Recaito substitute

Best substitute

Homemade Recaito (blend it yourself)

Makes about 2 cups: 1 large bunch cilantro, 6 to 10 culantro leaves if available, 1 medium onion, 1 whole head of garlic peeled, 1 cubanelle or green bell pepper, 4 to 6 aji dulce or ½ red bell pepper, blitzed coarse with a splash of water or olive oil

Best for arroz con gandules

Close match

Not really a substitute, just the thing itself, and it is genuinely faster than driving to a shop that stocks the jar. It also tastes considerably greener and sharper than anything commercial.

Other recaito substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cilantro, Onion and Garlic Blended (no culantro)
Different taste
Use the same amount for recaito. Per ½ cup: 1 packed cup cilantro, ½ small onion, 4 garlic cloves, ½ green bell pepper
The everyday substitute for people who cannot find culantro, which is most people outside a Latin or Caribbean market.
What changes
It covers most of the ground.
Best for
rice dishes, stewed beans, braised chicken, soups, marinades
Culantro, also called recao or chadon beni, is the one thing you cannot fake here. It is far more pungent than cilantro and holds up through a long simmer where cilantro fades after twenty minutes, so a stew made without it tastes right at first and then noticeably flatter by the end. Push back by using a generous amount of cilantro, adding half of it at the start and half in the last five minutes, and stirring in a pinch of dried oregano for staying power.
3Jarred or Homemade Red Sofrito
Different taste
Use the same amount
The most likely thing to be in the fridge already, and it works, because it is the same family of aromatics.
What changes
The difference is what has been added rather than what is missing.
Best for
rice and beans, stews, picadillo, soups, guisos
Red sofrito usually carries tomato and often annatto or achiote, so your dish comes out orange-red instead of green-flecked, sweeter, and with a faint tinned-tomato edge that recaito does not have. In arroz con gandules that is almost invisible and arguably traditional. In a light green pollo guisado or an asopao it changes the look of the dish completely. Cut back any tomato paste or annatto elsewhere in your recipe to compensate.
4Trinidadian Green Seasoning
Different taste
Use the same amount and cut the thyme elsewhere in the recipe
The closest cousin recaito has anywhere in the Caribbean, built on the same culantro backbone plus scallion, garlic and hot pepper.
What changes
If a West Indian grocery has green seasoning but no recaito, buy it without hesitation.
Best for
stewed chicken, rice dishes, beans, fish, marinades, pelau
Green seasoning leans on thyme, scallion and often hot pepper in a way recaito does not, so a Puerto Rican rice made with it tastes distinctly herbal and a bit hotter, more Trini than Boricua. That is a good dinner, just not the one the recipe describes. Many jarred versions also contain vinegar, which brightens the pot and can make beans taste slightly pickled, so taste before adding any acid of your own.
5Chopped Aromatics Straight Into the Pan
Taste and texture differ
Per 2 tablespoons recaito: 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons finely minced onion, 2 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper, 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro added at the end
The no-blender, no-shopping answer, and honestly how the dish would have been made before food processors.
What changes
Same ingredients, different form.
Best for
rice dishes, beans, soups, sauteed dishes, any recipe using 1 to 3 tablespoons of recaito
Because the pieces are larger, they brown rather than melting into the oil, so the dish tastes more of sweet caramelised onion and pepper and less of raw green herb, which is a real difference in something like habichuelas guisadas where the fresh green note is the signature. Chop everything as fine as your patience allows, sweat it gently in oil for five to six minutes without colouring, and add the cilantro off the heat.
6Frozen Onion and Pepper Mix Plus Fresh Garlic and Cilantro
Taste and texture differ
Per ¼ cup recaito: ¼ cup frozen chopped onion and pepper mix, 3 minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
A genuinely useful shortcut, since the frozen seasoning blends sold in most supermarkets contain roughly the right vegetables already chopped.
What changes
Best for
weeknight rice and beans, stews, soups, ground beef dishes
Frozen vegetables release water, so let them cook until the pan is dry again before you add anything else or the base will steam rather than fry and the dish will taste washed out. The garlic and cilantro must be fresh, because those are the two flavours frozen mixes handle worst. The result is a competent background rather than the bright green punch of real recaito.

