Spicy Sofritas Tofu, like homemade Chipotle! Think spicy peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro in a flavorful simmer sauce for your tofu!
Spicy Sofritas Tofu
THIS, my friends.
This is tofu. This is sofritas. This is like homemade Chipotle sofritas at its finest.
Featured comment
Made this for my family tonight and EVERYONE loved it! Absolutely delectable. Who knew tofu could taste so good?
Julie
The truth is that I am sort of 75% there on tofu, like most people, I think? but I am 200% there on sofritas tofu – like the stuff you get at Chipotle, and as of now, the stuff that you make at home.
It’s to the point where Ineedthemeveryday.
There is no burrito, rice bowl, taco, quesadilla, breakfast skillet, or nacho platter that does not benefit in some way from a heap of spicy, saucy sofritas.
In This Post: Everything You Need For Spicy Sofritas
- Watch How to Make Sofritas
- What is Sofritas?
- Ingredients in Sofritas
- How to Make Sofritas
- Ways to Eat Sofritas
- Spicy Sofritas Tofu: Frequently Asked Questions
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
First Of All, What Is Sofritas?
Thanks to popularization from Chipotle, I think many people now associate the term sofritas specifically with spicy shredded or ground tofu in a peppery, tomatoey sauce. At Chipotle, sofritas = tofu.
But more generally, according to our lady of the internet, Wiki: “sofrito, sofregit, soffritto, or refogado is a sauce used as a base in Latin American, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese cooking. Preparations may vary, but it typically consists of aromatic ingredients cut into small pieces and sauteed or braised in cooking oil.”
Okay So… What’s In Sofritas?
Okay, good question.
- First and foremost, in this case, TOFU! Main ingredient.
- Chipotle peppers.
- Roasted poblanos.
- Garlic.
- Salsa (shortcut ingredient to get us some onions, tomatoes, and rockstar flavor)
- Cilantro
All the big flavor players get pureed into a sucker punch sauce and poured all over your crumbled, browned tofu, and the whole thing gets gently simmered into flavorful yumminess.
SO MUCH YUM.
How To Make Sofritas
This recipe could not be easier! Here’s what you’re going to do:
- Roast your poblano peppers. You can do this over an open flame or just toss them on a baking sheet and broil them in the oven for a bit until they’re blistery. Easy peasy.
- Pop your blistered poblanos, chipotle peppers, garlic, spices, and salsa in a blender and blend, blend, blend!
- Scramble up your tofu in a large skillet and add your spicy sauce. Add beans if you’d like to make things a little thicker. Yay for even more plant-based protein!
- Pop these spicy sofritas in a burrito (or burrito bowl), on top of a rice bowl, served in tacos, or maybe even the mixture straight out of the skillet. We’ve been known to do that.
Ways To Eat Sofritas
The sofritas is the showstopper, but don’t stop there.
- Bowls: with pinto beans, fresh guac, rice, and if you’re feeling fancy, maybe some tomatoes and corn, and sautéed peppers? YUM.
- Tacos! with more of the same.
- Burritos, like so.
- Vegan Crunchwraps. YES I SAID VEGAN CRUNCHWRAPS.
- In a tortilla casserole because what else?
- Just chips? Also, Cotija cheese because it’s so deliciously salty and I can’t not crumble that stuff on ev-er-y-thing.
This combination is everything my heart ever wanted in the homemade vegetarian Mexican food department.
Spicy Sofritas Tofu: Frequently Asked Questions
Should I remove the skin off my poblano peppers?
I did not remove the skins of my poblanos, but you can do it either way. If you are in a pinch for time, try subbing one or two small cans of diced green chiles for the poblano.
Can I use frozen tofu?
Recently I tried this with frozen and thawed tofu, and it was excellent! The tofu sheds its water more easily after a freeze / thaw, resulting in a dry and crumbly texture that helped it soak up the sauce (I actually doubled the sauce for this version which was perfect).
What can I sub for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce?
1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder should work!
Spicy Sofritas Tofu
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Spicy Sofritas Tofu, like homemade Chipotle! Think spicy peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro in a flavorful simmer sauce for your tofu!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1–3 individual chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce (1 for mild/medium, 3 for very spicy)
- 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce
- 2–3 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder or smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 14–ounce package extra firm tofu
Instructions
- Roast your poblano: Hold the poblano over the flame on a gas range until it’s hot and blistery. Alternatively: turn your oven to the broil setting, coat the poblano with oil, place on a baking sheet, and roast for 15 minutes at a time until it’s soft and blistered.
- Make a sofritas sauce: Place poblano, chipotles, garlic, spices, and salsa in a small blender or food processor (EXCEPT tofu). Pulse until a mostly smooth paste forms.
- Make the sofritas tofu: Slice the tofu and press with a clean towel to remove as much excess moisture as you can (the drier the tofu, the better it soaks up the sauce). Heat a drizzle of oil over medium high heat. Scramble the tofu into small bits with a spatula or wooden spoon. You can do beans or no beans – this is a choose your own adventure here. Add the sofritas sauce with 1/2 cup water. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce is richly colored and thickened slightly. Add more water as necessary, and season to taste with the salt and lime juice.
