ropa vieja recipe

Cuban Ropa Vieja, the popular national dish of Cuba, is made with flank steak  braised in a flavorful sauce made with bell peppers, onions and briny pimento stuffed olives. It is then shredded into long strands and served over rice.

Cuban Ropa Vieja Recipe (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot)

flank steak

Salt and black pepper

onion,

bell peppers, seeded and

garlic cloves,

carrot,

celery rib, halved crosswise

white wine

chicken broth

tomato paste

oregano

cumin

allspice

paprika

bay leaves

tomatoes

pimento-stuffed olives,

cilantro

Cut the flank steak into 2 or 3 large pieces that will fit comfortably in your slow cooker. Season the meat with salt and ground black pepper.

Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches if needed, add the steak and sear the meat on both sides for about 5 -6 minutes or until browned. Transfer the meat to a plate.

Add the remaining oil to the skillet, the sliced onions and bell peppers and cook for about 5 - 6 minutes or until the vegetables become tender. Lower the heat to medium low and add the garlic. Cook for an additional minute.

Place the carrots and celery at the bottom of the slow cooker. Place half of the pepper and onions on top. Place the seared flank steak on top of the vegetables and pour the rest of the onion/pepper mixture on top.

Stir in the wine, broth, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, oregano, cumin, all-spice, paprika, and bay leaves. Gently mix to combine.

Cook on low for 8 hours hours or on high for 4.5 to 5 hours until the beef is tender and shreds easily with 2 forks.

Remove the carrots, celery and bay leaves from the slow cooker. Remove the beef from the slow cooker and using 2 forks, pull apart into thin, long shreds.

Return the shredded beef into the pot and mix to combine. Add the olives and chopped cilantro or parsley and mix well. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste and cook on low for an additional 20 minutes. Serve garnished with extra cilantro or parsley if desired.

Cuba&#39;s national dish, Ropa Vieja, is a hearty and delicious dish made with flavorful ingredients such as flank steak, vegetables, and spices and served with rice and black beans.

Ropa Vieja Recipe

onion

garlic (peeled)

salt

black pepper

olive oil

white onion

red bell pepper

green bell pepper

garlic (minced)

Mexican oregano

low-sodium beef broth (see notes)

dry white wine

tomato sauce

manzanilla olives

Add the flank steak, onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper to a large pot, filling the pot with enough cold water to cover the steak. Bring it to a boil.

Once it reaches a boil, immediately reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer for approximately 2 hours, or until the steak is fork tender. Carefully remove the steak from the pot and let it cool before shredding. Strain the broth into a clean jar and save it for later use.

Add the olive oil to a large skillet or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the diced onion, red bell peppers, and green bell peppers to the hot oil and sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 4 minutes.

Add the minced garlic, tomato paste, oregano, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the spices become fragrant.

Stir in the beef broth, white wine, tomato sauce, and olives, bringing the mixture to a low boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce has reduced.

Add the shredded beef to the sauce, mixing well to combine. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the beef is heated through.

Serve with warm yellow or white rice, black beans, and plantains, and garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Ropa Vieja translates to “old clothes.” This Cuban recipe is shredded beef dish that is braised in a tomatoes and spices. Serve it over rice with a side of maduros.

carrot

cabbage (quartered )

Italian parsley

mint

garlic

pepper

cloves

red bell peppers (stemmed, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced )

lime

bay leaf

Fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)

Place the ingredients for the beef in a Dutch oven with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cook, covered, until the beef is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you’re using top round, it’ll take about 2 1/2 hours to be tender. 

Remove the pot from the heat and allow the beef to cool in the broth, so it will stay moist and juicy. Reserve about 3/4 cups of broth. Drain the beef and transfer to a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the beef apart. Set the shredded beef aside. 

To Make the Braised Beef:

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven (you can use the one you used to cook the beef, no need to rinse it out either). Add the onion and red bell pepper and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the minced garlic, salt and spices.

Add the reserved broth, crushed tomato, lime juice, and bay leaf and return to a simmer. Stir in the shredded beef, reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, 15 to 20 minutes.

Give it a taste and adjust the salt according to your liking. Serve over rice and top with a sprinkling of parsley. 

To Make the Ropa Vieja:

Thank you for this post. I have made the original of this but really like this adaptation, especially as it relates to the braise ingredients and the use of fresh peppers when making the final dish. Maybe a dumb question, but I always assumed that the vegetables used in the initial braise are discarded, correct? Is this what you do? 

Thank you for your post.

Learn how to make authentic Cuban ropa vieja! This slow-cooked Cuban-style shredded beef dish is made with tenderized flank steak, Cuban sofrito, and spices, all simmered in a flavorful tomato-based sauce. This ropa vieja recipe requires only 25 minutes of hands-on work once the meat is tenderized.

Ropa Vieja Recipe (Cuban Shredded Beef)

lbs flank steak

Water ((enough

green bell pepper (sliced lengthwise)

whole red pimientos (sliced lengthwise)

vino seco ((dry cooking wine))

Salt + pepper

In a Dutch oven or large pot, add the meat with water and salt. Cook at medium-low until the meat is tender, about 2 hours. (In a pressure cooker, this takes about 40 minutes). Transfer the meat to a plate. Using two forks, shred the beef. Set aside.

Cooking The Meat

In a large skillet, heat olive oil at medium heat. Add green pepper, onion, and pimientos. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.

Add tomato sauce, vino seco (dry cooking wine), cumin, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, at medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add the shredded beef to the skillet. Stir to combine with the tomato-based sauce. Cover and cook on LOW for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, without letting it dry out. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy!

Making The Ropa Vieja

The best recipe to ever! My husband loved the Ropa Vieja. He said it tasted exactly like the kind his mother would get at El Palacio de los Jugo’s.
It made me feel so good. Thank you for sharing your recipes. You make it so easy by explaining each step and showing pictures. 

It was delicious! I tried this dish at a restaurant and i was looking for a recipe to make it at home. This recipe was easy to make and it tasted great!

This recipe is the most Authentic Cuban Ropa vejia. I do it with Chicken or flank steak, only difference is I add 2 packets of Sazon,  juice to olives with the olives, 2am additional can of sauce , 1 jar of sofrito &amp; maybe 2 teaspoons of Adobo then it comes out like my Cuban mother en-laws. I also through all the ingredients into a pot without sautee, pressure cook for 1 hour. Shred the meat &amp; place into pint jars &amp; pressure can for shelf stability for 45m..Heavily requested in my family

I’m so happy that you posted this recipe! I’m Cuban and my best friend gets really mad at me, because she doesn’t believe me when I say we put a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. She thinks that I don’t wanna give her the recipe. 🤦‍♀️ I showed her your recipe and LOL she just looked at me and said are you for real? Do you guys really cook like that? 
I made the Ropa Vieja last night following your recipe step-by-step. It was awesome. I got some of it and put it in a strainer over a container for most of the liquid would come out and made empanadas with it. It was a total hit. Thank you for sharing the recipe with us. Looking forward to making more of your recipes.. 

This was so tasty and easy to make! Also I am vegan and this was very easy to “veganize”. 👌

My husband does not eat red meat, so I used shredded rotisserie chicken and it came out really good. He loved it.

I made it and it was delicious! My entire family loved it!! Now when I go to a Cuban restaurant I won’t need to order it. I can now make it myself! Yours is the best recipe I’ve tried!! So glad I found it!

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The most viewed ropa vieja recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine