Carne Guisada Recipe (Mexican Style)
This easy carne guisada recipe is for Tex Mex style or Mexican beef stew. Chunks of beef simmered in fragrant brown gravy until tender. It's so simple to prepare and you probably already have the ingredients on hand!
Recipe for Carne Guisada
Carne means "meat" in Spanish. Carne de res is how you say "beef" and it often gets shortened to just "carne." Authentic carne asada is grilled and carne guisada is stewed.
Carne guisada is a comforting, filling, flavorful dinner that is traditionally served with homemade flour tortillas, rice and beans.
My cousins in Texas like to serve it over mashed potatoes which is really yummy, too.
You can also roll it up taco style and top with cheddar cheese - yum!
I highly recommend serving with the homemade flour tortillas if you can. They melt in your mouth and complement the meat perfectly.
You don't even need utensils to eat when you can scoop it up with a tortilla!
The beef cooks low and slow so that all the ingredients melt down into a stew.
To make it an even heartier meal, you can add potatoes and carrots while it's simmering.
I love to cook it all in my cast iron skillet for even more flavor.
How to make Carne Guisada
What type of meat is carne guisada? You'll want to use stew meat which can be any kind of beef chuck or beef round.
I typically pick up the packet of meat that says "stew meat" and is already conveniently diced up.
If using a chunk of meat such as top round, you'll need to cut the beef into 1-inch cubes.
Dice up an onion. Optionally, you can also dice up a green bell pepper.
We typically don't make it with the green pepper, but it's a common ingredient in carne guisada.
Some people will even substitute a spicy pepper such as jalapeño or poblano.
You'll also need tomato or tomato sauce. We usually use Spanish style tomato sauce since we always have it on hand, especially when tomatoes are not in season.
The beauty of this recipe is that is can be made on any night with whatever you have on hand.
Besides the beef and vegetables, the sauce is seasoned with ground cumin. Of course, if you can freshly grind your own it tastes the best.
All-purpose flour is used to thicken it up into a nice gravy.
This carne guisada recipe cooks low and slow for at least 1 ½ hours.
The meat should be fall-apart tender and the gravy thick and rich.
It's not a quick meal, but it produces the best flavor!
If you want a delicious dinner in about 20 minutes, try my Mexican Pork Stew (Puerco en Salsa Roja) recipe instead.
That guiso has only two ingredients yet tastes like it was simmering for hours!
Carne Guisada Recipe (Mexican Style)
Tender chunks of beef simmered in a flavorful Mexican gravy. Flour tortillas are the perfect accompaniment for this carne guisada recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs stew meat
- 1 tablespoon oil (lard, bacon grease, etc)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 small green bell pepper, diced (optional)
- 3 tablespoons tomato sauce or 1 large tomato, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water or chicken stock
- Flour tortillas, rice or mashed potatoes, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pan, brown the stew meat in oil of choice with onions and green pepper (if using) over high heat.
- Add the tomato sauce (or tomato), garlic powder (or fresh garlic), cumin, salt and pepper and stir well.
- Sprinkle the flour over the meat and mix well. Add the water (or stock) and mix well so there are no lumps.
- Bring to a boil, cover pan and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1 ½ hours, or until meat is tender.
- Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Serve with rice, tortillas or mashed potatoes.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 8ozAmount Per Serving: Calories: 606Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 226mgSodium: 982mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 78g
Nutritional information provided is an estimate only. Please consult the labels of ingredients you use for more accurate results.
Try this Mexican pork stew:
You might also like this great Southwestern side dish packed with veggies and cheese! Calabacitas con Queso:
I would suggest increasing the amount of cumin by a lot. I used 3 tablespoons. I also added 1/4 cup fresh cilantro. This was FANTASTIC.
@Keith Lowery, yes we always use more cumin than tsp and always Tbsp and 3 is the same we use....so much flavor!!
I haven't made this yet, but can't wait to. I lived in Texas for 5 years and ate carne guisada burritos on $1 burrito day in college. I loved them. Just a couple of quick questions, why do you use chicken broth instead of beef broth? And could I use cornstarch instead of flour? I have a wheat allergy.
Yes you can use cornstarch and good question about the chicken broth! I think we just always have Knorr's chicken bouillon on hand and use it no matter the protein. Chicken has a mild flavor that doesn't compete with other ingredients but still adds flavor. You can definitely use beef broth or water.
