My Simple Homemade Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja Recipe
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It was probably a year or two ago that I first tried a slow cooker ropa vieja recipe. I quickly knew it was a slow cooker recipe I needed to recreate, and one we needed in our meal rotation often. I love a good slow cooker meal and this one checks all the boxes while not being a stew or soup. At the end you get tender beef cooked all day with lots of onions, bell peppers and a great flavor thanks to all the spices.
While you could take the meat, onions and peppers and roll them up in warm tortillas, we chose to serve ours with some black beans over a bed of rice. We added sour cream, shredded cheese, and of course hot sauce at the end too!
Where to Start
I’ve learned over the years that when a big roast is involved in a crock pot recipe it’s always best to sear the meat before slow cooking. That added layer and crust on the top of the meat only helps your sauce and the flavor of the dish. It’s a step I wouldn’t recommend skipping!
While there are a lot of cuts of beef you could use here, I used a roast from the half of cow we get. You could use beef chuck roast which is probably the most readily available. I like to any kind of meat that can handle the 8 hours in the slow cooker. You may even try a rump roast or other tougher cut to help the grocery budget while still yielding a delicious dinner.
All the Spices
To begin I mixed up some spices. This mix could really be used as any taco seasoning as well or in a chili. You may not need all of the spices I call for here, so save what you don’t use and give yourself an easy taco dinner in a few days with minimal effort!
Once the meat was covered with the seasonings I heated a little bit of avocado oil in a large cast iron until hot. I seared the meat about 3-4 minutes per side to get a nice crust. Once done I was able to transfer steak to my trusty slow cooker. I love my slow cooker, although once this one goes I have my eye on this cadillac of all slow cookers.
Finish it up
Now the easy part. Get out your cutting board and for this version of ropa vieja I wanted a lot of peppers and onions. I sliced three onions and three various colors of bell peppers. Use what you have here, throwing in a red onion if you have it instead, some fresh garlic if you want and of course the diced tomatoes. I was out of garlic when I made this recipe but for the card below I’ll include that you should add in about 4 cloves of minced garlic cloves.
Now for the reason we all love slow cooker recipes. With everything in your pot, including the apple cider vinegar, nestle the vegetables and tomatoes under and around your meat, turn the slow cooker on for eight hours on low and let the magic happen. My slow cooker will turn to the warm setting when things are all done which I love. It truly has never burned my food and is a great slow cooker!
With this easy recipe cooking away I knew when the time came all I’d have to do was open a can or two of beans and set my pressure cooker on for some brown rice. We go through a lot of rice in our family and I’ve found the pressure cooker to be my favorite way to have that cooking in the background while I’m inevitably getting tugged in another direction.
Pressure Cooker?
Could this dish be made in the pressure cooker? I think so! I haven’t made it but here’s what I’d do if it’s something you’d like to try. First, season and saute your meat as noted above. Add in the peppers, onions, broth and other ingredients and in this case I’d push the roast button. Some may say stew or meat. I think it’s definitely worth a try if you’re short on time but still want to try this recipe out!
Once scared of the instant pot, it is pretty amazing that I’m no longer concerned about it and feel more confident in cooking various things in mine!
Apparently this is a national dish of Cuba and something I’m sad to say I didn’t know much about until recently. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this dish and hope you make it. Not only can it mix up your meal rotation, but I think it’s a recipe for a weeknight dinner or lazy weekend meal your whole family is going to love!
If you make it would you let me know? I’d love to see on Instagram when you tag me @lbsgoodspoon Thanks and happy cooking!
Simple Homemade Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chuck roast or other beef roast
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 cup beef broth water with better than bouillon works too
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 cooking onions, sliced
- 3 bell peppers, sliced
Seasoning Mix
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
For Serving
- 6 servings of rice or tortillas
Instructions
- Get out your slow cooker, cutting board, chef's knife and large cast iron pan.
- Pat the meat dry with paper towels then mix together the seasoning mix and rub generously into your meat. Reserve whatever you don't use for a future use for this recipe or as a taco or chili seasoning!
- Heat the cast iron and drizzle the avocado oil in. Now it's time to sear the seasoned meat for about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and place in the slow cooker.
- With the skillet still hot, add the broth and scrape up any browned bits. Now pour that flavored broth and the bits into the slow cooker!
- Into the slow cooker add the tomatoes, onions, peppers, and apple cider vinegar.
- Nestle the meat under and around all the vegetables and set to low for 8 hours.
- Once done remove the meat to a platter to shred it then return to the juice.
- Serve over rice with various toppings or wrapped in warm tortillas!
