Easy Spanish Sofrito Recipe

If you know some recipes from Spain then you know that the backbone of Spanish cooking when we talk about savory dishes is onion, garlic, and olive oil.

There is a Spanish vegetarian recipe that allows you to cook these and other vegetables to perfection, and have a vegetarian sauce that can be used in different ways – we are talking about the Spanish sofrito recipe.

In this article, you will learn what is sofrito, how to use sofrito, and everything you need to know about how to store it, serve it, and adapt it to your tastes.

You, dear reader, support this blog. If you purchase through a link, we earn a small commission. As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Background of the Dish

The Spanish sofrito recipe is perfect for any meal prep lover as there are hundreds of sofrito uses.

Most of the recipes in Spain use garlic, onion, olive oil, and tomato, some cooks in a restaurant discovered that if they fry all these Spanish ingredients together in a pan, then they would save time.

For this reason, they began to prepare the sofrito in large quantities, and then they used it for paella, roasted beef, stew, soup, or any type of dish. 

Over time, people discovered the trick and started doing it at home.

Pin for later!

Things You’ll Need for Spanish Sofrito Recipe

For this recipe, you only need onion, bell peppers, tomato, garlic, and olive oil.

The only kitchen equipment that is needed is a saucepan (better if it is nonstick). Now, keep reading to learn how to make sofrito.

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 tomato
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt to taste
• Olive oil for cooking (about 5 tablespoons)

How to Make Spanish Sofrito Recipe – Step by Step Guide

1. To start making this sofrito recipe you have to peel the onion and chop it into small pieces.

2. After that, chop the bell peppers as finely as possible. Be sure to remove the seeds and the inedible parts.

3. Then, heat a saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil or about 5 tablespoons, add the chopped vegetables and fry for 10 minutes at medium heat. While you are cooking, always stir from time to time so that the flavors mix and the vegetables do not stick.

4. In the meantime, mince the garlic and once the peppers and onion get a soft texture, add the garlic to the pan, and let it fry for another 10 minutes.

5. While that is cooking, peel and crush the tomato (you can do this in a food processor or chop it into small pieces). Then add it to the pan, pour some salt, and cook for 5 more minutes.

6. For the final step, mix a little so that everything is well mixed and the sofrito it’s ready. You can either store and save it for later or use the sofrito sauce in a dish right away.

Substitution of Ingredients

What makes people love this Spanish sofrito recipe is that you can make various changes to the sofrito ingredients and it can still be used for the same purpose.

For example, you can do like the Portuguese version and add a bay leaf, or the Italian version and add chopped carrots (some Spanish versions also include carrots).

Then, like other Spanish sauces, you can remove any ingredient that you don’t like or can’t eat, although don’t forget that they all fulfill the task of giving the right flavor to the sofrito.

Tips on Serving Spanish Sofrito Recipe

There are hundreds of recipes with sofrito, only maybe you haven’t realized it yet.

Among the most popular recipes using sofrito is the authentic paella, Spanish chicken and rice, but it can also be used in any type of broth or stewed meat.

Some people even make this Spanish sofrito recipe and use it as a salad dressing, or add it while cooking soups (it’s delicious either way).

The sofrito recipes can also be used in recipes from other countries, for example, if you add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce it can be used as a pizza sauce or as a dipping sauce for nachos.

Try the Spanish pizza, known as coca bread, which is a very delicious pizza with vegetables and easy and delicious Spanish roasted vegetables.

How to Store Spanish Sofrito Recipe

Once you finish preparing this sofrito recipe there are different ways in which you can save it.

In all cases, you should let the Spanish sauce come to room temperature, and then take it to a covered bowl or Tupperware. 

If you don’t have a lid, then cover it with plastic wrap or a clean plastic bag.

Then you can store the Spanish sofrito for up to 3 days in the fridge or freeze it for up to 60 days.

To defrost the sofrito sauce, just leave it in the fridge for 10 hours or the night before eating it and you can use it.

Recipe Card: Spanish Sofrito Recipe

---

---