- Serve: Serve in tacos, burritos, and mega rice bowls!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sauté
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: sofritas, vegetarian Mexican recipe, vegetarian recipe, vegetarian tacos, tofu recipe
Other Favorite Vegetarian Mexican-Inspired Goodness:
- Cauliflower Walnut Taco Meat
- Vegan Crunchwrap Supreme
- Easy Veggie Enchiladas
- Vegan Sheet Pan Fajitas
- Healthy Mexican Sweet Potato Skins
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best sugar free recipes page. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Bowls Dairy-Free Dinner Fall Main Dishes Most Popular Spring Sugar Free January Sugar-Free Summer Tofu Vegan Vegetarian Winter
September 23, 2022
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Everything I’ve made on this site has turned out to be amazing!! Loved this recipe, perfect amount of spice. I froze and thawed my tofu before using. Super delicious
I always get the Sofritas at Chipotle and have wanted to make it at home… This recipe is amazing! I’ve never used tofu before so I was a little nervous but this recipe is super easy and flavorful. Now, I’m making homemade Sofritas burrito bowls that are as tasty (if not better than) Chipotle! Thanks so much for sharing 🥰
Love this recipe. I’ve now made it with tofu and chicken. Super easy to swap the protein, loved them both!
Delicious! I added black beans and some veggies to bulk this up into a one-pot lunch bowl – zucchini, bell pepper, onions, a bag of frozen kale, and a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. To make it even easier, I didn’t even puree the sauce ingredients – I just chopped everything finely and let it simmer with the sauteed veggies, tofu, and beans. Super tasty over brown rice!
Tofu is awesome! Not much taste in itself but extremely receptive to spices. Tofo was the first thing I tried when I became a vegetarian and it has followed me ever since.
Gonna try this within long 🙂
Omg this recipe was so easy and packs so much flavor. I’ve been trying to eat less meat and this is such a great substitute! We had these as tacos with guac, green onions, and sour cream. Will definitely be making again soon!
WOW first time making this and I think it’s better than chipotles! I made mine super spicy and used a smoked Serrano chili seasoning, 11/10. Will be making again, thanks for the recipe!!
Lindsay,
This recipe was absolutely delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing!
Thank you so much for your delicious recipes. I look forward to trying many more.
This tastes sooo similar to the one from chipotle! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Any blogger who is reading this– recipes are not a place for your journal.
If you don’t have anything nice to say it’s better to not say anything.
I made this recipe once as written, then the next time I went to make I realize I forgot to buy a poblano pepper, so instead I used a few dried peppers that I put in a dry pan over high heat untill they become fragrant then add about 1/2 – 3/4 c water, let it steep for 5-10 minutes then blend it in the blender with all the rest of the ingredients except the chili powder (cuz the dried peppers) and way more garlic cloves, and a little extra chipotle peppers and sauce (for more heat). Also freeze the tofu ahead of time and thaw before using in this recipe, and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer you simmer mostly uncovered the texture gets better. It dries more and becomes very similar to very tender taco meat.
With these changes, this recipe is 5 stars. I have made this probably 2 dozen times, to rave reviews from family and friends. I also always either double or triple this recipe because it reheats so well for days, and perfect to take for lunches to work.
First copy cat recipe that actually tastes like the real thing! It may actually be better than the real thing, so good!
I don’t have chipotle peppers or adobo sauce- can I still make this? I do have canned salsas and canned chopped green chiles. I also have chipotle powder. Please advise. Thanks!
Chipotle powder, maybe a half teaspoon to start, would be a great substitute!
This sofritas recipe is freaking amazing. A godsend ! It’s the best ! I feel like I ordered chipotle but with half the fat . Just make it you won’t regret it !
I’m excited to make this – do you think I could meal prep this for the week? Would it keep?
Thanks!
Absolutely, Carrie! This would be a great meal prep recipe!
This is one of my favorite vegetarian recipes! Quick question…what is the serving size? Is it approximately 1/2 cup per serving?
Yes, we’d estimate the serving size to be about a heaping 1/2 cup.
Am I supposed to put the 2 tablespoons canola oil in the food processor to make the sauce?
Add the oil to the pan in step 3 before scrambling the tofu!
This recipe is on point !!! Thanks!!
Delicious and easy to make. Thank you!
This was possibly my 5th time making this, it’s so good. Before moving back to my hometown Oakland, I lived in San Diego for 10-yrs, and because of that, never went to a Chipotle. Why when the Mexican food in San Diego is incredibly insanely divine?! I’ve been making your Sofrita Veggie Bowl recipe for my food prep so I have something filling and delicious to eat for lunch and every.single.time just so SO good, and so many of your recipes are – VERY grateful! This time around, I added black beans in addition to the pinto beans and tripled the amount to freeze for the next I want to make it. Also found a wonderful recipe for adobo sauce to make with this and still picking my jaw up from the floor. You’re a wizard; thank you!
Love hearing this! Thanks so much for the comment!
This turned out great!!! My entire family loved this. They said I can make it again anytime.
So glad to hear it was hit with the family!
Looking to make this but wondering about a few things. The video says to use sugar and shows browning the tofu, also cilantro is mentioned throughout the description. In the ingredients there is no sugar and no cilantro mentioned at all. Also, the instructions don’t say to brown the tofu before crumbling simply to crumble it and add the sauce. Had my wife not told me about these things in the video, I would have used the written recipe which is missing steps and ingredients.
Thanks for checking, Kyle! We updated this recipe earlier this year and omitted the sugar. It’ll still work if you’d like to include the sugar and cilantro however. Up to you as well if you’d like to brown the tofu or not. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
I couldn’t help but leave a comment. This recipe is great and SO easy. I am not particularly comfortable in the kitchen but this recipe helped me make something that was delicious without leaving me overwhelmed. It’s a new favorite in my house! (Definitely better than Chipotle’s sofritas)!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Jenna!
My 12 yr old daughter became a vegetarian about 8 months ago. I’ve been trying to find healthy protein packed meals to make her instead of buying boxes meals. Can this recipe be frozen after its cooked? Thanks!
Yep, definitely!
Been trying to find an recipe that mirrors the Chipotle sofritas. It is safe to say that this recipe is even better than theirs. The spice is on point, the flavors are robust, and it is extremely filling and satisfying. Will be sure to make these again because the sauce is amazing.
So glad you enjoyed this, Amrit!