A delicious copycat recipe for Chipotle’s tofu sofritas that’s loaded with flavor and a hint of spice. It’s the perfect vegan protein option for homemade burrito bowls!
I don’t know about you, but I was so excited when Chipotle came out with their tofu sofritas a couple years ago. If you’re not familiar, sofritas are made of marinated and braised tofu and this addition to the menu gives vegetarians/vegans a meat-free option at this popular restaurant!
Sure, you can totally just avoid meat and load up on rice, beans and veggies, but I love the added protein sofritas (aka tofu) can add to a meal. I’m not vegetarian, but I still get super excited with big chains start offering plant-based options.
And since Chipotle burrito bowls are so tasty (but kind of pricey) I figured I should create a copycat recipe so we can all have Chipotle burrito bowls at home on the reg.
How to Make Tofu Sofritas
The star ingredient in the sofritas recipe is the tofu. Look for extra firm tofu. I love the Twin Oaks brand, which is made locally, but any extra firm tofu will do.
You’ll want to drain and press your tofu before cooking. Not familiar with tofu prep? No worries! Cut a slit in the tofu package and drain all of the water out. Create a tofu press by wrapping the tofu block in paper towels or a clean dish towel and set on a baking sheet or cutting board – just make sure it’s a flat surface!
Stack a few heavy items on top to press the extra moisture out. I love using a cast iron skillet, canned food or cookbooks. It can take 30-90 minutes to press most of the moisture out (depending how heavy your pressing items are!).
Why Press Your Tofu?
It takes out all of the excess moisture so it will crisp nicely and absorb the flavors in the dish… #science. If you eat tofu often, it might be worth investing in a tofu press. I have one and love it.
Prep The Sauce
While your tofu is getting pressed, you can go ahead and prep the sauce. Start by blistering the poblano pepper. Again, this may seem intimidating but I promise it’s super simple! Simply hold over the flame of a gas range or broil it in the oven. Let cool then remove the stem and seeds. Blend the roasted poblano pepper, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, onion, garlic, tomato paste, tamari, apple cider vinegar, water, sugar and salt.
Once your tofu has been pressed, cut into cubes and add to a skillet with olive oil. Cook until the cubes are golden brown on all sides and then use your spatula to break up the cubes into crumbles. Stir in the sauce and simmer.
Assemble your bowls and voila! You’ve got a copycat Chipotle tofu sofritas burrito bowl.
If you make this Copycat Chipotle Tofu Sofritas recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how they turn out. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers!
A delicious copycat recipe for Chipotle’s tofu sofritas that’s loaded with flavor and a hint of spice. It makes a great vegan protein option for homemade burrito bowls!
Ingredients
Tofu Sofritas
1 medium poblano pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 16 oz package of package of tofu, drained, pressed and chopped into cubes
1 large or two small chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce)
2 Tablespoons extra adobo sauce
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon organic sugar or coconut sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Burrito Bowls
8 cups romaine lettuce
2 cups brown rice
1 cup cooked black beans
1/2 cup chopped mini bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
avocado (or guacamole)
Instructions
To Make Tofu Sofritas:
Char poblano pepper by holding it over the flame of a gas range until it’s blistered and warm throughout or broil in the oven. For the oven method, rub a little olive oil over the outside of the pepper and heat on broil for about 15-20 minutes or until the pepper is soft and blistered. Let cool before removing the stem and seeds from the pepper. See photo. You can also remove the skin if you’d like, but I didn’t.
In a food processor or high powered blender add roasted poblano pepper, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, onion, garlic, tomato paste, tamari, apple cider vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth.
Meanwhile in a large skillet heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot add tofu cubes and cook until all sides of the tofu are golden brown. You’ll have to keep stirring the tofu throughout for this to happen. Once golden, use your spatula to crumble the tofu into small pieces. You can leave some cubes larger for more texture.
Pour sauce into the skillet with the tofu and simmer for about 10 minutes, adding an additional 1/4 cup of water if needed for desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
To Make Burrito Bowls:
To make bowls, add a base of romaine lettuce to each bowl and top with a portion of the tofu sofritas, 1/2 cup brown rice, black beans, bell pepper, red onion, cilantro and avocado (or guac).
Category:Lunch/Dinner
Method:Stovetop
Cuisine:Mexican
Nutrition
Serving Size:1/4 of recipe
Calories:348
Sugar:5g
Fat:10g
Carbohydrates:46g
Fiber:10g
Protein:18g
Keywords: tofu sofritas
This post may include affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
So yummy! Only thing was I made mine a touch too spicy. I was tearing over my tofu LOL! But very delicious…satisfied my craving for take out! Will make again!
This is absolutely amazing. We’ve made it three times in the past month, and it even reheats well. At my grocery store, the poblanos come in bags so I doubled the recipe to use up what I had left. Do you know if the sofritas ‘sauce’ (minus the tofu) freezes well?
Thank you for this recipe. I love it and wanted to let you know I referenced it in my own blog. I consulted this recipe prior to making my own copycat chipotle bowl!
Interesting recipe. Glad to see one for exta firm tofu, as the only affordable organic tofu I have ever met is extra firm and all the recipes I ran into called for soft or medium. lol So, thank you for that!
Am wondering – and, not feeling bad about it, since you are not a vegan /vegetarian- if a tofu press has the potential to squeeze the added water back out of ground meats.
Ever tried it for that?
P.S. For those who care, I am rating this recipe based on reading it, knowing how to cook for a long time, and, my love of spices.Plus the detailed information on how to do a few things. I have not made any food from following it or based on it.
