Cuban
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- ¾ cup canned tomato sauce
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until onion is translucent. Add bell pepper and sauté until tender. Season with oregano, salt, pepper, cumin, and bay leaves. Continue cooking until mixture looks like a yummy green paste with oil around it.
- Add tomatoes; cook and stir until all of the liquid is released. Gradually mix in tomato sauce; simmer until sauce looks really red. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. Remove bay leaves.
- Add sauce to meat, rice, beans, fish, or potatoes. Thin sauce down if necessary with water, wine, beer, or whatever is handy.
Reviews
Tasted really bitter. Perhaps I incorrectly seasoned it…
This was killer. I will for sure be making this again. It was so full of flavor. I used red, yellow and orange mini peppers that I had in the house and some fresh tomatoes. I am not sure how authentic this recipe is, and based on the other reviews, I would say it may not be but, I thought is was awesome. I can think of so many different ways that I would use this.
As it is, this is lovely – a great base for a beef stew. But I have added chopped olives which really adds to the flavour. About 1 cup, but depends on how strong you like the flavour to be – a hint or a real taste. Good for a slow cooker.
Both of my parents were from Cuba… not the Caribbean side where sofrito tends to be spicy… Cuban sofrito is made with olive oil for starters; this recipe is very similar to what my parents taught my sisters and I.
WOW! I just started a diet and I can eat all the vegi’s I want, so I tried this! Sadlly since I have never been to either Cuba or Puerto Rico so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the dish, I do have a friend that is Puerto Rican and she adds tomato when cooking in a specific dish. I made this last night and added it to beans and rice, and I used some today on fish! Both were wonderful! The only thing I changed was to omit the oil and use olive oil cooking spray to omit the fat and can of diced tomato drained instead of fresh (didn’t have any)I also added a bit of corriander to even out the cilantro vs oregano debate. I did forget the Bay leaf but I will use them when I make more tomorrow. This is staying in my fridge as long as I’m on this diet!!! And even After!!!! UPDATE!!! I just returned from a vacation 5 days in Miami and 6 days in the Islands. This was almost dead on to the sofrito that was served with many of my meals!
This is a very good sofrito, a lot like what i buy in the grocery store, but fresher! we had it on top of beans (frijoles peruanos). Very good!
An authentic Sofrito ONLY has Olive oil, Garlic, Onions, Bell Pepper, Salt and Pepper. Depending on what you may be cooking that you would add Tomato, Bay leaves or Oregano.
This is very close to my Abuela’s sofrito. For all you that say this isn’t sofrito because of no cilantro – Cubans DO NOT USE cilantro in our sofrito. Instead we use oregano! I don’t even like the taste of cilantro – yuck.
very authentic!
Tracie B – your review on March 10, 2010 was completely off-base. You might know what Puerto Rican sofrito is but are obviously unaware of Cuban cooking and that version of sofrito. This recipe is very close to what could be called a standard recipe for CUBAN sofrito – as the recipe author stated. True Cuban sofrito is cooked in extra virgon olive oil. Puerto Ricans tend to make sofrito like a salsa puree and then cook it later, Cubans tend to make it chunkier and cook it right when it is made. Before you berate a recipe and its author you ought to be sure you know what you are talking about, and if you don’t know for sure then keep quiet.
Sorry, this NOT Sofrito. I don’t know where this recipe came from, but it’s missing Cilantro, Culantro and fresh tomato. Also, it has OIL? It’s not supposed to be cooked. this make make some tasty type of sauce, but this is NOT Sofrito. Sofrito is a few basic, FRESH ingredients processed until smooth in a food processor. People, enjoy this as a sauce, but if you think this is authentic Sofrito, either Cuban OR Puerto Rican, you are mistaken.
Maybe the people reviewing are not Puerto Rican or Cuban because this is NOT sofrito! I tried it, was wondering about the ingredients, but I’m tired of using Goya frozen sofrito. Anyhow, this reminds me of a pico de gallo salsa mixture. Definately NOT an authentic sofrito 🙁
This is authentic Cuban sofrito, no tomatillos, no hot peppers, no cilantro but of course, comino (cumin)! It’s similar to Puerto Rican sofrito which would add acaparra (capers) and green olives and omit the cumin. It’s all delicious, love both cuisines.
I do not like this and is not a sofrito you do not used tomatoes. You used onions, green, red or any other color pepper, garlic, culantro, cilantro and agi dulces if you like it with some kic. The tomatoes or tomato sauce you put it later with other seasoning…..
I don’t know about authentic Cuban dishes but I know this is a real keeper of a recipe. I made it just as written with the exception of not having any tomatoes so I left them out. The trick I think is to cook it for the full 30 minutes to blend the flavors. Meanwhile, I seasoned a pot roast with Everglades Seasoning and browned it in oil in a pressure cooker. Then I added two cups of liquid and cooked it 20 minutes. Both were done at the same time. I used the liquid from the pressure cooker to thin the sauce a little, added the cut up meat to the sauce and served it with black beans, yellow rice and cuban bread. YUM!
I HAVE BEEN USE THIS SITE FOR A LONG TIME BUT NEVER JOIN. I JOINED BECUASE I WAS VERY MAD ABOUT THIS RECIPE. I DON’T SEE HOW SOME PEOPLE HAVE THIS A 5 STAR FOR SOFRITO MAYBE A 3 STAR FOR SALSA BUT NOT SOFRITO. I DID NOT LIKE THIS. 1ST PEEL THE TOMATOES(IF YOU ARE USING REGULAR TOMATOES WHICH I DON’T THINK YOU SHOULD FOR SOFRITO FROM WHAT I SEEN IN SOME LATIN CAFE).IT DOES REMIND ME OF MEXICAN SALSA WITH OUT A KIC(PUT HOT SAUCE THEN MAYBE). THE TASTE WAS NOT RIGHT FOR SOFRITO. GLAD I MADE IT FOR MY FAMILY ANF NOT FOR A DINNER PART. I WOULD HAVE BEEN RUNNING TO THE PHONE FOR TAKE OUT.I GUESS I’M STILL LOOKING FOR A GOOD CUBAN SOFRITO
Something is missing. Taste more like Mexica salsa! Sorry
Very good served over rice and beans!
Thanks Margie. This recipe is delicious and tasty. My brother who has never tried cuban food tried it over some meat and black beans and couldn’t stop raving about how good it was. Said he never tasted anything like it before. My husband loved it too. Thanks again.
A bright hit of flavor to go with grilled flank steak in Mojo Grilling Marinade and Cuban Black Beans II (both from this site).
This is an excellent sauce for many different recipes. I make it exactly like the recipe calls for, but at the end I sometimes put it in the blender to make a smoother sauce. It’s great for shredded chicken or beef. Excellent recipe! Excellent flavor!