Carne Guisada = Mexican Beef Stew
Most of us have heard of carne asada (translation: grilled meat), but how many have heard of carne guisada? If you haven’t tried the latter, you’ve been missing out. Carne guisada is an absolutely delicious traditional Mexican beef stew. Guisada just means “stewed meat in gravy” and that’s exactly what this dish is. There are different ways to make the gravy – you can add bell peppers or potatoes to the dish. Personally, I prefer to keep it simple – just tender meat and flavorful gravy. If you like beef stew and you like Latin flavor, then you will most definitely like this recipe for carne guisada.
Why use a pressure cooker?
Carne guisada is typically a slow-simmered stew that can take hours to make, but I’ve been able to recreate the dish using my new pressure cooker, Instant Pot.
Those of you who have been following me for a while know that I had been coveting this pressure cooker for nearly a year before I bought it. It went on sale over the holidays (I bought it for about $115 – it’s only $134 right now!) and I’ve been using it several times a week ever since. It’s one of the best kitchen investments I’ve made – it can do so many things.
You can definitely make this dish in a stovetop pressure cooker or a slow cooker, but you’ll have to adjust the cooking method. For the slow cooker, just cook until the meat is tender (estimate: ~6 hours).
Thicken the stew:
Once the Instant Pot has finished cooking your meal, you’ll see that the stew is a bit thin. You’ll want to ladle out the liquid into a bowl and whisk a tablespoon of potato starch into the stew. I’m sure potato flour will work too. Different thickeners require different steps, so make sure to use them correctly. For example, if you use arrowroot or tapioca flour, you’ll want to mix it well with cold water and then pour that into the stew. Regardless, once it’s well mixed, just pour the thick slurry back into the Instant Pot and mix well to thicken the whole stew.
We’ve enjoyed eating carne guisada over cauliflower-rice and also on top of paleo tortillas, served with avocado slices and fresh salsa. I think the carne guisada tacos are my favorite… way better than the carne asada fajita-type meat you’re probably used to eating at Mexican restaurants. If you like spicy food, serve the carne guisada with thin slices of Serrano pepper on top!
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Instant Pot Carne Guisada
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Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or fat of choice
- 1 pound beef stew meat
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Serrano pepper, minced
- 1 bay leaf
Spices
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon chipotle powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup beef broth or chicken stock
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon potato starch or thickener of choice (optional)
Instructions
- Press the sauté button on the Instant Pot, add the oil and beef cubes to the pot. Sear the meat on all sides.
- Once the meat has browned , add the onion, garlic, serrano pepper, bay leaf and spices. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce.
- Secure the lid, close the valve and cook for 35 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure.
- Optional step: to thicken the sauce, either press sauté to reduce the liquid or ladle out some liquid into a bowl and combine it with thickener of choice. Mix well and then add the thick slurry back into the pot, and stir-well.
- Serve over cauli-rice, or in a tortilla!
Notes
- To make in a slow cooker: Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Looking for more Instant Pot Recipes? Try these:
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
Instant Pot Taco Meat
Instant Pot Saag
Instant Pot Habanero Chili
Instant Pot Dal Makhani
Goat Curry in a Hurry
Instant Pot Texas Beef Chili
Instant Pot Ground Lamb Curry
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
I made this tonight and it turned out wonderful. I didn’t have any Chipotle powder so just omitted it, I’m not sure how much of a change in flavor it would have been but we loved it nonetheless and will be making it again, maybe this time with the Chipotle Powder. Very easy to throw together in the Instant Pot so thank you for giving the directions.
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Samantha, I’m so glad you liked the recipe – thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you!! 🙂
We loved this! My husband said its the best thing I’ve ever made! Thanks so much for sharing your recipes– please share more for the Insta-Pot!!
Lisa, wow that’s awesome! So glad you both liked the recipe!! 🙂
Made this tonight – fantastic! Flavor was amazing. Did not put in the chili powder and used a jalapeno pepper rather then a Serrano pepper, as that is what we had on hand. It was plenty spicy! Used arrowroot for the thickener and cooked it in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes. I am not a stew fan, but loved this. Next time I would add some carrots, just to get in the extra veggies.
I love your recipes. Thanks so much!
Barb
Barb, so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Yay, Ashley! Fantastic as always! I felt like having minced meat and had only pork and lamb on hand, so i went with it and also doubled the recipe. Turned out awesome!
