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Cuban Carne con Papas is a Cuban household staple. Growing up, my mom made this about once a week. To this day I am completely obsessed with this easy recipe!
Cuban Carne con Papa is one of my favorite meals and one of my first cooking videos on youtube. I absolutely love any dish that contains tender beef. You won’t need a knife to cut the beef. The beef should fall apart while using a fork.
Yes, it takes about 2 1/2 hours to cook but it’s so worth it. Cuban meals are usually cooked long and slow. Not a lot of prep goes into this, so that’s a good thing. I consider this comfort food.
I got this Cuban Carne con Papa recipe from my grandma who is the queen of Cuban recipes. The only difference is, she doesn’t add flour nor sears the beef.
Why this Cuban Carne con Papa is so good
- The beef is extremely tender and you don’t even need a knife.
- You don’t need to serve this with Cuban black beans or salad. Plain white rice is the only accompaniment you need.
- This recipe is super inexpensive to make. Because the beef will cook for 2 1/2 hours, you don’t have to purchase an expensive cut of meat.
How to make Cuban Carne con Papa:
- Season the beef with salt and pepper and coat with all-purpose flour, shaking off any excess flour.
- Heat a large pot with oil over medium-high heat. Cook the beef for 5-6 minutes on each side.
- Remove the beef from the pot. Add the onions and peppers to the pot and cook until the onions and peppers are translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom bits with a wooden spoon. Cook until the wine reduces by half.
- Add the beef back to the pot along with the tomato sauce, sazon, bay leaves, water, olives, cumin, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour or until the beef is super tender.
- One hour later, add the potatoes, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until the beef and potatoes are fork-tender.
More Cuban recipes to check out:
Cuban Carne con Papa
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 small onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp Sazon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup olives
- 3 cups water
- 3 potatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season the beef with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the all purpose flour over the beef and coat on each side, remove any excess flour.
- Sear the beef in a large skillet with vegetable oil over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes on each side.
- Remove the beef from the skillet and add some extra oil if needed.
- Add the onions and peppers to the skillet and cook until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Pour the dry white wine and deglaze the skillet.
- Cook the veggies and wine until he wine reduces by half.
- Place the beef back into the skillet.
- Add the tomato sauce, cumin, sazon, bay leaves, water, olives, salt, and pepper.
- Cook for 1 hour on low heat or until the beef is tender.
- One hour later add the potatoes, cover, and cook until the potatoes and beef are fork tender.
- Check for seasoning, then serve over white rice and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Omg this really hit home for me. I make this all the time but I was looking online to see how other people make it and this has to be by far the best way to do it. Thank you so much for making this video and posting this recipe. I used to hate this as a kid too and this recipe really makes me feel at home.
Thank you for the kind feedback! I truly appreciate it, so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Hi Julie,
I know you say salt & pepper to taste but I made another recipe of yours (fricasé de pollo) and I didn’t add enough salt. It was otherwise perfect. Can you tell me more or less what amount of salt I should use for the carne don papas and the fricase? Please, thank you!
Hi Jessica, It honestly all depends. I like my food on the saltier side so I use quite a bit. I would say about 1/2 tbsp with a chicken stew (fricase de pollo) I would definitely use more salt with a chicken stew vs a beef stew only cause I find chicken super bland. I always say keep adding salt until it tastes good.
Hey for the carne con papa do you think I would be able to make it in the crockpot? How long should I leave it for ?
Hi Helen, You can certainly make it in the crockpot. I would cook it on slow for 6-8 hours.
Thanks so much for the reciepe, I tried it in the crockpot on high for 5 hours and it tastes amazing, the meat and potatoes are perfect almost just like my grandmother used to make it.