I love Ropa Vieja but sometimes I just don’t have all day to wait for the slow-cooker, so I’ve updated this fantastic recipe for Ropa Vieja that was inspired by my time in Miami to be an Instant Pot OR Slow-Cooker Ropa Vieja. Take advantage of either the slow-cooker or the Instant Pot to turn out this saucy, shredded, salty, sweet Cuban Classic flank steak preparation. Serve with some hot, cooked rice, a shower of fresh cilantro, and some lime wedges for squeezing and and feel like you’ve been transported to Miami! 
You know that trip I took to Miami a while back? This will come as no surprise to most of you, but my awesome roomies (Mary and Meseidy) I ate a large swath through that city, decimating all the Cuban food we encountered with no mercy. Yes, I know the city is full of scantily glad beautiful people -Holy Lack of Inhibitions, Batman- but for us it was all about the food and well-clothed friendship.
I demolished Cuban Hash for breakfast (pulled pork, fried potatoes-and-onions-and-peppers, garlic, and a fried egg). I ate Cuban sandwiches for lunch. We went out to a Cuban restaurant for late afternoon snack with girlfriends and ordered an entrée of Vaca Frita that came with a massive plate of fried onions, black beans, and rice. I love unabashedly meat-and-garlic-loving cuisines.
Do you think I got tired of the all-Cuban-food-all-the-time approach I took to the city?
No. In case you’re wondering, that’s the answer. In fact, I went through withdrawal when I got home. WHERE were my plantain chips? WHERE was my bowl of beans and rice? WHERE was my deep-fried, smoked pork chop? WHERE WAS MY ROPA VIEJA? The solution was -as it often is- to make my own.
Thanks to the “Flavors of Miami” demo by Meseidy of The Noshery and Carla a.k.a. CubanBrit, I left Miami feeling like I was totally equal to making it myself. Using Carla’s recipe as a leaping off point, I adjusted to make it mine and baby? It’s good.
You’ll feel like one of the beautiful Miami people when you serve this, although hopefully you’ll be wearing more than that thong get-up I saw that one woman sporting at the nightclub. I mean it’s up to you, obviously, but I prefer to wear something with a little more mid-section coverage so I can go back for seconds and thirds without it being so obvious. You know, like a muu muu or burqini.
I’m clearly not meant to live in Miami among the beach people.
The point is this; the food is spot on whether you serve it dressed like a nun or a nudist. Ropa Vieja -one of Cuba’s National Treasures- is traditionally a flank steak that is seared and then braised in a garlicky tomato sauce with onions and peppers until the steak can easily be shredded into long, thin, ropy pieces like tattered old clothes.
Ropa Vieja actually MEANS old clothes, so there ya go! The shredded meat is then added back into the cooking juices along with green olives and a handful of raisins that provide a sweet counterpoint to the salty olives. It’s usually served with a side of white rice and a shower of chopped fresh cilantro or parsley. UGH that’s so stinkin’ good.
Cook’s Notes
- For the record, I think Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja would be outstanding made with venison. Venison flank steak would behave much the same way, using the long, slow-cooking phase to become tender and shreddy.
- You could quite likely use a top round or chuck steak in place of a flank steak, but you won’t get the same long, ropy pieces that you would from a flank steak. Still? Yum.
- The raisins in the dish are optional, but if you omit them, be sure to add in 1/8 cup of raw or brown sugar, or sucanat to make up for the sweetness they’d bring.
- If you don’t want to use Sazon Goya because of the MSG or because you can’t find it in your area, you can make your own using The Noshery’s recipe for homemade sazon here! Sazon is good stuff, though, folks… and it’s a very authentic addition to Ropa Vieja!
- Whether you use the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker is totally up to you. I love the convenience of the one pot preparation in the Instant Pot, though, and it only takes a couple hours vs. all day. Plus, if you have an instant pot, you can whip up this Instant Pot Oreo Cheesecake… so win/win!
Use these to make Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja
Look how easy Instant Pot Ropa Vieja is to make!
Ropa Vieja {Cuban Shredded Beef}
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 2 to 2 1/2 pounds beef flank steak
- 2 packets Sazon Goya or 1 1/4 teaspoons plus 1 1/4 teaspoons seasoning salt separated
- 1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil plus 1 teaspoon separated
- 1 large green pepper seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 1 large onion trimmed of root and blossom ends, peeled, and diced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes in their juices 28 ounces
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus a pinch separated
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 jar green olives with pimientos 5.75 ounces or thereabouts, drained and cut in half
- 1 jar capers 2 ounces, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup golden raisins If omitting, add 2 tablespoons sugar., optional
- hot cooked rice or noodles
- cilantro or parsley and fresh lime wedges for garnish optional
Instructions
To Make in the Slow Cooker:
- Sprinkle one packet of the Sazon Goya (or 1 1/4 teaspoons of seasoning salt) over both sides of the flank steak. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a cast-iron or other heavy skillet on high heat. When the oil is very shimmery and has faint wisps of smoke rising from it, lay the flank steak down in it carefully. Don't move the steak for 4 minutes. Use tongs to flip the steak to sear the other side for another 4 minutes. After searing the steak, use tongs to transfer it to the crock of your slow cooker. Cover and set the slow-cooker to HIGH.