What is Recaito?

Recaito is the green Puerto Rican cooking base, blended raw from culantro, cilantro, onion, garlic and sweet peppers with no tomato in it, and its job is to give a dish its entire aromatic foundation the moment it hits hot oil.

Cooking tips

Recaito is the green one and sofrito, at least in Puerto Rican usage, is the one with tomato and often annatto in it. Recipes and brands use the words loosely, and Goya sells both under separate labels, so when a recipe calls for recaito specifically it means a green base with no tomato and the dish is meant to look green-flecked rather than orange.
Culantro, also sold as recao, chadon beni or shado beni, is the ingredient that makes recaito taste like recaito. It looks like a long serrated dandelion leaf and is nothing like cilantro to smell. If you find it, buy a lot and freeze it whole, because it is the one component with no real substitute.
Recaito goes into hot oil at the very start of the dish and needs three to five minutes of gentle frying before anything else joins it. It should sizzle and smell sweet, not brown. Burnt recaito turns bitter and there is no rescuing a pot once that happens.
Freeze your own in an ice cube tray, then bag the cubes. Two tablespoons is one standard cube and is roughly what a pot of rice for four people wants, which makes weeknight cooking much easier than measuring from a jar.
A raw blended green base has no acid or salt doing preservation work, so it belongs in the freezer or in the fridge for a few days at most. Do not water-bath can it, and do not leave a jar of it out on the counter. If you want a shelf-stable version, follow a tested recipe and check National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) guidance.

Frequently asked questions

Is recaito the same as sofrito?

They overlap but they are not the same. Recaito is the green Puerto Rican base of culantro, cilantro, onion, garlic and sweet peppers with no tomato. Sofrito in Puerto Rican cooking usually means a version with tomato and often annatto, which makes it orange-red, and in Spanish and Italian cooking sofrito means something different again. They substitute for each other at 1:1 and the dish will be good either way, but the colour and the sweetness will change noticeably.

Can I make recaito without culantro?

Yes, and most home cooks outside the Caribbean do. Use extra cilantro, roughly double what the recipe suggests, and split it so half goes into the blend and half goes into the pot near the end of cooking. Culantro's real advantage is that it survives a long simmer while cilantro fades, so adding fresh cilantro late gets back some of that green punch. A pinch of dried oregano adds herbal staying power too.

Can I just leave the recaito out?

You can, but the dish will taste noticeably empty, because recaito is not a seasoning sprinkled on top, it is the entire aromatic foundation. A pot of arroz con gandules or habichuelas guisadas without it tastes like plain rice and beans. At minimum, sweat some finely chopped onion, green pepper and garlic in oil before you add anything else, and stir chopped cilantro in at the end, which gets you most of the way there with no special shopping.

How much recaito should I use in a recipe?

As a rough guide, two to three tablespoons per four servings of rice or beans, and a little more for a stew, though Puerto Rican cooks vary this enormously and many use considerably more. If you are substituting a homemade blend, start with the amount your recipe gives, taste the base once it has fried for a few minutes, and add another spoonful if it smells thin. Store-bought recaito is saltier than homemade, so taste before you add salt.

Can I use chimichurri or jarred salsa verde instead of recaito?

Neither is a good swap. Argentinian chimichurri is loaded with vinegar and dried oregano and is a finishing sauce, so frying it as a base gives you a sour, harsh pot. Mexican salsa verde is built on tomatillos and is acidic and tart in a way that will curdle the flavour of stewed beans. If those are your only options, use half the amount and add no other acid, but chopped fresh onion, garlic, pepper and cilantro will serve you far better.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Recaito substitute

Other recaito substitutes

2Cilantro, Onion and Garlic Blended (no culantro)

3Jarred or Homemade Red Sofrito

4Trinidadian Green Seasoning

5Chopped Aromatics Straight Into the Pan

6Frozen Onion and Pepper Mix Plus Fresh Garlic and Cilantro