@Lorrea Duffin, I've noticed that in many Mexican recipes, that they will use chicken or beef bouillon like that. Maybe one is "lighter" in it's flavor?
@Lorrea Duffin, I certainly prefer flour as a thickener but if you have a wheat allergy you use what you can; If you don't like the mouthfeel of cornstarch (I don't) you might try just cooking the broth down more. I've noticed chicken broth specified in a lot of beef recipes but never understood the reasoning behind it. When I make a new recipe I usually cook it "by the book" exactly as specified the first time then subsequent batches experiment and I have always liked beef dishes made with beef or veal broth over chicken broth.
@Al D,
Arrowroot Powder is a great alternative to corn starch as well
My Mom used to make this in her electric fry pan. Oh my it smelled so good! Sometimes she added potatoes. Sometimes it was too spicy. Most of the time perfect. This will be our Sunday meal tomorrow. 😋
I followed the recipe and used a cast iron
Skillet. Everything smells and taste great but it
Seems like the liquid is disappearing while it
Simmers. I can add stock/water and flower later to it when it’s done right?
You can add additional stock/water to it while it's simmering. You don't want it to dry out while it's cooking.
This is a really good recipe . I am Mexican American and grew up on this , tasted just like Mi Abuelas . Thank you .
Hi! I’ve made this recipe many times now- family favorite, thanks so much! If I wanted to make this in the crock pot- which steps would I follow? Sear the meat first? With or w/o veggies?
Thanks!
I've never done it in the crock pot, but I would sear the meat first and sprinkle with flour. Then add the meat, veggies and other ingredients to the crock pot. I've also seen other recipes that skip the searing and just coat the meat in flour in the crock pot. The other option is to add a flour slurry when it's done all done to thicken the gravy. Please let us know how it goes for you!
I’m from Texas but currently living in Pennsylvania and have been desperately missing Carne Guisada from back home. Tried this recipe out today and it was a HIT. My picky kids loved it and so did the husband. Thank You!
This recipe turned out great! We had it with fideo, beans, and tortillas. The whole family loved it.
Fantastic recipe. I’ve made it several times now. Sometimes I add cubes potatoes after the meat is tender. Always a hit.
This recipe was delicious. I left it on low for 2 hours instead of 1.5 for more tenderness. Thank you!!!
I just made this guisada and it is wonderful. Very rich and flavorful. I did not use green pepper but did mince a jalapeño pepper. I care for my mother who has dementia. She used to make a stew very similar to this and homemade tortillas when I was younger. Unfortunately she did not have a recipe. This one is a perfect version. I hope she likes this for dinner. I’ll serve it with rice, beans and tortillas. Thank you so much.
Could this be done in your order in an instant pot. I want to b down the meat and add the flour during sauté mode then add rest ingredients and pressure cook for 50 minutes. Think the thickness of gravy will withstand or should I add more stock?
I've never made this in an Instant Pot so it would need some testing. I think it would be better to thicken it with a slurry at the end of cooking. I also don't think it would take 50 minutes...maybe 30. If you attempt please let us know your results!
I just made it in a Ninja Foodi. Added a can of diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. Also added a tbsp of tomato paste and some chili powder. Had to add a slurry at the end to thicken, but turned out great. 20 minutes in the pressure cooker with a natural release, by the way.
How did you thicken it?
Made this dish today actually turn how pretty good and flavorful. Need to cook a bit longer and require more than two cups of chicken broth, over all Delicious.
Made this a few days ago and it was delicious! It didn't turn out quite as brown or dark as the photos above though but it didn't appear to affect the taste. Also, the meat was not as tender as I thought it would be and I used the stew meat, browned it, and let it simmer on low for 1.5 to 2 hours. I'll be making it again for sure!
Thanks, Chris! I think mine turned out darker from using a cast iron pan. Might have to cook longer next time if doesn't want to get tender! Sometimes I help it along by cutting into smaller pieces even though stew meat is usually already cubed.
Thanks for the reply!
Did you cover your cast iron skillet? I’ll be making tomorrow and don’t know if I need a kid for mine
Lid*
Yes, I cover it with a lid from one of my pots.
This was delicious, it was my first time making this dish! It came out great, my husband and 15 month old loved it. It would be great topped with pico and cilantro too! Great recipe!