This Sofrito recipe is made of a mixture of fresh aromatic ingredients mainly used in Spanish and Latin American cooking giving your dishes great flavor.
Home cooking can be very time-consuming. Especially, when you have a million other things to do in a 24 hour day. The days are not long enough. I've had to come up with a system for practically everything in my life to ensure that I can get the most done in a shorter amount of time.
This homemade Latin Sofrito seasoning is one of those systems and a pretty handy kitchen hack.
Like in most Hispanic households, I have to feed my family at least one home cooked meal daily. Well, not really daily, lest say 5-6 days a week. I like to take my days off from the kitchen once in a while. Anyways, the point is that on most days I have to divide my time between many different tasks and having a full meal for dinner on the table is almost always one of them.
For me, it is crucial that my food has a great taste even on the days when I can't be in the kitchen for too long. That is why I started making my own fresh homemade sofrito.
What is Sofrito?
Sofrito is a mixture of aromatic ingredients mainly used in Spanish and Latin American cooking. It includes peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, green onions, and culantro. You can also add ajíes dulces (sweet chili peppers) or cubanelle peppers if you can't find those.
I use sofrito for almost everything: to season all kinds of meat and cook Hispanic rice dishes such as rice with beans or rice with guandules, Locrios (rice with meat) and even Paella. I also use sofrito to make Sancocho, which is a delicious stew dish from the Dominican Republic, and many other dishes. It is so versatile that you can literally use it to season all of your meals.
This simple seasoning is also very convenient to have in your fridge since it automatically saves the time it would take to cut and chop all the vegetables. I know it makes my cooking time a lot shorter and meal preparation way simpler.
I hope it serves you well too. 😉
To make this sofrito all you need is the ingredients and a good food processor. Add it to mason jars, seal and reserve in the fridge. This sofrito recipe can last up to two weeks if kept refrigerated.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1 bunch of culantro
- 1 bunch of green onions
- 2 big green bell peppers
- 3 medium red onions
- 3-4 heads of garlic (peeled)
- 10 small aji dulce Dominicano (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Roughly chop cilantro, culantro and green onions and place in a food processor.
- Cut onions and bell peppers into medium pieces and add to the food processor.
- Add the garlic and aji dulce.
- Blend all until mixed.
- Transfer the mixture into a plastic container, cover it and put in the refrigerator. This will keep the Sofrito fresh for up to two weeks.
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*This post was first published in August 2012. It was updated in September 2018 with new images and video.
Isabel Bardina
Hi! I'm Cuban/Puerto Rican and I have never seen green onions used in sofrito. Where did you get this idea?
I use green onions for my Asian recipes.
Vanessa
Hi Isabel, Traditional sofrito does not use green onion. I add green onion to my sofrito recipe because I enjoy the taste and think works well in this seasoning. You can omit the green onion if you'd like, however, I encourage you to give it a try. 🙂
Stephanie Janes
I will try this recipe as it looks delicious. I was wondering if this recipe can be "canned" like pickles and other canning items. I noticed that it can be frozen but was wondering it I put it in Mason jars and under pressure if this could then become a shelf item. Frozen takes too long to thaw and often distorts the ingredients.
Vanessa
Yes, you can store it in mason jars but not as a shelf item. You must refrigerate it. If refrigerated, it will last about 2-3 weeks.
Esther
What is the shelf life of frozen sofrito? I have some that has been buried in the freezer for approximately two to three years😩.......
Vanessa
I would not use it if it has been in the freezer longer than 3-6 months.
Carmina Castro-Casal
Decided to eye a different sofrito recipe and yours made me go run to buy culantro, this sofrito is yummy and only slightly different from my abuelitas recipe.
Vanessa
Hi Carmina,
Thank you for your comment. Yes, I love culantro in my sofrito. My mom likes to add ají dulce, so sometimes I add those as well. Glad you like the recipe.
Jose Ortiz
Why does your sofrito only lasts two weeks? The recipe we use is slightly different but then again there are many variations of this awesome base. The only times I have seen them "go bad" is when it includes tomato. Some people (mainly in Puerto Rico) call the tomato one sofrito and the green one "recaito". Like Goya. 😊
Vanessa
Hi Jose! My sofrito doesn’t last more than 2 two weeks because I actually use it all by then. But I agree that it can last longer. I just have never had it last more than that. There are many variations of the sofrito. I use this as my base and sometimes add other ingredients like ají dulce or Cubanelle peppers. I never add tomato though. 😊
maru rivera
Latin Sofrito? Por favor you mean Puerto Rican sofrito!
Vanessa
Hi Maru, Please know that sofrito is not only made in Puerto Rico. Thank you for your comment! 😉
Carmina Castro-Casal
Sorry Maru, do Cubans and Dominicans not exist and don’t make sofrito? I even know non-Caribbean Latinos that make sofrito, Mexicans, Colombians, and Argentinians make it too. Latin Sofrito is accurate.
rmatt
can you freeze this recipe?
Vanessa
Yes! You sure can!
Silvia Martinez
Excelente, delicioso, fácil y se puede poner a casi todo.
Ale
The base for every recipe! Amazing! Thanks.
Enriqueta Lemoine
Sofrito! I love it. That's the base of our Latin cuisine!
Yliana
I love sofrito it cuts my cooking time in half especially in those hard school days when the last thing u want to do is stand there for 15minutes cutting up ur beggies I'm glad u posted this it really is a life saver
Chica Fashion
Nice! I always buy sazon ranchero to skip this part but it seems easy enough and will taste a lot fresher.
Ana Crespo
Thanks for sharing this! I appreciate it so will make mine this weekend....I had been thinking about making it but didn't know what the ingredients were besides the cilantro. Anyway, trying to get away from the processed powered stuff ie: Sason Tropical (this one is very salty), garlic power, onion pwr --you know that stuff that has tons of chemicals. So again, thank you for sharing this it's a fantastic comeback.
All the best,
Ana