Ropa vieja is a comforting Cuban beef stew consisting of shredded beef, colored bell peppers, mild spices, and a tomato sauce.

Translated as “old clothes” from Spanish, ropa vieja is a deliciously slow-cooked Cuban beef stew with mild flavors — nothing too strong, and not spicy either. Similar to a mild pot roast, but Cuban style. It’s often served with white rice, and sometimes with black beans and plantains. This is one of Cuba’s national dishes, and it’s affectionately called “old clothes” because the shreds of beef and bell pepper look like a mess of colorful rags. To emphasize that, I made sure to include three different colors of bell peppers in this recipe.

The beef and bell pepper slices are cooked for hours in the slow cooker — alternatively, you could cook them in a dutch oven on the stove — and you end up with juicy shreddable beef and very tender bell peppers. This Cuban beef stew is traditionally made using flank steak, but I thought that slow-cooked flank steak would be such a waste of good meat, so I used cheaper beef stew cuts.

The last time I had great Cuban food was when I took a quick weekend trip to Miami a few years ago. I went on a food tour of South Beach and tasted beef and potato empanadas, passion fruit ceviche, and of course, delicious ropa vieja. I’ll have to go back again sometime for more amazing Cuban food tasting.

For more beef stews, check out this Instant Pot Beef Stew With Potatoes.

5 from 3 votes

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Cuban beef stew ropa vieja (slow cooker)

Ropa vieja is a comforting Cuban beef stew consisting of shredded beef, colored bell peppers, mild spices, and a tomato sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Cuban

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours 10 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 25 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 490 kcal

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds beef stew meat cut in 1-2 inch chunks
• 1 green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 garlic bulb peeled and minced
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes unsalted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Instructions

1. Heat canola oil on a large pan over medium heat. Add beef and sear until mostly brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to the slow cooker. Sprinkle salt, cumin, oregano, paprika, and pepper over the beef in the slow cooker.
2. Add sliced bell peppers to the pan over medium-high heat. Sear until they start to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to the slow cooker on top of the beef. Add garlic over the bell peppers.
3. Pour crushed tomatoes over the contents of the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours.

4. Shred the beef using forks. Stir everything together until well-mixed.

Nutrition Info

This recipe yields 14.5 g net carbs per serving. Nutrition information does not include rice.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories 490
Total Fat 23g	35%
Saturated Fat 7g	33%
Trans Fat 1g
Cholesterol 145mg	48%
Sodium 990mg	41%
Potassium 1440mg	41%
Total Carb 23.5g	8%
Dietary Fiber 9g	35%
Sugars 2g
Protein 47g

Vitamin A 53% · Vitamin C 275% · Calcium 9% · Iron 48%