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Carne Guisada

Carne guisada is a slow-braised Tex-Mex beef stew with deeply tender chunks simmered in a dark, chile-spiced gravy with potatoes and a thickened sauce. Ladle it over warm flour tortillas for a comforting Mexican beef stew style meal.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Calories: 640
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

beef chuck, cut into 1.5-inch cubes
  • 2 lb beef chuck
vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
onion, diced
  • 1 onion
green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper
garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 garlic cloves
flour
  • 2 tbsp flour
beef broth
  • 2 cup beef broth
diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
cumin
  • 2 tsp cumin
chili powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
garlic powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
oregano
  • 0.5 tsp oregano
salt and black pepper
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 0.125 tsp black pepper
flour tortillas, cilantro, and lime for serving
  • 1 flour tortillas
  • 0.25 cilantro
  • 1 lime

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Season and brown the beef
  1. Season the beef cubes generously with salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.
  2. Brown the beef in batches in hot oil over high heat in a heavy pot; do not crowd, and remove to a plate when browned on the outside.
Build the stew base
  1. Sauté the onion and green bell pepper for 5 minutes in the same pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring, until fragrant.
  3. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 1 minute to cook out the raw flour taste.
  4. Add beef broth and diced tomatoes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Simmer until tender
  1. Return the browned beef to the pot and add oregano.
  2. Cover and simmer on low for 1.5–2 hours until the beef is extremely tender and the gravy has thickened.
Serve
  1. Serve hot with warm flour tortillas, cilantro, and fresh lime.

Notes

Pro tip: Don’t crowd the beef when browning—working in batches helps the gravy develop deeper, darker flavor. Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Freeze in an airtight container up to 3 months, then thaw and reheat gently on the stovetop. For a gluten-free option, use a gluten-free all-purpose flour substitute for the thickening step.