Puerto Rican Sofrito

I wish I could say I was one of those folks who learned to cook at their grandmother’s knee, but that wasn’t me. I did my fair share of baking as a kid, but it wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that cooking took complete hold of me. Because of this, I didn’t ask my Puerto Rican grandma enough questions about her recipes. Fortunately, my mom was a good student.

The one thing I do know is that you can’t have Puerto Rican food without sofrito. It’s the flavor base for pretty much any dish the island has to offer. Traditionally it has aji dulce peppers and culantro, neither of which were available to us when we arrived in the Midwest 20+ years ago. I’ve since found a store around 40 minutes from here that does carry culantro, but most of the time I make it without to save the trip. I sub in colored bell peppers for the aji dulce as that’s what we’ve always done. Bell peppers often come in packs of 3, so I just throw all of them in. It’s prettier this way too.

I hope to share more family recipes soon, but there’s no way I could do that without posting this recipe first. Now that I have all the room in the world to write, let’s GOOO!

Puerto Rican Sofrito

DifficultyEasy

ServingsMakes 4-5 Cups

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time10 minutes

Total Time20 minutes

You can’t have Puerto Rican food without sofrito. This simple mix of onion, garlic, bell pepper, and cilantro is the flavor base for pretty much any dish the island has to offer.

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Ingredients

• 1 Head Garlic, cloves peeled
• 2 Medium Yellow Onions, cut into large pieces
• 1 Medium Green Bell Pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 Medium Yellow Bell Pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1-2 Large Bunches of Cilantro, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Method:

• 1

  In a large food processor add the garlic. Pulse until roughly chopped.

• 2

  Add the onion and bell peppers. Pulse until coarsely chopped.

• 3

  Add the cilantro, tender stems included. Pulse until finely chopped but stopping short of a purée.

Equipment

• Large Food Processor
• Souper Cubes 1 C. Freezing Tray
• Souper Cubes 2 Tablespoon Freezing Tray

Notes

Not all cilantro bunches are created equal. Grab a second if yours isn’t big enough. You want a beautiful green sauce in the end. Grab an extra if you aren’t sure.

Culantro is traditional in sofrito. If it is available to you, add 4-6 leaves when adding in the cilantro.

You can store fresh sofrito in the refrigerator for a 1-2 days.

If you’re not using it right away, pour it into Souper Cubes or ice cube trays. Freeze overnight. Pop the cubes out of the tray and store them in a freezer bag.

Keywords:Puerto Rican Sofrito, Bell Peppers, Cilantro, Onions

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