Puerto Rican Sofrito
Puerto Rican sofrito is easy to make at home! Vegetables and herbs are blended together to form the base for many Puerto Rican dishes. This is why Puerto Rican cuisine is so flavorful!
Puerto Rican Sofrito
In this post I'm going to show you how to make sofrito.
This is the foundation for many recipes like the popular Puerto Rican habichuelas, mom's famous Puerto Rican rice, ground beef picadillo (which is used as an empanada filling) and many more.
I like to think of it as a Puerto-Rican style pesto. Except I wouldn't eat this raw! It's always cooked.
So I guess it is more similar to the French mirepoix, which consists of onions, carrots and celery, or the Cajun "holy trinity" of onions, celery and bell pepper.
What does sofrito have in it?
Traditionally you need bell peppers, onion, aji dulce peppers, garlic, cilantro and recao.
This Puerto Rican sofrito recipe consists of (mostly) easy-to-find ingredients.
However, I'll talk about what to do when you can't find a certain ingredient.
Bell peppers, onion, garlic and cilantro are all common ingredients for me to find.
It has become increasingly difficult to find recao and nearly impossible to get aji dulce peppers.
I will be ordering some seeds to grow my own, but I know this isn't a possibility for everyone.
Recao also goes by the name culantro, long coriander and a variety of other titles.
It can be found in Hispanic and Asian markets. Asian stores may call it sawtooth coriander.
It is extremely fragrant and smells similar to cilantro, but deeper.
If you cannot find recao, increase the cilantro to two bunches.
Aji dulce are a small Caribbean pepper about the size of a habanero.
They are not spicy at all, but slightly sweet.
If you can't find them, make the sofrito without them or substitute one red bell pepper or cubanelle pepper.
Just note that using a red pepper may change the color of the sofrito, but that's ok.
Can I use recaito instead of sofrito?
Yes, recaito can be used instead of sofrito.
If you are buying pre-made from the store you will notice that recaito is a green, cilantro based puree and sofrito is a red puree due to the addition of tomato sauce.
Puerto Rican sofrito is typically green and we add the tomato sauce later when using the sofrito in a recipe.
This recipe will make approximately 4-6 cups of sofrito.
Usually you only need about 2 tablespoons of sofrito per recipe.
You can certainly par this recipe down, but I like to make a big batch while I have the ingredients and freeze it in ice cube trays for later use.
Each cube is about 1 tablespoon, and there's no need to thaw before using.
Just throw it in the recipe when it calls for sofrito.
Store the sofrito cubes in a freezer bag to prevent freezer burn and they should stay fresh for some time.
If you've never tried cooking with sofrito before, I highly recommend starting with my Puerto Rican Rice and Beans.
It is the most popular recipe on the blog...BY FAR. One bite and you'll know why!
Watch the video below to see how sofrito is used in a recipe.
Puerto Rican Sofrito
Recipe for how to make Puerto Rican sofrito which is used as the flavor base in Puerto Rican cuisine.
Ingredients
- 3 large green bell peppers
- 3 large Spanish onions
- 2 bags of aji dulce (about 10 peppers)) OR 1 red bell pepper
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- 1 large bunch of cilantro
- ½ bunch of recao (about 15 leaves)
Instructions
- Remove stems and seeds from bell peppers. Cut into quarters.
- Peel the onion and cut into quarters.
- Remove stems and seeds from aji dulce.
- Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until finely minced.
- Store in airtight container in refrigerator if using within a few weeks.
- Or, freeze in small portions (about 1-2 heaping tablespoons) for later use. Ice cube trays work well for this. After frozen, store sofrito cubes in an airtight freezer bag and use as needed. No need to thaw before cooking.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 32 Serving Size: 2 tablespoonsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 11Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
I am so happy to find your recipes. As a child I would help mi abuela cook. She would tell me to watch as i would have to carry on tradition.
She as well made her sofrito and had it in ice cube trays in the freezer. I always remember opening the freezer to them. 😍
Tradition has been lost as my mother married an American and I did as well. I am the only one left who cooks the PR traditional meals. I don't remember all of them so I am glad I found you so I can brush up and introduce my heritage more to my children/familia.
One recipe I would love is a good mofongo. Do you have one? I will look.
Muchas Gracias for this wonderful Puerto Rican tradition.
Michelle, thank you for sharing. I love hearing people's stories and the memories tied to food, family and love! I do not have a mofongo recipe but hopefully in the future.
