Puerto Rican Sofrito

Learn how to make traditional Puerto Rican Sofrito and use it as an easy and flavorful base for stews, rice dishes, and more!

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March: made in Puerto Rico

If you’ve been following the blog for the last year, you know March has become a month for highlights from my parents’ culture. Last year I shared a series of my favorite Moroccan recipes, inspired by my dad and grandmother.

This March, I’m sharing my mother’s top 5 Puerto Rican recipes, starting with this traditional Puerto Rican Sofrito.

Growing up in a multi cultural household, there was always fusion of cultures and flavors in our kitchen. That said, things weren’t always 50/50.

Maybe it had something to do with how young my mom was when her family moved from Puerto Rico to California. Or maybe it was my dad’s love of cooking. Whatever the reason, Moroccan culture reigned dominant most of the time in our household.

Naturally, I ended up learning more about Moroccan cuisine than Puerto Rican. That’s why this month is all about Puerto Rican food, starting with my mom teaching me how to make her traditional Puerto Rican Sofrito.

How to make Puerto Rican Sofrito

This traditional Sofrito is almost like the latin equivalent to what French cuisine calls Mire Poix.

It’s a beautiful blend of alliums and veggies, already minced up and ready to use as a soup starter, rice flavoring, or stew base. I let my go-to food processor do all the work here and the recipe comes together in less than 5 minutes.

Traditional Puerto Rican Sofrito uses an onion, bell peppers, and cilantro. My mom will sometimes throw a jalapeno or some garlic in for added flavor so that’s what we’re doing today.

Depending on which Puerto Rican family you’re asking, this recipe may vary.

Where to use it

We’ve already talked briefly about a few places to use your Puerto Rican sofrito.

That said, one batch makes enough for several uses, so let’s dive in to some of my favorite ways to cook with sofrito:

• Chicken Soup – this stuff makes a fabulous soup starter (as mentioned above). Use it instead or in addition to onions and garlic.
• Arroz con Pollo – this classic Puerto Rican dish is the perfect example of how to use sofrito in rice dishes!
• Steak Stuffed Avocados – as if this dish wasn’t already full of flavor, using Sofrito to cook your steak adds a level of spice that is truly unmatched.

Allergen tags

This recipe does not contain the following allergens (read more about this on my disclosure page):

Click on the Allergen Icons above to find more allergy friendly recipes in that category.

Happy cooking!

Salima

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