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Enhance your dishes with this Puerto Rican sofrito! A blend of peppers, cilantro, culantro, garlic, and onions with citrus juice and cumin. Perfect for flavorful meals.
This homemade sofrito is the base of most of my Puerto Rican recipes. Growing up with a Puerto Rican Mom and a Black Dad set me up for culinary greatness. Food has always been a significant part of my life, and it took me a long time to realize that observing my parents cook taught me about food, tradition, and culture.
Table Of Contents
What Is Sofrito?
Sofrito is a delicious starting point in Puerto Rican cuisine—a strong base, if you will. It can be compared to the holy trinity found in Creole cuisine or a French mirepoix in French cuisine — this is just the version you would find in Puerto Rico. It is featured in many Puerto Rican dishes, such as arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas) & other rice dishes, picadillo, pollo guisado (stewed chicken), pernil (roast pork shoulder), soups, stews, bean dishes like habichuelas guisadas—you name it! It is a blend of garlic, bell peppers, cubanelle peppers, ají dulce peppers (sweet chili peppers), onions, cilantro, and culantro.
Sofrito Ingredients
There are many versions of sofrito, and I guess technically, I could call my own version “recaito” since I do not use tomato sauce. I also do not use olive oil because I believe the vegetables have enough water content to blend thoroughly & this way, I can control the amount of oil in my dishes using sofrito. There aren’t complex rules to follow when making sofrito because you can substitute some ingredients if you don’t have everything on hand. This includes:
Aji Dulces:
- These little peppers are a sweet staple in any sofrito. They are not to be confused with Jamaican Hot Peppers, scotch bonnet peppers, or habaneros (because they look the same but taste significantly different—please be careful and check what kind you’re purchasing). These little guys can be found in most Hispanic grocery stores or Asian markets. Although I deem them to be the most important ingredient, if you cannot find them, you can substitute them with another large Green Bell Pepper.
Culantro:
- Also known as Recao, long coriander, or sawtooth coriander, this is cilantro’s older, more feisty sister. It has a great flavor that is more pungent than cilantro but in the same category of taste. It is found in Hispanic and Asian grocery stores; however, each bunch can be substituted with two bunches of cilantro. Don’t forget to use the cilantro stems as well.
Bell Peppers:
- I use green peppers, red peppers, and cubanelle peppers (or Italian frying peppers) in this recipe.
Fresh Orange and Lemon Juice:
- These are my secret ingredients! I love how the acids deepen the bold flavors that are already present.
If you can source ajies dulces & culantro, I highly recommend using them to get the best possible batch of Sofrito.
*I’ve included the full recipe with the additional ingredients below.
Sofrito Video Tutorial
How To Make Puerto Rican Sofrito
- Roughly chop the vegetables and herbs into large pieces and peel the garlic cloves, leaving them whole. Leave the orange, lemon, and cumin to the side for later.
- Place half of your chopped ingredients in a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and begin to process the remaining vegetables and herbs. I do this in two batches in my 14-cup food processor to prevent it from overflowing or going over maximum capacity. Depending on how big your processor or blender is, you may need to split it into more batches.
- Cut your lemon and orange in half. Using a fork, pierce the flesh of the orange and lemon. This helps to extract more juice quickly. Squeeze the juice from the orange and lemon into your sofrito mixture. Sprinkle the cumin into the mixture and stir until everything is well combined.
- Store the sofrito in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or place it in ice trays, wrap it with plastic wrap, and freeze. Once frozen, place the sofrito cubes in a Ziploc bag and leave them in the freezer. Use them in your meals as necessary.
Tips & Tricks
- I like to make big batches of sofrito at a time to save it for later use. To make this easy, I have a designated ice cube tray that I use to freeze tablespoons of sofrito. Once frozen, I transfer the cubes into a large ziplock bag.
- I use a food processor to break down the vegetables, herbs, and aromatics. However, you can use a blender if you like. A food processor is just my preference because it leaves the sofrito a little chunkier, and I’ve always done it this way.
More Puerto Rican Cooking:
- Easy Puerto Rican Picadillo (Stewed Ground Beef)
- Arroz Con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas)
- Tostones (Crispy Twice-Fried Green Plantains)
Puerto Rican Sofrito
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
Description
Enhance your dishes with Puerto Rican sofrito! A blend of peppers, cilantro, culantro, garlic, and onions with citrus juice and cumin. Perfect for flavorful meals.
Ingredients
2 green bell peppers, roughly chopped
2 cubanelle peppers, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
15 Aji Dulces (peppers), chopped in half
2 bunches cilantro
2 bunches culantro (recao)
2 heads garlic
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Instructions
- Roughly chop the vegetables and herbs into large pieces and peel the garlic cloves, leaving them whole. Leave the orange, lemon, and cumin to the side for later.
- Place half of your chopped ingredients in a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and begin to process the remaining vegetables and herbs. I do this in two batches in my 14-cup food processor to prevent it from overflowing or going over maximum capacity. Depending on how big your processor or blender is, you may need to split it into more batches.
- Cut your lemon and orange in half. Using a fork, pierce the flesh of the orange and lemon. This helps to extract more juice quickly. Squeeze the juice from the orange and lemon into your sofrito mixture. Sprinkle the cumin into the mixture and stir until everything is well combined.
- Store the sofrito in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or place it in ice trays, wrap it with plastic wrap, and freeze. Once frozen, place the sofrito cubes in a Ziploc bag and leave them in the freezer. Use them in your meals as necessary.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Freezing the Sofrito into little ice cubes makes it super easy and accessible to use in Caribbean dishes.
I use a food processor to break down the vegetables, herbs, and aromatics. However, you can use a blender if you like. A food processor is just my preference because it leaves the sofrito a little chunkier, and I’ve always done it this way.
Aji dulces can be found in most Hispanic grocery stores or Asian markets. Although I deem them to be the most important ingredient, if you cannot find them, you can substitute them with another large Green Bell Pepper.
Culantro is also known as Recao, long coriander, or sawtooth coriander. It is found in Hispanic and Asian grocery stores; however, each bunch can be substituted with two bunches of cilantro.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Blending, Processing
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Disclosure: This post was originally published on April 27, 2020. It was updated in July 2024 to add new photographs and information. The recipe remains the same.
You make easy to follow….I’m a better cook. Thanks so much💕
Yayyy! Thank you, Ramona! I’m so happy to hear that 🥰