@Michelle Carson, all you need you need to do is get about five green plantains or plátanos. Peel them. Cut them into 1.5 inches thick little wheels like for tostones. Fry them until golden. Then get the wooden pilón and put in five to 6 tostones mash then with a mixture (a couple tablespoons of butter, garlic paste and a little cilantro. ) then pour into a mini bowl for shape and place in a plate for serving. For any additions like pork skin, shrimp etc cook on separate pot and then pour over when serving. Adding a little into the mash. Good luck.
@Monalisa, That is Mofongo. And yes that is the way to make a great Mofongo. You got that right..
Hi , I can't wait to make my own sofrito, I will only use the homemade kind, like u make, I have been buying it off of a woman for a year now, since I didn't have a recipe, someone gave me a recipe along time ago, and it came out orange, I was not happy with it, but now I have URS, I am going to start making my own, bcuz it is alot of money I am spending on buying it homemade, alot!! Hopefully I do a good job.. I would like to make alot of it, so I can also give to my family members and friends for Xmas gifts 😉, one question, how does it all fit in blender, just little bit at a time right ? Sorry just don't want to break the blender , and screw anything up lol, maybe stupid question , but I would rather ask... Thank you sooo much, I have always cooked Puerto Rican food my x husband is Puerto Rican and my 4 children are also, they are mixed , my kids are grown now, and now I cook for my grandchildren , they love it!! I cook PR food 7 days a week, of course different recipes all the time, u would think I am Puerto Rican also , since that is all I cook , I love cooking and eating it, it is by far my favorite food ever!!I am German and Irish, like I said before I married a Puerto Rican, plus I live and have lived in a Spanish culture neighborhood since I was 16, I am now 56 , I love all nationalities, ! But I love Puerto Rican food!! I want to learn how to make the potato balls, do u have a recipe for that? Thank you very much for the sofrito recipe, I will also be trying more of URS, and I am going to tell my daughter to go on ur site, so she can look and try also, God be with you, and thanks again
Aww thanks so much! Put as much as you can in the food processor and just blend in batches. You can mix everything up at the end in a big bowl. And here's my recipes for rellenos de papa!
This recipe is amazing! Smells like Grandma’s house! One suggestion I have is instead of replacing the aji dulce with a red pepper is using two cubanelles. You can find them at the grocer pretty easily and it keeps that green color if that’s what you like.
My sofrito came lighter than yours, does that mean I put too much onion?
Not necessarily. Sometimes mine comes out lighter if I blend it more. Plus the more you make it the more you'll see how you like it...I like mine with more green pepper, my mom adds more garlic to hers. If you want it greener add extra cilantro.
I find recao in the Mexican market but it is known as culantro here. The only place I was able to find aji dulce was in Poinciana, Florida. I found it and n abundance. In fact, you can find just about anything that you would need to cook Puerto Rican food. Love when I get to visit.
Good to know, thanks for the info. I'm sure others will appreciate it too!
Rebekah, a tip for others to use is that Recao is "water crest" in English. May still be hard to find, but at least a name in English might help asking for it in speciality stores. Hope it helps, Ruben
As the substitution for the Aji dulce, how many cubanelle peppers would it take?
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
About 3 or 4 should do it!
OMG was in Puerto Rico a few weeks ago and had have been going @ least once a yr to cruise this is the first time we ate a local cuisine restaurant… I am in love with the Pernil and Rice w pigeon peas.. so today I made your sofrito and froze some, will give some to my sister and then keep for myself.... Made the pork and rice already and granddaughters want more rice. Thank you for the receipt !
That sounds so wonderful! Thank you 🙂
do you have a recipe for puerto rican spagetti with salchichon
I don't 🙁 This is the only pasta recipe I have: Puerto Rican Chicken Pasta
Rebekah, if you say you are Puerto Rican, then you are Puerto Rican!! Welcome to our happy family!! Love your page!
Thanks, so sweet!! Puerto Ricans are the best 😀
This is the way my mom makes her too. Thanks!
Do you put all the stems from the cilantro in?
I usually cut off the very bottoms, but most of the stems go in
Love all of your recipes! Thanks for this one, I needed the measurements spelt out for me, I feel like every batch I make I add something different. When I first started making my own sofrito I accidentally bought habernero peppers, that was a HOT batch, lol. That was years ago, luckily I've learned a lot since then, lol. I usually use cubanel peppers in mine. I put my finished in a large freezer bag (or two) and freeze it flat. Then I break off a piece when I need it. I found it difficult to prevent freezer burn when I froze it ass ice cubes. Love your page! ❤️
Thank you so much Jessica!! I love that tip about putting it in a large bag because I have issues with freezer burn too! <3
Hi, what can recao be substituted with?
Hi Adria, the closest substitute would be to use extra cilantro.
Thank you for sharing this with me
You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by 🙂