Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja- shredded beef flavored with lots of onions, bell pepper, garlic, and spices plus green olives. It’s a great slow cooker beef recipe for when you want something a little different.
What is Ropa Viejo?
Ropa Vieja is a delicious Cuban recipe. The name means old clothes, I guess because this dish looks like shredded clothes. Strange name indeed. But a truly delicious recipe. Right up there with Picadillo on my list of favorite Cuban recipes.
You won’t find this dish to be spicy hot, but it is full of spice flavor. You can serve it with your favorite hot sauce if you want it hot.
The flavor of this slow cooker beef recipe comes from lots of onion, bell pepper, garlic, cumin, oregano, bay leaves and soy sauce. There’s also 1/3 cup of tomato paste for plenty of tomato flavor.
Leave the olives out if you don’t like them, but they really do add great flavor.
To really build the flavors, you will need to do a little pre-cooking. You’ll saute the onion and bell pepper until soft and then add the garlic followed by the tomato paste, cumin, and oregano.
This Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja takes 6 to 7 hours on LOW or 5 to 6 hours on HIGH. The beef should shred easily at the end of cooking time.
How To Serve
I like to serve Ropa Vieja over white rice with a little fresh cilantro. Spicy Black Beans are also good with it.
More Slow Cooker Beef Recipes
Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions,, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 red bell peppers,, sliced into 1/2-inch wide strips
- 4 garlic cloves,, minced
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 chicken bouillon cube,, crumbled
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 (2-pound) flank steak
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 3/4 cup green olives with pimentos
- cilantro and rice for serving
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large nontick skillet. Add onion and peppers and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic and cook one more minute.
- Add tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir the tomato paste into the onion and peppers and cook for 1 minute.Transfer to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Add soy sauce, bay leaves, chicken bouillon, and water to the slow cooker.
- Season the flank steak with salt and pepper and add it to the slow cooker. Spoon some of the tomato mixture on top of it.Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours.
- Discard bay leaves. Shred meat with 2 forks. Stir in vinegar and olives. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe source: Cook’s Country
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
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Can you use London broil in place of flank steak?
Like to try this in a Instapot,,,,and idea of time ?