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Carne con papas is a traditional Mexican stew made with beef and potatoes cooked in a tasty sauce made of tomatoes, garlic, onions, and peppers. This popular meat and potatoes dish tastes great when served with rice and tortillas and is a classic Mexican comfort food.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Simple ingredients and big flavor. The dish is a testament to how simple ingredients can create a meal that’s both rich in flavor and satisfying. The combination of beef, potatoes, tomatoes, and spices like cumin and peppers creates a hearty and comforting dish.
- It’s versatile. This dish is delicious on its own with some warm tortillas or chips, or can be eaten with rice and beans. It can also be customized to different taste preferences, such as adjusting the spice level by using different chiles or replacing the beef with chicken or pork. You can also include more vegetables, like carrots or bell peppers if you’d like.
- Makes the best leftovers. Carne con papas is one of those dishes that often tastes even better the next day as the flavors continue to meld. It’s a great dish to meal prep and makes even better leftovers to enjoy throughout the week.
What Are Carne con papas?
Carne con papas is a Mexican stew made from beef chuck roast braised in a homemade tomato sauce with onions, garlic, potatoes, and, most importantly, peppers.
Unlike European beef stews, this has a tomato sauce base, which gives it a lovely, slightly sweet, acidic brightness. The peppers and Mexican spices in the broth create a unique flavor profile that tastes great on a cold winter day and marries well with authentic Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice, or just some plain white rice and warm flour tortillas.
Ingredients
- Beef chuck roast: Chuck roast is perfect for braising and gets tender the longer it cooks. It adds so much flavor to the broth and is a must-have for carne con papas.
- Seasonings: You’ll need fresh garlic, garlic powder, dried oregano, ground cumin, salt, black pepper, and a bay leaf. This is a classic blend of spices commonly used in Mexican dishes.
- Tomatoes and onions: Roma tomatoes and white onions are traditional ingredients in many Mexican dishes. This is no different.
- Serrano pepper: It adds the perfect level of spice to the broth and compliments the tomatoes and onions. I added one in whole, and it’s about a medium spice level. You can remove the seeds to make it a little more mild or use a jalapeño instead.
- Potatoes: They add a comforting, earthy element and absorb the flavors of the sauce beautifully. I used russet potatoes, but you could use other varieties if you prefer.
How to Make Carne con papas
Season the beef chuck roast, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and cumin, then brown on all sides in a large pot or Dutch oven with some olive oil.
Make the broth by blending some tomatoes, garlic, onions, beef broth, a serrano pepper, and salt until smooth.
Strain the broth into the pot using a fine mesh strainer. Add the bay leaf, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the potatoes and cook for an additional 25 minutes, until the potatoes and meat are tender.
Discard the bay leaf, stir in the cilantro, and allow the dish to rest off the heat for 10 minutes to thicken the broth slightly. Serve with rice and warm tortillas.
Tips
- To make the sauce less spicy, use a jalapeño pepper instead or omit the pepper altogether. To make the sauce more spicy, add an additional serrano pepper.
- Adjust the consistency as needed. After resting the stew, add a bit of beef broth if it’s too thick. If it’s too thin, simmer it a little more with the lid off to reduce.
- Cut the potatoes into uniform pieces to ensure even cooking.
- Top the stew with extra cilantro, cotija cheese, or avocados.
Recommended Tools
Dutch oven: I love these Dutch ovens so much. My husband and I always use them for soups, stews, and braising meats.
Blender: This is the best blender you can buy for everyday kitchen use. We use ours for soups and stews like this one and making salsas and smoothies.
Strainer: These are the strainers I use in my kitchen at home, and they’re great for everything from savory recipes like sauces and salsa to desserts like flan.
Storing and Reheating
You can store carne con papas in an airtight container in your refrigerator for about 5-7 days or in the freezer for about 3 months.
To freeze, cool the carne con papas in the fridge. Once chilled, scoop into freezer-safe storage bags or containers and freeze. When ready to eat, let the frozen container thaw completely in the refrigerator or defrost in the microwave. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until completely warm.
