To all my meat-eating friends: This recipe tastes better than you think it does.
Seriously. If you took a bite right now, you'd nod your head in puzzled agreement and say, "Hm. This actually tastes really good!"
I've seen it a million times. Okay, about 40 times. But still! DATA DOESN'T LIE.
One reason I am posting Chipotle Sofritas is because I have a Type-A personality and want to finish the project I started: Sharing all Chipotle copycat recipes.
A second reason is because vegan Chipotle Sofritas is delicious whether you're a vegan or not.
How to Press Tofu
Start with extra-firm tofu and squeeze it to extract as much liquid as possible. There are two easy ways.
- Wrap in paper towels and place in a dish. Set a heavy dish on top such as a large can, a brick, or your oversized cat.
- Use a handy-dandy super-slick fast-and-easy tofu press (Culinary Hill may earn money if you buy through this link).
Once you've pressed the tofu, slice it into 8 slices. If you your brick is really divided into 2 bricks, cut each slab into 4 slices. You'll know what I mean once you start looking at tofu.
How to make the Chipotle Sofritas marinade
While pressing the tofu, make the easy Sofritas marinade. It's a combination of fresh tomatoes, peppers, and onions, some chiles, and lots of spices.
- Throw everything in a food processor or blender and hit BLAST. Marinade = done.
- Brown the tofu in a pan to give it texture and flavor. Depending on the size of your pan, it's okay to brown your tofu in batches. Use enough oil to cover all the areas where the tofu is going to touch. But don't worry if it feels like it's sticking! Just leave it in the pan and when it's ready, it will release. If you try to flip it too early, it might stick.
- Pulse the browned tofu in your food processor or blender until coarse crumbs form. Try not to pulverize it. Those big pieces add a nice texture to the final dish.
- Combine the shredded tofu with the marinade. Toss it together in a large pan and simmer it on the stove until heated through. If you like more liquid in the pan, add more water.
What can I do with my leftover Chipotle peppers and/or adobo sauce?
Transfer to a bag and freeze for future use, or use in:
- Chicken Tinga
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Chipotle Chicken (copycat)
- Chipotle Barbacoa (copycat)
- Chipotle Steak (copycat)
- Chipotle honey vinaigrette (copycat)
- Chipotle black beans (copycat)
- Chipotle pinto beans (copycat)
Chipotle Sofritas Recipe (Copycat)
For the Marinade:
- 1 medium green bell pepper (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 medium tomato quartered
- 1/2 medium onion quartered
- 1/2 cup water plus additional water as needed for braising the tofu
- 2 chipotle chilies plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the tofu:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or rice bran oil
- 1 (16 ounce) package extra firm tofu pressed, cut into 8 slices (see notes)
To make the marinade:
- In a food processor, combine bell pepper, tomato, onion, water, chipotle chilies and adobo sauce, garlic, red wine vinegar, ancho chile powder, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Pulse until the marinade is slightly chunky and thoroughly combined. Set aside.
To make the tofu:
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Working in batches if necessary, carefully place the tofu in the pan, flip occasionally, and cook until the tofu is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Roughly chop the tofu, or pulse the tofu in a food processor until the tofu is roughly in 1/4 inch pieces. Place in a bowl and add the marinade. Cover and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the refrigerator.
- To cook the tofu, heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the marinated tofu and any remaining marinade. Add 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Add additional water to desired consistency. (I like there to be additional liquid for serving.) Reduce to simmering. Cook until the tofu throughout heated, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Notes
- Drain the tofu, wrap in paper towels, and place in a dish.
- Place a heavy object, such as a can, on the tofu for about 15 minutes, to remove moisture. Or, use this easy tofu press.
FYI – use Mexican oregano! It has a completely different flavor profile but ultimately the correct flavor profile.
Hi,
I have question :) is there any chance to substitute the chipotle chilis and adobo sauce? I live in Europe and don’t think I can buy it here. Loved the sofrita at chipotle’s though :) I don’t eat very spicy if that helps haha
Best,
Lisa
I’m American and lived overseas with this same issue. I found a European (Spain) company that makes smoked chillies, La Chinata. If you find a good adobo sauce recipe, use the smoked and dried chiles in place of the smoked ancho. You can toast them, then grind into a powder, and then add to your homemade ancho sauce.
https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Smoked-Peppers-Gluten-Product/dp/B017FGJS9U
Hi Lisa! One of the characteristics of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce is the smokiness. So, if you wanted a substitute that was mostly unrelated (you probably don’t have chipotle chili powder there, for example), you could try smoked paprika. It is NOT the same, of course, it won’t taste the same. But it might taste good? Mind you, I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know (and I don’t really know how much to use either, not without testing it, but you could add a spoonful at a time and go from there). But if I were going to try to use something that wasn’t chipotles in adobo, I’d probably try smoked paprika. If you can find any dried chilis of any kind, though, they would be worth using! I’m not sure what you have. I hope this helpful or at least gives you something to think about. Good luck! If you have more questions, just let me know. Thanks! -Meggan
I have made this recipe multiple times now with no adjustments to put in salads and it tastes great. It’s just spicy enough to feel the heat and I can always add some hot sauce if needed. Since my can of chipotle chilies had too many for me to use at once, I froze the extras and they worked just as well when I made this again.
