What is Vaca Frita?
Vaca frita literally means fried cow, and it is another traditional Cuban dish. We never really made it at home growing up, but it was my mom’s go-to dish every Thursday when we went out to Casa Romue or Las Vegas restaurant. Basically, get flank steak, shred it, and cook it until it is crispy. Vaca frita is usually cooked with a mix of onions, citrus, and seasoning.
Is it difficult to make?
I would say that it is fairly easy to make, but it is time consuming and you have to keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn once you put it on the stove. Also, you have to use a pressure cooker in order to shred it. I love using my instapot for this because I just set it and go. Now, if you don’t have an instapot, do not be discouraged. You can boil the meat in water for about 20-30 minutes so it is nice and tender to shred apart.
How do you make Vaca Frita?
First, season your flank steak generously with salt and garlic powder. I typically cut the piece of flank into for squares and season all the sides. I use about two tablespoons of salt and about 3 tablespoons of garlic powder. The longer you let it sit, the better.
Once your steak is seasoned, place it in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes and add water, onions, and garlic. While it is in the pressure cooker, prepare your citrus blend by combining fresh orange, lemon, and lime juice and adding cumin, oregano, and pepper to it. Also, cut the onions and mince the garlic and set aside. After the steak has cooked for 10 minutes under pressure, it should be easy to shred and still be a little pink in the middle (this is okay because you are going to finish cooking it on the stove).
Shredding the steak is the most time-consuming portion, but I used two forks and go to town. I leave pretty big chunks together and shred other parts into smaller pieces. After, heat up oil over high heat and add about half of the onions, garlic, and all your steak to it. Cook for about 5 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, I add about 1/3 of the citrus blend and let it cook. Cook for another 5 minutes and add the remaining onions and another 1/3 of the citrus blend. At this point you should notice that the steak is becoming crispy at the ends. Cook for another 5 minutes and add the remaining citrus. Let it cook for another few minutes. I don’t recommend stirring in between the 5 minutes. This will turn the steak on the bottom of the pot crispy.
Serve with rice and some limes to squeeze over and enjoy! Let me know what you think!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Flank steak
- 2 tbs Salt
- 3 tbs Garlic Powder
- ⅓ cup Orange juice freshly squeezed
- ⅓ cup Lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ⅓ cup Lime juice freshly squeezed
- ½ tsp Cumin
- ½ tsp Oregano
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ½ Green bell pepper
- 2 Large onions
- 10 cloves Garlic
- 4 cups Water
Instructions
- Season the flank steak with 1 tbs of salt and 1 ½ tbs of garlic powder on each side. Cut the flank steak into four rectangular/square pieces. Place the steak in a pressure cooker along with ½ an onion, ½ green pepper, and 4 garlic cloves. Add 4 cups of water (this should be enough water to cover the meat). Cook under pressure for 10 minutes.
- While your flank steak is cooking, squeeze in 1/3 cup of orange, lemon, and lime juice. Stir together. Add the cumin, oregano, and black pepper and mix to combine. Also, at this time, cut the remaining onions into strips and mince the remaining garlic cloves.
- Once the flank steak is done cooking, remove from the pressure cooker and shred into pieces using two forks.
- Heat 6 tbs of oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the shredded flank steak and half of the onions and all the garlic. Stir to coat with oil and let it cook for five minutes. After five minutes add about 1/3 of the citrus and seasoning mixture and stir. Let it cook for another five minutes without stirring so that the steak starts to become crispy. After these five minutes, add the remaining onions and another 1/3 of the citrus and seasoning mixture and stir to combine. Allow to cook for another five minutes and add the remaining citrus and seasoning mixture. Cook for another five minutes. Each time you mix the steak, you should notice that the steak in the bottom is becoming crispy.
- Serve over rice and a side of limes and enjoy!
Vaca Frita, my hands down favorite Cuban dish!!!
Love this recipe! Amazing flavor!
Thank you!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
My wife is not of Cuban origin made this dish and it came out really well! Highly recommend and will be doingit again
great flavor and the crispy vaca frita is amazing!
LOVE LOVE LOVE…Thank you Javi!
You’re welcome!! Thank you for the comment and rating the recipe!
My daughter (14) is a picky eater but she loves Vacation Frita…. this is a great recipe!!
Haha I’m happy to hear that! Thank you for trying!
Made the is with some leftover Birria meat and dudeeeee it was amazing!
Made this with some leftover Birria meat and dudeeeee it was amazing!
Can you use a Dutch oven instead of a pressure cooker? Unfortunately I don’t have a pressure cooker 🙁
Or crockpot?
Of course!! I think a crock pot would work better and it should be easier to control. I would just put it in there for about 3-4 hours on high and then shred it afterwards!
As a Miami native ( and Cuban American) this recipe was a “must learn how to” asap! I’ve made this recipe three times and it is by far the BEST vaca frita recipe evah!!! Easy to follow and absolutely delicious 🙂
Thank you for sharing amazing content !