Carne Guisada

Say hello to a new Mexican favorite, Carne Guisada! Look out tacos– gravy’s coming! Fill your tortillas with tender, chunks of beef in a thick smoky gravy!

Gravy makes the world go ‘round. Okay, maybe that’s gravity, but gravy definitely makes lots of things better – mashed potatoes, biscuits, that Thanksgiving turkey Aunt Mary always overcooks. Gravy is also what makes this such a standout dish and an extra special filling for tacos or burritos.

If you love Latin-flavored foods as much as we do, I hope you’ll try my white chicken enchiladas, pozole verde, carne picada, and my easy chicken tortilla soup next!

What is Carne Guisada?

If you’ve missed this one on the menu at your favorite Tex-Mex spot, it’s a Latin-American-inspired beef stew, slow-cooked in a thick, rich gravy spiked with dried chilies and cumin. Gravy is also what makes this such a standout dish and an extra special filling for tacos or burritos.

My recipe is muy casero, a “homey” dish that builds intense flavor with just a few ingredients (and some patience) and will turn Taco Tuesday into a comfort food fete. “Carne guisada” means “meat stew,” and it’s one of those dishes that has as many variations as there are mothers’ kitchens.

• Beef Chuck Roast – First, as with any good stew, choosing the meat is important. This is meant to be served as tender chunks, not shredded beef, so I use a whole chuck roast and cut it into big pieces. Chuck is my go-to for stews and any slow-cooking recipe because it has lots of connective tissue that will break down over time, leaving succulent, tender pieces of beef, naturally thickening the sauce, and upping the richness factor.
  • Speaking of thickening, some stew recipes either coat the meat in flour before browning or use a roux to thicken the gravy. Flour and cornstarch impact the mouthfeel of gravy to me, though, and I just don’t like that in this rustic dish. If you’re wondering how to make a thick gravy for this stew, you’ll just need to use the correct amount of liquid so the natural evaporation plus beefy breakdown will result in a thick, luxurious gravy without any added thickeners.
• Oil – Any neutral flavored oil. Corn is what I generally use in Mexican cooking.
• Beef Broth: I like to use low sodium broth.
• Onions, Garlic, Jalapeños, Oregano, Tomato Sauce, and Cumin – Most of the other ingredients in this recipe are ones you’d find in sofrito, a flavorful veggie/spice paste used in Latin American dishes to make their amazing rice and beans but also to season stews: onions, garlic, jalapenos, oregano, tomato, and cumin.
• Ancho Chiles & Chili Powder – I also add some chili powder and a signature (not quite secret) ingredient – whole ancho chilies.  (You can find these in the produce section or on an international food aisle at the grocery store.)
  • I like them in this recipe because they impart a deep, warm, intense flavor – slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and it’s important to bring out these qualities by toasting them a few seconds first. You’ve probably seen chefs measuring dried herbs into their palms and rubbing them a bit to release the natural oils. That’s essentially what you’re doing when you dry roast these chilies, along with adding a hint of smokiness from the charring, both of which balance the complex flavors of these little guys.

These ingredients will all be percolating away on your stovetop while you get your taco fixings ready and do a good bit of quality control on that bowl of guacamole. Your house will smell like someone’s grandmother’s house, south of the border, and soon you’ll be ready to grab your tortillas and dive into this gravy-laden soon-to-be staple of your recipe box.

Recipe Notes For Carne Guisada

• Beef – Make sure you brown the beef in batches so it gets a nice crust. If you crowd the pan too much, the beef will steam instead, and you’ll miss out on all the good stuff that sticks to the pan during the browning process. I usually brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches depending on the size of the chunks and the size of my pan. Using pre-cut stew beef is not my choice for this dish, mainly because the pieces are scraps from different cuts, all with different amounts of marbling and fat. Sometimes, though, the price will make the decision for you, so if you need to substitute it, be sure to pick the package(s) with the most uniformly sized marble pieces.
• Ancho chilies are dried poblano peppers, the ones you see sliced and sizzling on a fajita skillet or stuffed with queso asadero and fried for chile relleno. They’re already a very mild pepper, served fresh when they’re green, but they turn red as they ripen and mellow out even more. This is when they’re picked and dried.
• Cooking options – You can definitely adapt this for a Carne Guisada slow cooker recipe, doing all the toasting, browning, and sautéing steps, then dumping everything into your slow cooker to work its magic on low for 6 – 8 hours. If you need to shorten the cooking time, you can also do all the early work on “Saute” in your Instant Pot, then cook it on high for about 35 minutes (naturally release or manually if the smell’s making you impatient). Note that you might need to add some thickener with this method since the time’s not working in your favor to create a nice thick gravy.
• Readers Comment on the Gravy: “Very flavorful. I was skeptical that the gravy would be thick enough without using a roux, but it was absolutely perfect. I might use Serrano peppers next time rather than jalapeno for a little more heat, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks for posting it”. Thank you, Dorothy! <3

Store + Freezing + Make-Ahead

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.
• Can You Freeze This? Yes! The stew meat freezes and thaws beautifully. Somehow it seems more flavorful and tender after freezing. The only, ever so slight drawback, is the gravy thins a bit and can separate.
• Make-Ahead Tips: Cook this ahead of time and reheat.
• Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.