Awesome!! So happy to hear that you liked the recipe!! 🙂
This was really delicious. I will add more meat next time so we have leftovers. There was plenty of gravy left so I don’t think adding another pound of beef would hurt. Thanks for the recipe.
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Courtney, I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Made this in my Instapot tonight. Absolutely delicious!! Thank you for this easy recipe that was amazingly tasty!
Sherri, I’m so glad that you liked it!! 🙂
I was hesitant on this recipe at first – I am not a stew person really or a huge beef fan, but….I am glad I tried it anyway because it’s so flavorful and tasty!! Have made this several times now. It’s so nice and easy in the Instant Pot. Tastes like it was slow cooking for hours but done in minutes. Another one of your recipes is now a staple in our home 🙂
I’m so glad you gave it a try and liked it!! 🙂
This S Texas native is in a very happy place right now. This will be made again!!
One note, it was tough to get the gravy thickened with arrowroot. Gotta work on figuring out proportions. But seriously so good.
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Rebecca, I’m so happy to hear that you liked it! 🙂 If you eat potatoes, it might be easier to thicken it with potato flour? Or even some mashed up potatoes (that’s my secret to thickening up my beef stew).
Yeah, probably – I just had arrowroot in the house so I used it. I will have to experiment next time I made it, because yes, there will be a next time.
Tried your Carne Guisada tonight and it is wonderful. Thank you
Genene, I’m so glad you liked it!
I can’t wait to give this a try, one of the many dishes I look forward to when I visit Texas!
Deana, can’t wait to hear what you think!!
I made this tonight in my IP and my husband loved it.
Happy to hear that! 🙂
Making this tonight–if I double the meat, do I need to double the liquid?
Hi Annie, yes I’d double the whole recipe. If it’s too thin at the end, just hit the “saute” button to reduce the liquid. Hope that helps!
This was really delicious! I had 2 lbs of stew meat, so I doubled the recipe. Perhaps I should have kept it the same…pretty soupy. No matter, it was delicious! The kids felt it was too spicy, but I tthouht it was awesome! I tossed in about a dozen small potatoez, which came out ready to mash. Perfect!
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I’m so happy you liked it! If it’s too soupy, you can press “saute” once it’s done and reduce the sauce with the lid off 🙂
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe!!! Thank you for sharing!
This is my FAVORITE go-to recipe for carne guisada! I have made it several times and it has turned out perfectly each time. I now use 5 pounds of beef stew meat (COSTCO) and double the amounts for everything else (could triple for more “gravy”). (Tip: I brown some of the meat in a large skillet to save time.) This lasts several days at our home and gets better each day!
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Kyle, so happy to hear that you liked the carne guisada! Love that you make a big batch at once!
This recipe came out amazing! Thank you! We like things spicy so I added quite a bit of cayenne pepper as well. Also subbed the potato starch for tapioca flour. Great recipe!!
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Luna, I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out! 🙂
This was delicious!
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Lori, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
What are typical sides you would serve this with?
I was thinking either rice or tortillas.
Any other suggestions?
Hi James, rice or tortillas would be great! I love using this as a taco filling and I also enjoy eating it as a stew with a lot of toppings (cilantro, red onions, avocado, tomatoes, jalapenos).
Will definitely try this. I’m mostly keto, so I am also going to try a keto tortilla recipe to go with it.
There is a Guisados taco place with a few locations in Los Angeles and it’s amazing. This looks like the real deal.
I’ll thicken it with masa harina instead of potato starch, it gives it a slight corn flavor and a bit of a texture. I use it in my Instant Pot Texas Chile.
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Tim, I hope you love the recipe!
We love potatoes in our Carne G. How would I do this? Is there a way to add the potatoes half way?
I just tried adding all together and the potatoes were mushy 🙁
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You could try putting a trivet in the stew then placing large whole potatoes on top – then cut them up and stir them in at the end. They may still be pretty tender but hopefully they won’t turn to mush. Let me know if you try it!
Cook it for 20 minutes, quick release and add chopped potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. I actually add in a packet of brown gravy at this point and it thickens it up.
How many servings will this feed?
