I was standing in my new Bronx kitchen, facing a fridge of forgotten jars filled with homemade sofrito, a housewarming gift from my mother to kick-start my dinners. As I cracked open the lids, the herbaceous aroma I knew so well—the one that reminded me of watching my abuela stir a pot of coconut rice and peas—had vanished, replaced by a sour odor. I had waited too long.
Sofrito, a beloved staple in Caribbean cuisine, is a vibrant blend of aromatics (like onion and peppers) and herbs (like cilantro and culantro). Cooking it down is a key step in countless sauces and stews, from sancocho to Dominican spaghetti to pollo guisado. It can even be used as a dip for tostones. The name sofrito applies to the Puerto Rican version of the mixture, whereas in the Dominican Republic it is called sazón liquido or simply sazón—although I have a lot of Dominican relatives who refer to it as sofrito too. No matter what you call it, or what ingredients you use, one thing remains constant: Sofrito is the first thing to bless the pot in kitchens across the Caribbean.
But making it every night can be tiresome, and resorting to the store-bought version is practically sacrilegious, at least according to my mother. After my jars went bad, I attempted to recreate my mother’s sofrito each night, and the process of chopping, dicing, and blending before every dinner quickly wore me down. This prompted an aha moment: Why not freeze it? Better yet, why not freeze it in ice cube trays for easy portioning?
While in the fridge sofrito will only last about a week; in the freezer it will last for weeks, even months. This means I can get the prep work done on a Sunday afternoon, then repeat the rewards over and over. No more wasted ingredients. No more wasted time.
On a busy weeknight, all I have to do is pop out a few cubes, and I’m well on my way to a perfect pot of arroz con pollo or a savory bistec encebollado. There’s no need to thaw—just take a cube or two, depending on the size of the dish, and add it to a pan of hot oil.
While sofrito and sazón recipes vary from household to household, here’s my go-to method:
Remove the stems, ribs, and seeds from 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 Cubanelle pepper, then roughly chop and add to a food processor. Roughly chop 1 red onion, 10 garlic cloves, 1 bunch cilantro (along with stems), and 1 bunch culantro (if you can’t find it, you can omit it) and add all that to the food processor too, along with 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil and ¼ tsp. kosher salt. Blend until the mixture is finely chopped. Adjust the salt to taste. Divide into ice cube trays and freeze.
Future you wants freezer-friendly baked ziti, tomato soup, cookie dough, and more.
