Puerto Rican Sofrito

Sofrito is an aromatic blend of vegetables, herbs, and spices used to flavor beans, fish, meats, rice, stews and every savory dish that you can think about. Sofrito is the base for most Puerto Rican dishes.

This recipe is simple and quick and can be made in 10 minutes. For us Puerto Ricans, a savory recipe without sofrito is like a day without sunshine. The smell of sofrito when someone is cooking is heavenly. This amazing seasoning is also very popular in the Caribbeans and Spanish speaking countries. It goes by different names with variety of preparations and mixture of ingredients.

Today I’m sharing my simple version of sofrito. I had to replace some of the ingredients due to the availability nearby but they worked really well. Puerto Rican sofrito calls for simple ingredients that are all over in the island. We use “recao or recaito or culantro” it goes by different names. Also, “aji dulce” which is hard to find here where I live. You can try to find it at your local Hispanic or Asian market. If you can’t find culantro (recao), just substitute it with the same amount of cilantro. For the “aji dulce”, a small Caribbean pepper which is slightly sweet but not spicy, substitute it with green bell peppers like I did for this recipe.

For the sofrito all you have to do is prepare your veggies and blend them in your food processor until well incorporated. You can use it right away, refrigerate for about 10 days and also freeze it for a long period. I use it often so I always keep 1-2 cups inside my refrigerator and freeze the rest inside small jars. Another great idea is to freeze it inside an ice tray and use it as you need it.

If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!

Here’s the recipe:

PUERTO RICAN SOFRITO

INGREDIENTS:

2 Green Peppers, seedleds

3 Yellow Onions, diced

3 Garlic Heads, peeled and diced

12 Aji Dulces or sweet peppers, seedless and chopped

1 bunch of Recao, Culantro or replace for cilantro

1 bunch of cilantro

1 Tablespoon of salt

1/4 cup Olive Oil

METHOTH:

1. Prepare your veggies by cleaning and chopping as required.
2. Mix and blend all the ingredients in a food processor.
3. Add more salt or oil as desired.
4. Pour into a glass jar with lid and refrigerate for up to 10 days, you can freeze inside small jars or inside ice trays and use it as need it.

Here’s a tutorial for this recipe:

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