My wife introduced me to carne guisada at Taco Cabana in San Antonio 37 years ago. Heavenly! We moved to Massachusetts 27 years ago and have searched in vain for anything close ever since. Almost nobody makes it, and those who do don’t do it right, at least by TC standard. It was always tough, with too much tomato sauce and not enough spice.
This recipe was our first use of our new Instant Pot, and it was fantastic! We used 1.5 lbs of beef, increasing the tomato sauce and beef broth accordingly. The pot reduced the meat to falling apart, and the flavor! This reminds me of going to an Ethiopian restaurant, what I call shoveling food, because it’s so good you just keep shoveling it in your mouth and it’s gone before you know it.
We added a little sour cream and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese to our bowls, serving it as a cheesy carne guisada soup. It was so good my wife and I finished off the entire pound and a half of meat in one sitting.
Total time to make the meal was just over an hour from start of prep to opening the lid. The hot sauteed ingredients came up to pressure in about 5 minutes, and the natural pressure release took just over 20.
Next we’ll try this with the paleo naan. Yum! Thank you!
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Steve, I’m so glad you made and liked this! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
After thirty-plus years of living in Texas and loving Carne Guisada, I finally worked up the courage to try this recipe. I loved it! my son loved it so much, he licked the plate! Thanks for making one of my favorite meals so approachable!
Emily, I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for letting me know how you and your son liked the recipe 🙂
My husband has been telling everyone about this dish! We double the meat, use half a bay leaf instead with a little more salt and cumin.
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Lorraine, that’s awesome!! I’m so glad you guys like the recipe 🙂
Hi,
Have you faced the “burn” issue in IP?
Are you using duo plus 9 in 1 ?? 6 or 8 qt??
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Hi, all of my recipes are tested using a 6 quart instant pot. I haven’t had a burn issue – did you have one?
No, there were concerns about that on reddit groups, hence asked. Thank you.
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For this recipe? Are you able to provide a link I’d really like to see… thank you
This was divine and will be on a weekly rotation in our house! We can’t get chipotle powder here so I just used more smoked hot paprika instead. I even put chickpeas in to bulk it up as I was a tad short on beef, and it worked a treat. A taste sensation and I would encourage anyone to try this. I was getting a bit bored with bog-standard chilli so this makes an excellent substitution.
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Karen, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 Love that you added chickpeas!
It was very good. I live in San Antonio, Texas. We love good Mexican food. And this was so good. I used 1 and 3/4 pounds of stew meat. The gravy was thin, so I thickened with a traditional slurry of flour and water. The flavor was exactly what I was going for. We ate it in flour tortillas. Delicious!
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Kathleen, I’m so happy to hear that you liked it so much! Thank you for letting me know how the carne guisada turned out for you 🙂
Hey Kathleen! I’m in San Antonio also. I made this tonight however I just used the broth and the Fiesta Carne guisada seasoning and a little Knorr Tomate chicken flavor and it came out so good. Nice to meet you
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Please add nutrition info (calories, carbs, fat, fiber, protein, etc.). Also can this recipe be doubled? If so, is it a direct doubling of ingredients in the instapot or do you need to make adjustments? Thank you!
This was amazing FLAVOR! From a carne guisada snob!!
Did not have chipotle seasoning but added more paprika and chili powder to suffice. Also added bell pepper and used arrowroot to thicken to stay paleo.
Some of the thicker pieces were still chewy. Would you say it needs more time to become extra tender? Or less time? Still getting the hang of the instapot.
Thank you!
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Chloe, love that a carne guisada snob liked my recipe lol!! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 And hmm if there were any chewy pieces then yes it sounds like they may need some more time to cook next time – or maybe just cut them in half before cooking.
Just fantastic! Meat was tender and spices on point! I peeled and nuked my potatoes and add them in at the reducing stage! DELICIOUS!!!
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Amanda, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
This is one of my top 5 favorite recipes and a staple in our home. The meat turns out delicious and tender, plus it’s so easy to throw together. Can’t thank you enough. We make it at least once a month and serve leftovers as breakfast tortillas with scrambled egg and cheese, or over tamales.
Yum, yum, yum!!!
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Cristina, that’s so awesome to hear! Thank you for letting me know how much you like this recipe 🙂
If your homesick for San Antonio and Tex Mex, try this excellent and simple recipe. We will never buy a commercial carne guisada taco again and could kick myself for not trying this sooner.
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Leesa, that’s awesome! So happy to hear that!