Carne con Papas
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast, diced into 1-inch cubes
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
- ½ white onion
- 1 serrano pepper, stemmed
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Add the beef chuck roast, 2 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt, the black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and cumin to a large bowl. Toss together to combine.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the meat and cook until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking, add the tomatoes, onion, pepper, garlic, the remaining ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and the beef broth to a large blender. Blend until smooth.
- Strain the tomato sauce into the pot using a fine mesh strainer. Add bay leaf and reduce the heat to medium-low. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the potatoes, cover, and cook for an additional 25 minutes until the potatoes and meat are tender.
- Discard the bay leaf and stir in the cilantro. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the stew to set for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly.
- Taste and season with more salt if needed. Serve with rice and warm tortillas.
Video
Notes
- To make the sauce less spicy, use a jalapeño pepper instead or omit the pepper completely. To make the sauce more spicy, add an additional serrano pepper.
- Allowing the stew to set and cool slightly after cooking will thicken the tomato sauce.
- Top the stew with extra cilantro, cotija cheese, or avocados.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Erin Jensen of The Wooden Skillet.
I made this a couple of weeks ago and it turned out great. The beef we have in the freezer is from a half of a steer we bought some months back so the packages are not marked with exact weights. I used about 1-2/3ish pounds of stew beef and added a pound of ground beef. I broke up and browned the ground beef a little before adding the stew beef. I used chicken broth because that’s what I had. I substituted two large de-seeded jalapeño peppers for the serrano pepper and it was exactly right for my taste. I added some carrot rounds and a red bell pepper to round things out.
My wife was out of town so I had one meal the night I cooked it. The following night I divided the cold leftovers into thirds – one into a pot for that night and two into storage conainers for the freezer. A few days later one of the containers came out of the freezer and reheated very nicely. The last one is still in the freezer for a night when I need dinner for myself. The leftovers were easily as good as the fresh cooked.
It was actually too much beef (I never thought I would say that) so next time I’m going to use about a pound of stew beef and a pound of ground. I really, really liked the flavor and I will be fixing it again. A doctor told my wife to avoid red meat because of some health issues so I think I will try it with chicken and see how that works out. I’ll be making it with beef again to freeze for when I need something quick.
I have made several of your recipes; so far my favorites are the crockpot carnitas and albondigas soup – and now this one, of course. Thank you for your site; I get your emails and appreciate the suggestions.
My boyfriend is Mexican. I made this 2 days ago. He asked me to make it again tonight! I said , “really”? He said YES! It’s really good! 😁thanks for the recipe. I love it too!
I tried this stew last time you posted it. It is soo good. I’ve been dying to make it again. I highly recommend it.
I have made a few of your recipes and just wanted to say THANKS! I made this last night and my husband loved it. I am not used to Mexican cooking, but have found all your recipes to be easy to follow and delicious to eat. You have added so much to my cooking abilities!
Relatively short prep and cooking time. Great flavors. The serrano chile added just the right amount of heat. We’ll make this again.
I love love this!!! Reminds me of my childhood 🥹❤️ and of course my husband and children loved it! Wasn’t spicy which was great 🙂 10/10 will go in my cookbook🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Loved it. Made it with pork loin because I am not supposed to eat too much red meat. It was excellent.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I want to thank you for sharing this recipe your way, with the pork loin. It was marvelous!
I made this for my family tonight. It was so good! And easier to make than I thought it would be. I needed a bigger strainer for the sauce, I only had a tiny one.😅 but my vitamix blends things up so well the strainer wasn’t much use. Thank you for sharing your recipes. Everything I have made so far has tasted amazing. I will be trying more soon!
Carne con papas was delicious. The seasonings were delicious. I will definitely be making it again. Thanks for the recipe.
Very good especially on a cold day. I didn’t have a pepper so I used red pepper flakes in worked out well.