Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja: Cuba's famously delicious shredded beef stew with peppers!
I've lived way too long hearing about, being tempted by, but not cooking Cuba's national dish, ropa vieja: shredded beef stew.
Finally, last week I immersed myself in a week of research and recipe testing. The happy outcome is this scrumptious recipe for slow cooker Cuban ropa vieja.
Ropa Vieja means "old clothes" in Spanish.
Old clothes tend to be shredded and so is the beef in this stew, hence the name.
This kind of dish is perfect for the slow cooker. The long, slow braise tenderizes the meat and allows all the wonderful flavors to soak in.
How To Make Ropa Vieja in the Slow Cooker
My slow cooker lives deep in my pantry closet where it often stays for months. Occasionally I remember it's there, pull it out and fall back in love. It's great for those busy times when there just aren't enough hours in the day (my life lately). I love knowing the crock pot is chugging along for me all day long.
In a matter of hours, while you're off getting work done or (even better) enjoying the lazy days of summer, solid hunks of beef simmer with onions, garlic mild fruity peppers and a deliciously spiced tomato sauce. The meat is transformed to a beautiful tenderness, easily pulled into shreds using two forks.
After it's shredded, the meat goes back in the slow cooker for a half hour more, along with some sliced olives and a splash of vinegar, to build that final layer of flavor. The result is the most tender, succulent and irresistibly delicious shredded beef stew!
What to serve with Ropa Vieja
It's traditional to serve ropa vieja with rice and black beans. Fried plantains are often on the side as well.
Plain white rice will do just fine. There's plenty of flavor in the stew.
But if you're interested, here's what I did to take the rice up a notch: sauté a teaspoon of minced garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil for 30 seconds in a saucepan. Add 1½ cups of raw white rice and cooked it, tossing, for about a minute, in the garlicky oil. Add 3 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt, cover and cook on low, per the package directions, about 15 minutes.
Here's a great recipe for quick cuban black beans.
If you can get everything going in your crock pot in the morning, come dinner time, you're in for a treat - a delightful tender stew, ready to ladle over a bed of rice!
Other Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes to try
• Slow Cooker chicken tajine with apricots and chickpeas
• Slow Cooker Brazilian Feijoada
• Slow Cooker Chicken with Dried Cherries
Here's the recipe for slow cooker ropa vieja. If you make this I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintSlow Cooker Ropa Vieja: Old Clothes
- Total Time: 6 hours 15 mins
- Yield: 6-7 1x
Description
This delicious stew of tender shredded beef, bell peppers, tomatoes, olives and spices is Cuba's national dish and it's perfect for the slow cooker. Serve it with rice, black beans and/or fried plantains.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 pounds London broil or boneless chuck roast (flank steak or brisket also work well)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 carrot, scraped and sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 Cubanelle pepper or green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 whole head of garlic, cloves peeled and roughly chopped (10 cloves or 3 ½ tablespoons)
- ½ cup dry white wine (Vermouth works well)
- 2 cups good quality canned tomato puree (such as Muir Glenn organic)
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup low-salt chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup sliced green olives
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- Garnish:
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 lime or two, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Season meat on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper. Heat oil in a heavy (preferably cast iron) skillet. Brown meat over high heat for 3 minutes per side. Transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker. Toss in the sliced carrot.
- Add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet along with the garlic, onions and peppers. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 6-7 minutes until the vegetables are softened and starting to caramelize, stirring constantly for the first minute, to make sure the garlic doesn't brown. Add wine and simmer for a minute, stirring and scraping the browned bits from the pan. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl whisk tomato puree, tomato paste, broth, dried spices and 2 teaspoons salt. Pour over meat. Cook on high for 6 hours. After 5 ½ hours remove the meat. Shred it by pulling it apart using two forks. Return it to the slow cooker. Stir in olives and vinegar. Continue to cook for 30 minutes more.
- Serve ropa vieja with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro and lime wedges on the side.
- Traditional accompaniments are white rice and black beans.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Dinner Stew
- Method: slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Cuban
If you're in the mood for more great crock pot recipes, check out this roundup of delicious healthy summer slow cooker recipes from Cooking Light.
Ronald Guentzler
Cuban style Ropa Vieja is great. So are the Mexico City and Tijuana and the East L.A. versions. A few hints that work for my wife and I. Our Nom de Plume is PatRon. Cut the beef in large chunks for browning. And cut back a touch on the tomatoes. Used stuffed olives and a Tbsp. of olive brine works wonders and it's free. We have just started following your blog. Good luck.
