Recaito Recipe: Cilantro Base (2024)

Published: October 25, 2013 • Modified: May 18, 2021 • by Author: Analida • Word count:415 words. • About 3 minutes to read this article. • This post may contain affiliate links.

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Recaito is a seasoning base for beans, rice, soups and stews. (Pronounced: rec eye eee toe) By itself it has a very strong flavor, but added to dishes, it provides a flavorful base. I recently made recaito from scratch at a cooking class I was teaching. One of the attendants wanted to eat it with chips. He soon found out, that it was a lot stronger than he thought. Funny lesson!!!

Recaito Modifications

I use cilantro since it is readily available. In Latin America and the Caribbean an herb called recao is commonly used. Recao is a deep green tapered leaf with serrated edges about the size of the middle finger. It's flavor is intense, more so than that of cilantro.

How to make recaito step by step:

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Recaito Modifications
How to make recaito step by step:
Recaito Recipe Card: Cilantro Base

Here are the base ingredients of recaito, just add some olive oil to blend.

Freeze into cubes and drop a cube of recaito into your next batch black beans.

Here are some popular dishes that use recaito as a flavoring base:
Cuban style black beans
Mini beef empanadas
Arroz con pollo or rice with chicken
Panamanian beef stew

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Recaito Recipe Card: Cilantro Base

A savory concentrate which forms the basis of stews, rice, and bean dishes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Because of the fresh ingredients, this recipe is preservative free!

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Main dish

Cuisine: Latin American

Keyword: cilantro, food processor, Puerto rican dishes, sauce base, stew base

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 tbsp

Calories: 44kcal

Author: Analida Braeger

Ingredients

1 cilantro 1 bunch
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 onion chopped
6 garlic cloves minced
¼ tsp sugar (paleo diet: honey)
¼ tsp ground pepper cracked
1 tsp Kosher salt (paleo diet: sea salt)

Instructions

Wash cilantro thoroughly.
Cut the lower stems of the cilantro and discard.
With a pair of kitchen shears cut the cilantro bunch into 3 parts and place in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients, and push the on button.
Let it run for about 3 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir the ingredients around.
The final texture should appear chunky.
When finished, recaito should be stored in the freezer. The best way to store is in a covered ice cube tray. If you don't have one, use a regular ice cube tray.
When the cubes are frozen, remove and place in a covered container.
Recaito will keep in your freezer for about 3 months.
You should be able to get close to 12 cubes of recaito from this recipe. Note the nutrition information is based on a 2 Tbsp cube.
See Also
Southwest Ranch Style Beans (Easy Crock Pot Recipe)baked kale chips recipe – use real butter Phat Phrik Khing With Tofu and Long Beans (Thai Dry-Curry Stir-Fry) Recipe

Nutrition

Reader Interactions

Comments

Lorena Roman
November 18, 2013 at 10:40 am

Hola Analida, thanks for your recipe. This is a great recaito base, I like to flavor mine with some spices as well. I had not thought of using ice cube trays to freeze them into portions though, I love that idea!
Reply
- Analida
  November 18, 2013 at 11:36 am
  
  Thanks Lorena. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. The great thing about recipes is that you can alter them to suit your needs. What spices do you like to add to it?
  Reply
Kelly @ TastingPage
June 04, 2015 at 10:48 pm

I hadn't heard of this before, but I think I'd like any dish with this base. Looks like a great starter!
Reply
- Analida
  June 07, 2015 at 1:21 pm
  
  Kelly, thanks. It does add a great flavor to your stews and beans.
  Reply
Lorena
June 05, 2015 at 10:22 am

I cook so many beans I am totally going to try adding this. Really looking forward to try this. Sounds amazing!
Reply
- Analida
  June 07, 2015 at 1:20 pm
  
  Thanks Lorena. Recaito is awesome. It gives your beans and stews a great flavor.
  Reply
  - José
    February 03, 2018 at 7:16 pm
    
    Are you aware that “recaito” is made what we call in Puerto Rico culantro not cilantro? Is a totally different ingredient and it grows as a weed everywhere in the island.
    So it is NOT a cilantro based paste.
    Reply
    - Analida
      February 04, 2018 at 8:49 am
      
      José: I am fully aware. I am from Panama and we have culantro there too. I, however, live in the Northern US where there is no culantro. It was actually my Puerto Rican friend's mother who lives in my town who suggested to me I could make it with cilantro. And yes, it is a different ingredient and a different taste as well.
      Reply
      - Iris Campbell
        October 07, 2021 at 11:22 am
        
        Hi Analida!
        Thanks for all your delicious recipes!
        Whenever I can’t remedy how my grandma made something, I come straight here!
        🇵🇦🥰
        Iris Campbell
Sarah
July 17, 2015 at 8:37 pm

This sounds really yummy! Thanks for linking up to Blogger Brags. I've pinned your post to the Blogger Brags Pinterest board.
Reply
- Analida
  July 18, 2015 at 7:20 pm
  
  Thanks! It is a great base for stews.
  Reply
  - Clara Camp
    April 05, 2019 at 5:56 pm
    
    I accidentally added a small pepper that was hot to the reaction recipe, Is there anything I can do to fix it?
    Reply
    - Analida
      April 05, 2019 at 7:03 pm
      
      If it is not too spicy you can try 1 Tbsp of the recaito in some Latin style black beans. Here is a link: https://ethnicspoon.com/rice-black-beans-pork-chops/
      Once you try it and it is still too spicy you could try to tame down the spice with a little dollop of sour cream on top of the beans to "put out the fire".
      Let me know how it works out.
      Reply
Jamie Satterwaite
July 19, 2015 at 5:17 pm

I go through a ton of cilantro! This is great! Thank you for linking up this weeks Merry Monday Link Party!
Reply
- Analida
  July 20, 2015 at 11:27 am
  
  You are welcome!!
  Reply
laura@motherwouldknow
July 19, 2016 at 9:59 am

I always appreciate learning about different bases for ethnic foods. I've never heard of recaito before, but now I know that mastering it would be a great start for lots of dishes I love.
Reply
- Analida
  July 19, 2016 at 4:06 pm
  
  Hi Laura! I think you will find that making recaito is so easy. The best thing is that you can freeze it for use at a later time. 🙂
  Reply
Pine
May 11, 2018 at 3:57 pm

I think I just got to know something new today. Great knowing I could easily learn a new recipe by stumbling on your blog.
Reply
- Analida
  May 11, 2018 at 4:53 pm
  
  Hi Pine. This is such an easy recipe, and the base for many dishes: stews, beans, etc... It adds so much flavor to foods. Thanks for the 5 star rating.
  Reply
Pamela
March 30, 2020 at 2:37 pm

Thank you for this recipe. I had no recaito and with stay in place i had to look for a substitute. Thankfully my cilantro is starting to grow and I had enough to make this. I used half of it in my rice. It is so so good.
Reply
- Analida
  March 30, 2020 at 4:47 pm
  
  Hi Pamela! I am so glad this worked for your dish! I use recaito all the time and freeze cubes for my Latin Style black beans:
  https://ethnicspoon.com/rice-black-beans-pork-chops/
  Enjoy!
  Reply
Ruth Howell
September 24, 2021 at 7:17 pm

Since I just found this recipe and I've dried all my cilantro for this season, can you give me an approximate amount of dried cilantro to use in this recipe? Thanks in advance !!
Reply
- Analida
  September 25, 2021 at 2:54 pm
  
  Recaito is really a wet condiment with a paste-like texture or base so the dried cilantro won't work. I always use fresh.
  Enjoy!
  Reply

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