Hi Hillary, thank you so much! That’s amazing, I’m so glad. It’s always nice when people like the recipes on my site. :) Take care. -Meggan
Do you have suggestions or substitutions for the ancho chili powder? Would regular chili powder be a no-no?
Hi Crystal, if you want it to taste like Chipotle’s Sofritas there is no substitute for the ancho chili powder (other than throwing a few whole ancho chilies in, instead). But if you aren’t worried about that, you could definitely try substituting regular chili powder, or another chili powder (chipotle chili powder, for example). It will change the flavor, but if YOU like it, that’s all that matters. I hope that helps. Good luck and if you need anything else just let me now! Thanks. -Meggan
Hi, I cooked this dish because my daughter became vegetarian and she likes the Chipotle’s a lot so I decided to try It at home. I think the recipe is good and it’s pretty tasteful. However it is way too spicy for is…the sauce even stinks our eyes! Did I get the wrong adobo sauce? I bought the Embasa Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce. I tasted it by itself and it’s really spicy. I am a person eat decent spicy level but this one is so much! Lol.
Any feedback is great!
Hi Janice, I’m sorry that this is too spicy for you! You didn’t buy the wrong thing.
The recipe card SHOULD say that you adobo sauce and “chipotle chiles to taste, if desired.” As you have found out, Chipotle chiles are incredibly spicy, so how many you add (if any) depends on your personal preference/tolerance for spicy food, and also the size of the peppers in the can you have.
In an attempt to give you some information on how many to use, I have a Vegetarian Stuffed Pepper recipe on my site which has a filling to stuff 4 large bell peppers. This recipe uses 2 chipotle chiles. People with very low tolerance of spicy food have found this dish to be very spicy with the 2 chipotle chiles. For me, I am constantly working on my ability to consume spicy food (I feed myself spicy food as practice because it gets easier over time), and I am fine with the 2 chipotle chiles in that dish. If you think you have a high tolerance for spice, you could do 2 chipotles in this sloppy joe recipe. If you’re not sure, do 1. If you know spicy food is hard for you to eat, don’t do any! Just do the adobo.
Hopefully this helps!
Meggan
I love this. I follow your recipe exactly, except I roast the tomato and the pepper which I think adds a lot of flavor. Thanks for this recipe :)
Gonna try this todaty
This was really good, although I need to work with the texture of the tofu. Mine came out way too fine. I think next time I will just try chopping the tofu rather than using the processor. But I mixed it in with some backbeans and corn to add more texture to it, and it tastes amazing!
Absolutely delicious! I need to work on the tofu texture a bit but the sauce is spot on. Well done!
I chopped the tofu fine, but it was still spongier than I ‘d prefer. Perhaps slice the tofu into more slices (16) before pressing?
did you buy extra firm tofu? maybe try pressing it for longer or even cooking it for longer
Hi Marla, I imagine tofu varies greatly by brand. You could definitely slice it more thinly before pressing if that’s what your tofu needs. Thanks! -Meggan
Amazing recipe! I loved this marinade. Thanks you so much for sharing!
This is the real deal. As a vegetarian, I adore Chipotle’s sofritas and am so happy I found this recipe. It truly tastes just like theirs! Mine came out too wet, which I think is due to my food processor making the tofu bits too small, so next time I’ll chop it. Love that there’s really no chopping of veggies if you use a food processor. Will have to check out some of your other Chipotle recipes:)
Hey! I’m hoping to use this in some breakfast taquitos that I can freeze. Is this freezable?
Hey Ariadne! Yes, it’s okay to freeze tofu! It will actually absorb the flavor of the marinade even better through the freezing/defrosting process. It might be a little firmer and less soft, more chewy, but I’m assuming if you’re eating tofu you don’t mind that! If you need anything else, just let me know! Thank you so much for the great question. :D
I’m wondering how long does this last after making it
I made this a week ago and am obsessed! I am going to make this again tonight but am wondering if you have tried freezing it?
Delicious! I made this along with the lime rice, veggies and pinto beans!
Trying to cut down on the meat at my household and this definitely hit the spot.
By any chance how long will this keep? It’s just two of us and will like to keep it as long as possible.
(5x meal prep, hopefully!)
Thank you so much for sharing!
I plan on trying this ASAP! I’m attempting to start meatless Monday’s. What could i substitute to make this dish with less sodium?
Hi Lynn! Thanks for commenting. I was looking at the recipe trying to figure out WHY the sodium was so high in the first place when none of the ingredients are particularly, well, salty. I went back to the nutrition calculator and changed “Chipotle Chilis” to “Chipotle Peppers” because the program was pulling in canned chili and artificially inflating the sodium in the process. So, the sodium is reflected accordingly now and is much lower. Tofu itself isn’t very salty. When you choose your chipotle peppers and/or adobo sauce (whether you buy them together or separately) you should look at the labels for the one with the lowest salt. And, feel free to use less than the 1/2 teaspoon salt recommended in the recipe for your final seasoning. I hope this is helpful, sorry for the confusion, and if you need anything else just let me know! Good luck and take care. -Meggan
Made this recipe today along with a few other of the Chipotle copycat recipes on Culinary Hill. Always so good!
Thank you so much Bridgette, I really appreciate you!
I LOVE sofritas from Chipotle and never order a burrito bowl without it :D