Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja

I love love love this recipe for Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja. It’s a perfect slow cooker meal, which means dinner is ready for me when I come home from work.

Ropa Vieja translates to “old clothes,” referring to the shredded beef and colorful peppers in a tomato sauce with caramelized onions that resemble torn cloth. It’s a well-known Cuban dish, but its origins go back to Sephardic dishes in the Middle Ages.

This version has a bit more prep work to it to fully develop the flavors. Trust me, it’s worth it!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds flank steak
• 3 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow), thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or 3/4 tsp ground cumin)
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• pinch ground allspice
• 2 whole cloves (or a pinch of ground cloves)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• pimiento-stuffed green olives, to taste
• 1 tablespoon brine from the olive jar
• Cooked white or yellow rice
• 1 can black beans, optional, for serving

Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the beef and brown on all sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. (If you don’t have a saute pan available that will fit the beef, you can do what I did and fold it in half. Just make sure to brown all sides.)

Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the sliced onions and peppers to the saute pan and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until caramelized.

Combine your spices in a small bowl.

After the 15 minutes, add the spice mixture and garlic to the pan with the onions and peppers. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.

Add in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all of the browned bits off the bottom.

Pour mixture into your slow cooker over the beef.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, cider vinegar, and beef broth to the slow cooker, stir lightly to combine and fully cover the beef.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, remove the beef and shred with two forks. Add back to the slow cooker and stir in the olive brine.

Finish by stirring in some olives. Serve over rice. If desired, spoon in some black beans as well.

The spices are so aromatic; my house smelled AMAZING when I got home! What’s not to like about this recipe? — tomatoes, tender beef, onions and peppers all mixed over rice.

This makes a good amount, so it’s great for lunches during the week or for leftovers for another night.