Carne con Papas (Cuban Beef and Potato Stew)

Brown the beef

Season the beef with 1 teaspoon of the salt and all the black pepper. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot (at least 6 quarts/6 L) and brown the beef in batches, about 6-8 minutes per batch, without crowding the pot. Set the beef aside on a plate.

• 1 kg beef chuck
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil

✅ Done when: beef is browned on all sides

Make the sofrito

In the same pot, cook the onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper
• 5 cloves garlic

✅ Done when: vegetables are soft and translucent, not browned

Stew

Return the browned beef to the pot and add the tomato sauce, white wine, beef stock, cumin, oregano and bay leaves. Cover, lower the heat so the liquid barely bubbles, and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

• the browned beef beef from step 1
• 200 g tomato sauce
• 200 ml white wine
• 300 ml beef stock
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves

✅ Done when: beef is almost fork-tender

Add the potatoes

Add the potatoes, olives and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt to the pot. Cover and cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes more, stirring once or twice.

• 700 g potatoes
• 60 g olives
• ½ tsp salt

✅ Done when: potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened enough to coat a spoon

Serve

Find and remove the bay leaves from the pot, then taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve the stew hot over white rice.

• to serve white rice