Amy
Woah! This was great! This recipe is a little more detailed than my old ropa vieja recipe, but the extra time and extra ingredients were more than worth it. Thanks so much for this.
Laura A Lauri
I try to use my crockpot once a week in order to have meal that is already prepared when I get home. This came out perfect! Looking at the reviews I notice people have been making this stew and raving about it for years. I am sorry I didn't make note of your quick black bean recipe. My husband and I would have loved them. We will wind up with plenty of leftover. I plan to freeze them and make the beans with the dinner next time.
Jean
Made this yesterday and it was a big hit. Served it with black beans with jalapeno/lime and a brown jasmati rice. The dish worked well in the slow cooker, but nect time I might try to adapt it for my instant pot. The recipe has a permanent place in my recipe file folder.
Rose
This was AMAZING. I am not a huge fan of beef but was searching slow cooker recipes and this looked really good. I love how tender the beef gets (what usually turns me off is how chewy it is - my jaw hurts halfway through a steak) and all of the flavors meld really well and give the beef such a great taste! My fiance loved it too! This will definitely become a regular in our household 🙂
Karis
Do you have to cool everything first on the stove? What happens if you just throw everything in the crock pot without browning the meat or caramelizing the veggies?
Lisa
That's a great question. I've never tried just throwing it all in. I'd be very curious to know how good that is. I find that searing the meat first helps seal in the juices so the meat gets nice and tender. Browning the meat and the veggies also adds another layer of flavor to a dish. But I wonder if the dish would still be delicious without all that extra effort. Please let me know how it turns out if you decide to give that a try.
Yvette
I just started making this dishand i just all in the crock pot at once and I add some potatoes (like 2) i let it cook 6 hours then i shredded in the the Crock-Pot then let it simmer why I make the white rice
Kathy
This looks really good. Do you think I can half the recipe and it still come out good? I know sometimes the liquids are needed.
Lisa
Kathy, I think it will be fine. The slow cooking will tenderize the meat and there will be plenty of sauce. Let me know how it turns out!
Oliwia
Please tell me how you shred the meat? You take it out from the stew, shred it and.then put it back? Also, do you later somehow use that carrot since it wasn't sliced into small pieces? I don't have a slow cooker so I gotta try with the oven
Lisa
Hi Oliwia, you should have great results in the oven. I wait until the stew is done and the meat is extremely tender. Then I pull it apart easily using two forks. You can either do it in the pot or put it on a cutting board to shred it. If the carrot doesn't fall apart while cooking, you can cut it up if you like. It'll be delicious but it's mostly in there to add flavor. I hope you enjoy the ropa vieja!
Oliwia
Thanks! I'll try to cook it today. I like carrot, so I think I'll add some sliced carrot for last 30 or 40 minutes. I bet champignon mushrooms would also work well with this stew. Maybe you can try next time
Rita
Hi lisa,i will make this today,do u recomend shrered the meet at the end or little bit before the 6hrs end? It will be my first time using my crock pot 🙂
Lisa
Hi Rita, I always wait until the end to shred the meat. At that point it will fall apart easily. Enjoy!! 🙂
John
Hi! Going to try this out over the weekend. A couple of questions: at what point do you shred the beef? Also do you discard the carrot halves - or do they break up into the sauce?
Lisa
Hi John! Good questions - when you turn off the slow cooker give the stew a stir. The meat should fall apart easily. You can shred it more, if you like. I usually do that right in the pot with two forks. By the time the stew is done, the carrots are delicious and tender so you can either leave them as is or break them up or slice them to your liking. I hope you enjoy the ropa vieja! Let me know.
Jenny
This was unbelievable delicious, the only change I made was using regular chicken broth versus low sodium and 1/4 cup olives instead of half. Cuban is my favorite type of food and this is the best Ropa Vieja I have had, and I am not a cook by any means. Because of this prep took me a while about an hour to cut all the veggies and cook everything before the crock pot. Thank you so much for the recipe really delicious!
Lisa
I'm so glad you enjoyed Jenny!
Melissa
Made this on Monday and I can’t even tell you how much we love it!!! Since I turned it on when I went to work I had it on low for 10 hours. My house smelled ah-ma-zing when I got home and my husband called it restaurant quality. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Ate the left overs last night and I already can’t wait to make it again.
Lisa
I'm so happy to hear! Reading your review is making me want to make it again soon! 🙂
Lisa
I just made this! And my house smells so good! We are having guests for dinner and can’t wait to taste it. I think I’m going to cook on low for more hours like someone else did since it’s 8am lol. Thanks so much!!
