Easy Chipotle Sofritas Recipe is a delicious copycat of the original! Flavorful and spicy but not overly so, these sofritas are the perfect addition to burrito bowls, tacos or burritos.
Ah sofritas. I remember how excited I was when Chipotle came out with their tofu sofritas. The vegetarian burrito bowl with black beans and guacamole was pretty darn tasty, but now a “meaty” vegan option? Score.
If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, sofritas is a dish made up of shredded or chopped small tofu that is braised, spicy and full of flavor. Chipotle sofritas are a bit saucy as well, and are a delicious addition to burritos bowls, burritos, tacos or salads.
I have tried making various recipes at home over the years, but none came out tasting all that great and they all called for roasting a poblano pepper and doing a million other steps I didn’t enjoy.
Okay, that might be dramatic, but I wanted to create a sofritas recipe that was easier than most, did NOT call for a charred pepper or frying your tofu, and that still tasted AMAZING.Â
How do you make Easy Chipotle Sofritas?
Start by preparing your tofu. You are going to prepare it like I do in my Vegan Butter Chicken recipe, so if you want to look at photos of the process, you can find it there. (PLUS, full instructions are in the recipe card below.) Basically, press your tofu, slice it, then rip it into large pieces. Coat with a tablespoon of oil, cornstarch and salt, and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Once it’s done baking, chop it up more and set aside. This process creates chewy, crispy tofu pieces that are heavenly!
To make the sauce: Add chipotle in adobo, adobo sauce, garlic, lemon juice, tomato paste, sugar, salt and 1/4 cup water to a food processor.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
Blend until smooth. You can also use a blender or even an immersion blender if you want.
Add the sauce to a large pan and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Now add the chopped tofu and stir to coat. Pour in an additional 1/4-1/2 cup water to make it saucy, like Chipotles.
That’s it! Serve in bowls, burritos or tacos with black beans, rice, guacamole, salsa, tomatoes and lettuce. My Cashew Sour Cream goes great with this dish as well!
I hope you love this Sofritas Recipe! It’s:
- Easy to make, no need to roast a pepper!
- Healthy, nutritious and full of plant protein
- Spicy, but not overly so!
Want more vegan Mexican recipes?
- Sheet Pan Cauliflower Fajitas
- The Best Vegan Enchiladas
- Ultimate Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos
- Cauliflower Tacos
- Cheesy Quesadillas
Easy Chipotle Sofritas Recipe
Ingredients
For the tofu:
- 16 ounce block extra-firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the sauce:
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2-3/4 cup water, divided
Instructions
- Press the tofu:Â Wrap the block of tofu in paper towels. Place a plate or pan on top of the wrapped tofu, and put a couple of heavy books on top of that. Let the tofu press for 20 minutes. (You can skip this step if you get the super firm variety)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the tofu into about 6 slices. Now, rip each slice into medium-large pieces. You can also simply cut them into cubes, if you prefer, but ripping gives the tofu a great texture.
- Add the tofu pieces to a large ziplock bag, along with the olive oil, cornstarch and salt. Close the bag, and shake gently to coat. Arrange the tofu evenly on the prepared pan, and bake for 25 minutes.
- While the tofu bakes, make the sauce: To a food processor (or blender), add the chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, garlic, lemon juice, tomato paste, sugar, salt and 1/4 cup water. Blend until smooth and set aside.
- When the tofu is done baking, chop it up into small pieces with a large knife. Set aside.
- Add the sauce to a large pan and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Now add the chopped tofu to the pan and stir to coat. Pour in another 1/4-1/2 cup of water to make it a little saucy, like Chipotles is.
- Serve in burrito bowls, burritos, tacos or salads as desired. Enjoy!
This was a great recipe! My daughter is a recent pescatarian and we tried chipolte’s sofritas and loved them. I halved your recipe and used the sofritas to incorporate into a southwest egg roll in a bowl for our lunches this week. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear you and your daughter love my recipe! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and review! Happy cooking!
I love your tofu recipes!! This one is great – thanks for sharing.
The step for coating the tofu works just as well with a mixing bowl and a spoon. Please consider revising your recipes, or even just adding a note, so people don’t have to use single-use plastics for that step.
Thanks for the tip, Lisa! I would love to see this alternative as an option in the recipe too, please, Nora!Â
Hello,
Thanks for the recipe. How much is a serving?
Thanks;)
There are 4 servings total, so if you divide it by 4 that is what the nutritional estimate is based on. Hope that helps!
Excellent.  Absolutely  Loved the flavor and  the consistency of the tofu.  Nice job!!!
Thank you, Jasmine! I’m glad you loved it!
Tasty, except my tofu baked into the parchment paper and had to leave the bottoms on the paper. Is there a workaround to ensure the tofu doesn’t stick after baking?
Hmm, my tofu never sticks to parchment paper, but you could spray the parchment paper with oil if you are having trouble. And just use a good spatula to scrape it all off.
Flavorful and spicy but not overly
Easy to make! Just made this tonight and it was fabulous! Thank you!
Amazing recipe! Super quick and easy, very flavorful. The sauce is spicy and delicious.
Thanks so much!!
I’ve made this multiple times and I love it!Â
I’m making a large batch of this for my son’s open house. Is this able to be frozen and keep a nice texture? I’ve been trying to find the answer to this with to avail! Thank you!
I’ve never frozen it unfortunately so I’m not sure. It might work okay, but freezing tofu does change the texture quite a bit. Thank you!
My family loved this recipe. I tripled it to feed our family. I used an entire 6oz can of tomato paste to cut down on the spiciness. Next time I will make extra sauce as it was so flavorful!
I’m so glad you all loved it!!
oh. The way you present it is great. Very beautiful image. I think tonigh I will try to make it. I can’t wait any longer. Thanks you for your share
This is an incredible recipe that we continue to come back to! The tofu is a perfect consistency and the spice in the sauce is just right. We love serving it with avocado and the Taco Bell Ranchero sauce. Thanks for a great recipe! We will continue to recommend it to our friends.
You’re welcome! Glad you love it!
Do you think I can use nutritional yeast in place of cornstarch?
You probably could, though I haven’t tried it.
Can tempeh be used instead of tofu?
It would probably work, yes, but I haven’t tested it. Sounds good though!
How long can this stay in the fridge? I’d love to use it as meal prep. And could I freeze it? Thank you!
It would be a great meal prep recipe! It will stay good in the refrigerator for about 4 days. I haven’t tried freezing it myself, but I do think it would work quite well. Thanks!
Sounds delicious! So do you use 1 Chipotle pepper from the can and 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the can? Little confused on that part.
Yes, that is correct!
Yet another recipe by Nora that is incredible! I ended up making extra sauce just to have on hand anytime we have Mexican for dinner. We used an air fryer for the tofu and it cut the baking time in half. We’ll be using this again!
I am curious as to how long you air fried it. Can you please provide some information about how to do this? Thanks!
Yum! Can’t wait to try this.
So excited for this recipe! I love how simple it is, but nothing is lost on taste. Thank you for another winner!