These Homemade Dominican Sofrito and Sazón Recipes are the favorite base for Dominican dishes. Here's a few to choose from.
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'Cada cocinero tiene su librito' (every cook has his/her own little book) goes the Dominican saying. Each home has its own traditions, likes and dislikes. It is impossible to offer you recipes that duplicate the flavors of each of your homes, and the flavors of each home are contained in the base for Dominican cooking: the sofrito / sazón.
I love to do things myself (and save money in the process), so some time ago somebody asked if anyone had a good recipe for home-made 'sazon/sofrito'. Always keen to help, our regular readers shared their recipes with us. Here are three. Feel free to share yours with us too.
Karima's recipe
- 2 bunches of cilantro
- 4 radishes
- 1 of each: green, red, and yellow pepper
- 1 onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 lime (just the juice)
- if you like a couple of the small hot yellow and orange peppers,
- only two sometimes they are really hot.
- I put all of these ingredients into a blender and set it a chop or blend, you don't want it watery, you could even use a food processor. I put it in a container, and refrigerate it. It keeps for a long time at least 3 weeks.
Vitico's recipe
- Olive Oil
- Tomato paste
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Although I have learned to interchange Oregano and Cilantro. When I use one I don't use the other.
Kjdrga's recipe
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 sopita (bouillon cubes)
- a bunch of cilantro
- 1/2 of aji / pepper (the one they sell in the DR long pale green not hot)
- a tablespoon of bitter orange
- half a red onion (depending on its size if small a whole one)
- a tomato or two seeded
- a little olive oil
- I either use a blender or food processor. I like to baste chicken with this and roast it in the oven, basting every 15 minutes until it's done.
And here's my own:
Dominican Sofrito & Sazón Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cubanela/cubanelle pepper , diced
- 1 clove of garlic , crushed
- 1 medium red onion , cut into strips
- 3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon of powdered annato/anato/bija
- 1 teaspoon of dry oregano
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Instructions
To use immediately
- Saute all the ingredients at very low heat until they release their flavor.
To store
- Blend until you obtain a coarse paste. Keep refrigerated for up to a week. Or freeze in a zippy bag for up to a month.
I use cilantro, parsley, oregano, garlic, peppers and a splash of vinegar to get the processor going... never use onions... my great grandma (best cook ever) used to tell me that onions will make food bitter if not used fresh... so I just chop onions when I am cooking, never… Read more »
I have never heard of any sofrito using radishes as a main ingredient!!! I use the regular Rican recipe which includes onions, cubanelle peppers, garlic, ajicitos, oregano, cilantro & recao... but I also add green & red bell peppers, a jar of pimentos with their liquid, a jar of pitted… Read more »
The Puerto Rican version is very recao-heavy (also called culantro, not sure how Dominicans call it). We also use lots of ajies dulces; the recao and ajies give it its distinctive flavor. Of course every family has its own recipe. In mine, for example, we don't add garlic because several… Read more »