.
The Uncle Bens salad for the winter is a good addition to various dishes. It can be served with boiled rice or potatoes. The appetizer adds a special taste to meat and fish dishes.
Salad "Uncle Bens" for the winter (with zucchini)
For the second salad recipe you will need:
- zucchini in the amount of 4 kg;
- garlic weighing about 400 g;
- ripe tomatoes in the amount of 5 kg;
- bell pepper (multi-colored) weighing 2 kg;
- salt about 4 tbsp. l. full;
- 2 cups sugar;
- 400 ml oil (2 cups, vegetable);
- a glass (volume 200 ml) of 9% vinegar.
Cooking instructions
Rinse the zucchini, peppers and tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into 2-4 parts. Then grind them in a meat grinder. Peel the garlic and grind it on a grater or meat grinder. Cut the pepper into halves, remove the stem and seeds. Cut into strips. If they are not young, peel the zucchini and cut into cubes. Place tomatoes, zucchini and garlic in a saucepan. Add vegetable oil, salt and sugar. Mix the ingredients and simmer on the fire for half an hour. After time, add bell pepper and vinegar. Stir again. Let the mixture boil and simmer for another 20 minutes. Place the hot salad in jars and seal with lids. Cool and place in a cool place. Serve in winter as an appetizer or on its own. Bon appetit!
In a large saucepan, preferably 6-7 liters, pour water, vegetable oil, add salt and sugar.
We cut the zucchini into cubes into the pan; you don’t have to try to make them small and even, they will still cook and become like a juicy puree, making this sauce very tender and pleasant. We remove the skin from the zucchini only if it has become rough. My zucchini squash is very tender, so I don’t remove the skin. Cook the zucchini in the syrup for 10 minutes. We measure the time from the moment of boiling. 
Next, chop the onion. You can cut it finely, but my eyes get so watery that I do it into rings, which I then cut into two parts.
Add the onion to the zucchini and cook for 10 minutes. 
Tomatoes, 1 kg, washed, cut into four parts and thrown into the pan with the zucchini and onions. Cook for 10 minutes too. 
Next, we wash the sweet pepper, peel it from the core and cut it as you like, I like pepper rings in thick syrup, and my mother makes square pieces. 
Add peppers to the vegetables cooked in the previous stages. 
Again the pan is too small. Well, nothing later, before adding the tomato mass, I will divide the Uncle Bans into 2 parts and cook in two pans at the same time.
From the second kg. make tomato mass with a meat grinder or blender. 
Pour it into the pan and cook for 25 minutes. 
When the sauce is ready, add vinegar and place it in sterilized half-liter or liter jars. 
We screw the zucchini uncles on with metal lids and place them under the blanket until they cool completely until the morning. 
Uncle benz is ready for the winter! Bon appetit!!!
