Sofrito is a foundational ingredient in the Latin cuisine. A pureed blend of onions, peppers, garlic, and cilantro is what makes a basic sofrito. Cooking with sofrito adds a herbaceous depth of flavor to dishes and is most commonly found in stews, rice, and beans, and even in marinades for meat.
What is sofrito?
Sofrito is a seasoning blend of vegetables and herbs that is either pureed or finely chopped and typically sauteed to add a depth of flavor to food. It can also be used to marinate meats or seafood.
You can either chop up fresh ingredients to make a small batch of sofrito as needed, or you can prep and make a bulk amount of sofrito by taking the ingredients and pulsing them in the food processor so that the sofrito is well-blended. Then you place the sofrito into a large bowl and mix it.
Bulk Batching Sofrito
I like to make a bulk amount of sofrito, leave a small container in the fridge for the week, and then I will use multiple small containers and store them in the freezer for later use.
Some cooks like to store sofrito in ice cube trays and just use one or two as needed and they add it straight to the pot or thaw it out on a bowl before using it. This is a great way to preportion it!
Ingredients of sofrito:
The basic ingredients that go into sofrito are peppers, onions, garlic, and cilantro. After that, it varies by region or preference.
Typical ingredients used in sofrito:
- Peppers: Aji dulce and green bell peppers are popular choices. I also like to use a little red, orange, or yellow if I have it in my garden. For a bit of a kick, you can add jalapeno peppers to it.
- Onions: I love to use large Spanish onions.
- Garlic: The more the better.
- Herbs: Fresh cilantro and culantro.
Pro Tip: Buy fresh peeled garlic to save on time!
Optional add-in's for sofrito:
- Herbs: Fresh oregano or thyme are great to add in for more flavor. Be sure to remove the stems.
- Olive oil: Some cooks love to add a small amount of olive oil to their sofrito.
- Seasoning: If you want an all-in-one experience, you can play around with adding seasonings such as adobo, salt, pepper, or even sazon to your sofrito. I like to build my flavor and control what seasonings, and how much of it goes into my dishes and I prefer not to do this.
Here is my complete homemade sofrito recipe that you can use to make your authentic sofrito recipe.
How long does sofrito last?
In the refrigerator, sofrito can last up to a week or two if stored in an air-tight container.
In the freezer, sofrito can be stored for up to a year, if stored properly, such as in an air-tight container or a freezer bag.
How do you store sofrito?
To store sofrito, the biggest factor is making sure you use an air-tight container to store it in.
Growing up, my mom would clean and reuse containers for sofrito like an empty container of margarine or even a glass container of spaghetti sauce.
You can order small 4oz or 8oz containers online for storing your sofrito.
Soup Recipes That Use sofrito:
- Puerto Rican Salami Soup
- Pollo Con Mofongo Soup by Delish Delites
- Puerto Rican Chicken Noodle Soup by The Noshery
- Dominican Black Beans Stew by Smart Little Cookie
Rice and Beans Recipes That Use Sofrito:
Adding sofrito to rice and beans is easily the first thing to do with sofrito. That base layer of sofrito is what beans are built on! For Spanish rice, sofrito with tomato sauce, seasonings, and achiote is what really will create the flavor profile of your S
- Arroz Con Tilapia | Rice with Tilapia
- Puerto Rican Habichuelas Guisada
- Cuban Navy Beans with Ham
- Arroz Con Gandules
Meat Recipes That Use Sofrito:
Main Dish Recipes That Use Sofrito:
What are some of your favorite ways to use sofrito? Let us know in the comments below!
Rebekah | Kitchen Gidget says
This list is epic! Sofrito is LIFE. There are so many ways to use it, but I think my favorite recipe is Puerto Rican style picadillo. Thanks for including my Habichuelas Guisadas!
Latina Mom Meals says
Mmmm I love me some picadillo! Gracias, so happy you're apart of the list. 🙂
Yvonne Drysdale says
Try sancocho (meat, chicken or three meats). There is Puerto Rican, Domeincan, Cuban, Columbian, Venezuelan.
They make it everywhere, all different kinds of ways. You must have sofrito for it!!!
I made my firstcthree meat sancocho today, using skfrito for the first time.
Yaye
Delicious
Latina Mom Meals says
Ay Yvonne, yes, sancocho is so good! I need to update this list. I made sancocho and shared it here too. Three meat sancocho sounds so good!
Mary Ann says
I make my sofrito very, very similar to yours. One question....a lot of recipes call for 3-4 Tablespoons of sofrito for 4-5 cups of rice....I use about 3/4 cup instead. I just find that the 3-4 Tbsp is not enough flavor. Am I crazy? I see people freeze in ice cubes, I freeze in 1 cup containers. Am I using too much?
Latina Mom Meals says
Nope, not crazy at all! I use about 1/3 cup for 2 cups of rice. As long as you like it, that's all that matters!
Chrissy says
What kind of rice? I want to make puerto rican rice and beans with pork on side but cant find recipes to go to the C-town market
Latina Mom Meals says
You can either make white rice or simple Spanish rice to go with pork and beans on the side. Type in rice on the search bar. 🙂
Victoria says
Hello All,
I was reading the section on what dishes to use sofrito for, I use it for red beans or the black ones they taste so much better, especially when adding adobo and or sazon, I use a lot of that.
Lindsay Pevny says
Thanks for this! Some of your internal links to other recipes are broken.
Neyssa says
Oh wow. Thank you so much for letting me know. Will work on it now!
Laura says
I ran into the same issue with 3 of the recipes. The salami soup, the bistec, and sausage and beef casserole.
Laura says
Thank you so much for all the delicious sounding recipes! My husband is Puerto Rican and asked me to get sofrito, so I was trying to find recipes that use it. I can look at lists of hundreds of recipes and be lucky if I find 3-4 that I want to make, but I saved about half of your recipes and want to make them all asap!
I was just wondering if you could enlighten me on the pernil recipe you have. They mention the crispy pernil skin, but *I believe* the recipe they provide does not get that crispy skin that pernil is known for. The author says you can broil it at the end to get "crispy edges," but I do not think it is the same. I had tried several grocery stores to find pork with the skin on, but could never find what I needed. Any thoughts on this?
Neyssa says
What is the issue?
Neyssa says
I'm so happy you were able to find more sofrito based recipes!
Here is my pernil recipe filled with tips. 🙂 As far as finding the pork with skin on it. You may have to go to a farmer's market due to the pandemic.
https://latinamommeals.com/make-authentic-cuban-pernil/
Anne says
I agree completely. The first time I made sofrito was for arroz con pollo, and I added 1/2 cup to 2 cups rice, and thought it was perfect, but I am French, so I am not an expert.
Kari says
Looking for sofrito recipes because I just bought a JAR! Oops! Why do you recommend against jarred sofrito?
Neyssa says
I prefer homemade over jar due to flavors. If that's what you have, by all means, use it. 🙂 Simplicity sometimes is key. Homemade is always best, but I still buy jarred salsa and alfredo for quick dinners.
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