Serving Recommendations

We love to serve this with warm flour or corn tortillas or sopes, a pot of charro beans, Mexican rice, or jalapeño cornbread!

If you’d like to serve dessert, we love it with pineapple delight, nonalcoholic margarita cake, pineapple margaritas or pink margaritas!

How To Make Carne Guisada

1. Toast the chiles.
2. Brown the beef in batches.
3. Add garlic, jalapeño, oregano, cumin, and chili powder and cook until fragrant. Return toasted peppers and meat to pan.
4. Add broth and tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a boil.
5. Simmer until meat is tender and sauce is nice and thick, about 2- 2 1/2 hours.
6. Serve with fresh tortillas and avocado, cheese, sour cream, fresh tomato, and cilantro!

***See the full instructions below.

More Mexican-Inspired Dishes

• Unique Chicken Posole
• Crockpot Fiesta Chicken
• Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
• Quick Mexican Chicken
• One Pot Burrito Bowl 
• Mexican Corn Salad
• Skillet Fiesta Chicken

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Carne Guisada

Carne guisada is profoundly tender beef in a rich sauce with a deep smokey flavor and Mexican spices to transform your next South of the Border meal.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Total Time3 hours hrs

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• 2 dried whole ancho chiles
• 4-5 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubed
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

Options For What To Serve With:

• tortillas or cooked rice
• sliced avocado
• cheddar, jack, or Cojita cheese grated or crumbled
• sour cream
• cilantro, rough chopped
• tomatoes, chopped

Instructions

• Stem, seed then tear or cut the Ancho chile pepper (2) into large pieces that can be flattened out. Heat a Dutch oven (dry) over medium heat. When hot, toast one at a time. Lay a piece flat in the hot pan, pressing down with a spatula, until the chile is fragrant (should take just a few seconds). Repeat with the remaining pieces. Transfer toasted chiles to a plate.
• Dry beef pieces (4-5 pounds) with a paper towel then evenly sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper over the beef. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. 
• When oil shimmers, add half the beef and brown on all sides, about 7-10 minutes. Transfer beef to a plate, then repeat with remaining beef, adding more oil as necessary.
• Heat 1-2 tablespoon oil, in the same Dutch oven, then add onion (1 large) and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook over medium heat, scraping up the brown bits from the meat, until soft, about 5 minutes. 
• Add garlic (1 tablespoon), jalapeño (1), oregano (1 tablespoon), cumin (1 1/2 teaspoons), and chili powder (1/2 teaspoon) and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return toasted peppers and meat to pan. Add broth (3 cups) and tomato sauce (1 can) and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially covered, until meat is tender and sauce is nice and thick, about 2- 2 1/2 hours. Adjust seasoning if needed.
• Serve with fresh tortillas and avocado, cheese, sour cream, fresh tomato, cilantro!

Fans Also Made:

• 
  Chicken Fajita Pasta
• 
  Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas
• 
  Mexican Casserole Recipe
• 
  Shredded Beef Enchiladas Recipe

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Notes

1. Beef – Make sure you brown the beef in batches so it gets a nice crust. If you crowd the pan too much, the beef will steam instead, and you’ll miss out on all the good stuff that sticks to the pan during the browning process. I usually brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches depending on the size of the chunks and the size of my pan. Using pre-cut stew beef is not my choice for this dish, mainly because the pieces are scraps from different cuts, all with different amounts of marbling and fat. Sometimes, though, the price will make the decision for you, so if you need to substitute it, be sure to pick the package(s) with the most uniformly sized marble pieces.
2. Ancho chilies are dried poblano peppers, the ones you see sliced and sizzling on a fajita skillet or stuffed with queso asadero and fried for chile relleno. They’re already a very mild pepper, served fresh when they’re green, but they turn red as they ripen and mellow out even more. This is when they’re picked and dried.
3. Serving – I usually serve this as Carne Guisada tacos, with a bit of avocado, cilantro, and my family’s favorite taco toppers, but this Carne Guisada is so versatile I often make a double batch and freeze it for whatever my imagination conjures up on a random weeknight. You can make burritos (with a little refried beans and cheese), use it as a filling for sopes, serve it on top of polenta or noodles, make an epic shepherd’s pie, or serve it on game day as a new twist on Frito pie (queso fresco, chopped onion and cilantro, and a mountain of jalapeno slices – doesn’t get any better than that!).
4. Cooking options – You can definitely adapt this for a Carne Guisada slow cooker recipe, doing all the toasting, browning, and sautéing steps, then dumping everything into your slow cooker to work its magic on low for 6 – 8 hours. If you need to shorten the cooking time, you can also do all the early work on “Saute” in your Instant Pot, then cook it on high for about 35 minutes (naturally release or manually if the smell’s making you impatient). Note that you might need to add some thickener with this method since the time’s not working in your favor to create a nice thick gravy.
5. Readers Comment on the Gravy: Very flavorful. I was skeptical that the gravy would be thick enough without using a roux, but it was absolutely perfect. I might use Serrano peppers next time rather than jalapeno for a little more heat, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks for posting it. Thank you, Dorothy! <3

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