Lisa
Great to hear! I hope you enjoy dinner 🙂
Lisa
Thanks!!! 😘
Lisa
Ok so we had this last night...and again today for lunch! OMG is so good. Better than the Ropa Vieja I’ve had in some Cuban restaurants! Def going to be on our families monthly menu 😍🍽🍛
Lisa
Yay - I'm so happy to hear this Lisa!!
Austin
okay guys, I'm not a chef, don't spend time in the kitchen - my partner is the inspired cook. Wanted to surprise him with a dish after a long day at work. HE WOKE UP TODAY STILL RAVING. Absolutely delish! Beautifully layered flavors, easy prep, and it leaves your house smelling wondrous all day. I skipped the white rice and did cauliflower rice instead for a low carb option. Also did your take on the black beans and will never eat another plain can again! BRAVA!
kt
Loved the recipe, although added a whole head of garlic and made in pressure cooker, which is the Cuban version of a slow cooker (admittedly a slightly more dangerous cooking tool, but same texture with shorter cooking time, 50 min on high, shred beef, then 15-30min in high)
I am Cuban born, so I basically looked up 15 recipes before making my dish and this one is a great "backbone" to keep in hand. (After years of relying on my mom and aunt it was time to make it on my own). If you love traditional ethnic food I suggest "Cocina al minuto" by Nitza Villapol for Cuban food btw, shes our Julia Child. But keep in mind its based around the resources the country had available at that time (meaning we can often make yummier versions because our options are less limited, and some of the ingredients listed probably don't even exist in our world).
Also thank you for suggesting traditional Cuban side dishes for those who are unfamiliar with the culture.
It is great how many interesting recipes are in this website! Thank you for sharing! I refuse to rate any recipe before I have personally tried it, this one has encouraged me to try more of your recipes =)
Cheers!
Lisa
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Ropa Vieja! Thanks for the info on how to make it in a pressure cooker - great to know. I will try to find Cocina al Minuto - looks like it's out of print but I'm sure I can get a used version. I'm thrilled to have you on board, trying more of my recipes. Keep me posted 🙂
Brittany
I've been using my slow cooker a lot lately and I was looking for something new to try when I stumbled across this recipe. I thought it sounded good and I made it as written (even though I did a double take when I read it needed to be cooked on high for 6hrs). This is probably the best slow cooker recipe I have come across! It was delicious! The depth of flavor and complexity are hard to come by in slow cooker recipes. I will definitely make this again and will be trying your other recipes. Thanks so much!
Lisa
Yay! I'm so glad to year you enjoyed the Ropa Vieja so much Brittany 🙂 I hope you have great results with some of my other recipes. Keep me posted!
Lauren
I made this recipe before and it was a huge hit! I need to make this before work, so it will be in the slow cooker longer than 6 hours. I will be home a couple of hours before my husband. Do you recommend still adding the olives and vinegar after 5 1/2 hours and letting it sit on the keep warm setting for the 3 hours before serving, or should I wait until 30 minutes before serving?
Lisa
Hi Lauren, I'm so glad the recipe was a hit! As for timing, it's a pretty flexible - it will be delicious any way you do it. I would probably cook it for the full 6 hours and then add the Olives and vinegar 1/2 hour before serving and reheat it with them in it. But even if you just stir the olives and vinegar in right before serving, it will still be delicious!
Bargavi
I made this dish for a week's worth of dinner and oh my goodness. It turned out so tender and flavorful. I stuck to the recipe for everything except I served the stew over quinoa(that I cooked in chicken broth). I also put black beans on the side(the recipe shared in this blog post). The only thing I suggest is toning down the salt for the black beans, it called for 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Though I only put one teaspoon of salt, it was incredibly salty for my taste. I suggest starting with a half teaspoon and work your way up if you need it(just a side note, I used low sodium black beans in a can). Other than that, this recipe is a keeper. :)))
Bryan
Ropa Vieja cooking in a crock pot makes your home smell soooo amazing!!!!!
It seriously hits anyone who walks in the door. They all say OMG what is that cooking!!!
My recipe is vey similar to this one, doesn't use carrots but i will try them next time because I love carrots. I also use a beef broth over chicken and a packet of sazon seasoning. Sometimes I add a handful of frozen peas towards the end.
To those who have never made this... It is a very versatile dish, don't be afraid to use what you have on hand.
Matt Goeldner
This was very tasty even though I thought it was missing just a bit of richness. I had used a leaner cut of beef and a little less salt. Served it with black beans and garlicky brown rice.