Sofrito

Sofrito is a cooked or raw aromatic base made from onion, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, and fresh herbs or spices — blended or finely chopped and sautéed until fragrant and jammy. It is the flavor foundation of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Colombian, and Spanish cooking, doing for Latin American cuisine what the French mirepoix does for European cooking.

Where it comes from

Sofrito is where Latin American cooking begins — the aromatic agreement between onion, pepper, garlic, and tomato that has been sizzling in Caribbean pots for generations.

Varieties — Puerto Rican sofrito (recaíto) is uncooked and blended, typically using culantro (recao), ají dulce peppers, onion, garlic, and sometimes tomato, then stored in the freezer. Cuban sofrito is cooked and simpler — tomato, onion, garlic, and cumin. Spanish sofrito is a slow-cooked tomato and onion base with little or no pepper. Colombian hogao is a cooked tomato-and-scallion version.

In Puerto Rican households, a container of green recaíto sofrito in the freezer is as fundamental as salt. Abuela's sofrito recipe is often considered a family heirloom, passed down without written measurement.

In a modern kitchen — Make a large batch of raw sofrito, portion into ice cube trays, freeze, then transfer to a bag — each cube is one serving ready to drop directly into a hot pan.

Out of sofrito? Good swaps

• mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot) — French aromatic base; similar building-block role but different flavor profile
• jarred salsa (smooth) — A rough emergency swap; adds tomato-pepper aromatics but lacks depth of sautéed sofrito
• tomato paste + minced garlic + sautéed onion — Builds a simplified version of the cooked tomato-onion base

General cooking guidance — always check the labels on the products you use. Listahan’s allergen checks run automatically when you plan a recipe in the app. Not medical advice.

Common questions about sofrito