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Marna!! I’m glad you guys are loving this recipe. Thanks for trying it and for coming back to leave a comment and star rating, it means the world to me. <3
Just a tip on blistering chile poblano, in our Mexican culture we use a comal to blister the chiles which is a round, flat griddle. Heat on high and place the chiles until blistered and then peel. They will give it a different taste.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Mel! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment and star rating, I so appreciate it! The great thing is that it’s super customizable and you can add or change ingredients however you see fit. I haven’t tried frozen tofu with this recipe, but I’m sure that would still turn out just fine. Let me know if you end up trying it and how it turns out.
I love every single recipe I’ve tried from you, which is quite a lot! They’re all 5 stars. Just HAD to post this 5 star review to offset the unreasonable 1 star review lol.
Ahh thank you so much Monica, that makes me so happy to hear. I’m glad you’re loving the recipes and thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It’s super helpful to other readers. 🙂
This is really interesting and looks so yummy and beautiful, how can I do adobo sauce? In portugal I can’t get this kind of sauce, would you recommend any site to buy or is it easy to make?
Thank you
margarida
Leave a Comment
So yummy! Only thing was I made mine a touch too spicy. I was tearing over my tofu LOL! But very delicious…satisfied my craving for take out! Will make again!
★★★★★
Woo!! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Liz. Thanks for the review. 🙂
YUMMY!!!!!! The only changes I made was I air fried the tofu (no oil) and added a bit of cinnamon in place of the sugar. DELISH!!! Thank you!!!
★★★★★
So glad you loved this recipe!! I so appreciate you making it and coming back to leave a review. It means the world to me. 🙂
SO good! I was too hungry to wait for the tofu to completely brown so it was a little squishy but still tasted just as good
★★★★★
Oh yay! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jenna. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I appreciate it!
An excellent recipe I come back to again and again. Also makes for great breakfast burritos you can prep and freeze for the week ahead.
★★★★★
So glad you’re loving this recipe, Steve! I appreciate you coming back to leave a comment + star rating. 🙂
Very good for vegan dinner! Thank u, I love it))) also good recipes here https://cooking-green.com
★★★★★
This is absolutely amazing. We’ve made it three times in the past month, and it even reheats well. At my grocery store, the poblanos come in bags so I doubled the recipe to use up what I had left. Do you know if the sofritas ‘sauce’ (minus the tofu) freezes well?
★★★★★
Thank you for this recipe. I love it and wanted to let you know I referenced it in my own blog. I consulted this recipe prior to making my own copycat chipotle bowl!
I’m so glad you’re loving this recipe, Nicole!! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
very informative -article -thank you
How to loss belly fat |loss belly fat at home
https://techwikibd.com/how-to-lose-belly-fat-naturally-at-home-in-30-days/
Such a treat!! Thanks for this amazing recipe!
★★★★★
Interesting recipe. Glad to see one for exta firm tofu, as the only affordable organic tofu I have ever met is extra firm and all the recipes I ran into called for soft or medium. lol So, thank you for that!
Am wondering – and, not feeling bad about it, since you are not a vegan /vegetarian- if a tofu press has the potential to squeeze the added water back out of ground meats.
Ever tried it for that?
P.S. For those who care, I am rating this recipe based on reading it, knowing how to cook for a long time, and, my love of spices.Plus the detailed information on how to do a few things. I have not made any food from following it or based on it.
★★★★★
Hey Arletta – I haven’t tried using a tofu press to squeeze liquid out of ground meats. Let me know if you end up trying it!
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe! My son and I had never tried tofu before, until this. Now he asks for this dish once a week!
★★★★★
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Marna!! I’m glad you guys are loving this recipe. Thanks for trying it and for coming back to leave a comment and star rating, it means the world to me. <3
1 large or two small chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce)
Does this mean one or two cans? or Peppers? I used two (7oz) cans and it made so much sauce.
Hey Janine – So sorry for the confusion, it’s just 1 large or 2 small peppers, not 1 or 2 full cans of the peppers.
Just a tip on blistering chile poblano, in our Mexican culture we use a comal to blister the chiles which is a round, flat griddle. Heat on high and place the chiles until blistered and then peel. They will give it a different taste.
★★★★★
Made this past night and liked it, but am thinking about how to tweak. Have you ever frozen tofu (this recipe?) and how did it come out? Thanks.
★★★★
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Mel! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment and star rating, I so appreciate it! The great thing is that it’s super customizable and you can add or change ingredients however you see fit. I haven’t tried frozen tofu with this recipe, but I’m sure that would still turn out just fine. Let me know if you end up trying it and how it turns out.
Easy recipe but awesome flavor. Thank you! This is one of my go-to dinners now!
★★★★★
Yay!! That makes me so happy to hear, Elizabeth. Thanks for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it! <3
So yummy! Staple in our household
★★★★★
Ahh I love hearing that, Monica! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I so appreciate it!
I love every single recipe I’ve tried from you, which is quite a lot! They’re all 5 stars. Just HAD to post this 5 star review to offset the unreasonable 1 star review lol.
★★★★★
Ahh thank you so much Monica, that makes me so happy to hear. I’m glad you’re loving the recipes and thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It’s super helpful to other readers. 🙂
I am just not up to the challenge of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. too hot for me
★
Um, this looks AMAZING. Nice work, friend!
Thanks babe!! <3
Hi
This is really interesting and looks so yummy and beautiful, how can I do adobo sauce? In portugal I can’t get this kind of sauce, would you recommend any site to buy or is it easy to make?
Thank you
margarida
★★★★★