Carne con papa, meat with potato stew, is another Cuban staple that pretty much all Cubans grow up eating. My abuela Vivian makes the best carne con papa out there and this is her recipe. My favorite part is getting the liquid from the stew and drenching rice in it and just eating it all up. It’s just so freaking delicious.
A lot of Cuban recipes are made for big families and are fairly cheap to make, and they always come out so good. What is great about this recipe, is that it is all made in one pot, so it is an easy clean up type of meal. And now with the invention of the Instapot, it’s a perfect recipe for any household. I know a lot of people are scared to use a pressure cooker because there are stories of them exploding, but honestly the Instapot is basically danger proof. It will not let you open the lid until all the pressure is out which is great! Especially if you have a small kitchen like I do here in New York the Intsapot is amazing. I put it on the counter, and it leaves my stove open for me to cook something else. (I promise I have no sponsorship from Insta pot.)
Anyways, back to the carne con papa. First thing you have to make is a sofrito, the base of basically every Cuban dish. For this sofrito, you only use onions and garlic. Once you sautee the onions and garlic, you add the meat, brown it on all sides. Then add tomatoe sauce, cooking wine and water. You place it in the pressure cooker for 13 minutes. After you add the potatoes and turn the pressure cooker back on for another five minutes to cook the potatoes and BAM! You got yourself some carne con papa.
So there you have it mi gente, you are becoming more Cuban by the recipe. Well unless you are already Cuban, then you are just learning how to become a Cuban in the kitchen.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Beef for stew
- 2 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 cup Onions
- 4 Garlic cloves
- 1 cup Red cooking wine
- 1 cup Tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Olives
- 3 Potatoes
Instructions
- Season the meat with garlic powder and salt. Set aside. Chop the onions and garlic or place them in a food processor.
- If using a pressure cooker on the stove, place over medium high heat. If using an instapot, place it on saute mood. Coat the bottom of the pressure cooker with oil, and wait for it to heat up. Once hot, place the diced onions and garlic and saute till the onions are translucent. About 3 minutes.
- Once the onions and garlic are cooked, place the meat inside the pressure cooker, and cook all the sides for about 5 minutes. Once the meat is browned, add the tomato sauce, red cooking wine, and olives. Add enough water to cover the meat. Cook in the pressure cooker, for 13 minutes. (If using an Instapot, make sure the setting is on high.)
- Release the pressure after the 13 minutes, and add the potatoes. Close the pressure cooker and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Release the pressure, and serve with rice. Enjoy!