- Set the pan back on the burner, dropping the heat to medium low. If the pan is dry, add the additional teaspoon of peanut or canola oil and swirl, then add the green peppers and onions along with a pinch of salt. Sautee, stirring frequently, until the onions and peppers have a touch of colour around the edges, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, beef broth, wine, remaining packet of Sazon (or last 1 1/4 teasoons of seasoning salt), olives, capers, raisins, kosher salt, and coarse black pepper, raise the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Pour over the seared flank steak in the slow-cooker. The flank steak should be covered by vegetables and sauces. Cover the slow-cooker and continue cooking on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
- After the time is up, use tongs to scrape anything off of the top of the steak and transfer the steak to a cutting board. Cover and let it cook while you address the steak.
- Hold the steak down at one end with a fork. Poke another fork into the steak near the anchoring fork and pull away, down the length of the steak, shredding the steak into long, thin, ropy strips. Repeat until the whole steak has been shredded. Return the shredded meat to the slow-cooker and toss to distribute everything evenly. Serve hot, warm, or room temperature on rice or noodles. If desired, garnish with chopped, fresh cilantro or parsley and some fresh lime wedges for squeezing over the dish.
To Make in an Instant Pot
- Sprinkle one packet of the Sazon Goya (or 1 1/4 teaspoons of seasoning salt) over both sides of the flank steak. Heat the tablespoon of oil in an Instant Pot set to SAUTE. When the oil is very shimmery lay the flank steak down in it carefully. You may need to cut the steak in half to fit. Don't move the steak for 4 minutes. Use tongs to flip the steak to sear the other side for another 4 minutes. Repeat with the other half if you needed to trim it to fit. After searing the steak, use tongs to transfer it to a plate.
- If the pan is dry, add the additional teaspoon of peanut or canola oil, then add the green peppers and onions along with a pinch of salt. Saute, stirring frequently, until the onions and peppers have a touch of colour around the edges, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, beef broth, wine, remaining packet of Sazon (or last 1 1/4 teasoons of seasoning salt), olives, capers, raisins, kosher salt, and coarse black pepper, return the flank steak to the pot, pressing to submerge the meat as much as possible. Fix the Instant Pot's lid in place, be sure the vent is in the closed position, and set to High Pressure manually for 70 minutes.
- After the time is up, release the pressure by carefully venting, remove the lid, use tongs to scrape anything off of the top of the steak and transfer the steak to a cutting board.
- Hold the steak down at one end with a fork. Poke another fork into the steak near the anchoring fork and pull away, down the length of the steak, shredding the steak into long, thin, ropy strips. Repeat until the whole steak has been shredded. Return the shredded meat to the Instant Pot and toss to distribute everything evenly. Serve hot, warm, or room temperature on rice or noodles. If desired, garnish with chopped, fresh cilantro or parsley and some fresh lime wedges for squeezing over the dish.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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If you loved this Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja, you might like these recipes:
- Creamy Bufffalo Chicken for Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
- Slow Cooker Cuban Pork
- 31 Instant Pot and Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes
- Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Ranch Slow Cooker Chex Mix
This post originally published June 10, 2014. Updated December 2017 with Instant Pot instructions and links.
Reader's Thoughts...
Robin says
Hi! IMO, your technique for making this recipe in the Instant Pot will not work. You will almost definitely get the BURN message to display, and the IP will not pressurize. Not mentioning that this will happen is a disservice to your many patrons because when the BURN message displays, the IP stops trying to pressurize, and it turns into a Keep Warm vessel. The only way to work around this is to remove everything from your Inner Pot, and remove the burnt bits from the bottom. Then begin again. Very frustrating and time consuming.
I suggest that you suggest that the searing of the steak be done in a skillet of sufficient size and girth and then you transfer the seared steak to the Inner Pot of the IP and continue with your directions. I like using chicken or veggie stock and red wine to deglaze the skillet of the “brown bits” from the searing of the steak and then adding this back into the IP. Sometimes this takes 1/3 of a cup of stock and red wine, and sometimes less, but you can get the leverage necessary to get those tasty bits up from the skillet, using a wooden spatula.
Thanks for listening!
Rebecca says
Hi Robin- I’ve never had an issue with the “BURN” message coming up on my instant pot ever! Have you actually tried my recipe as written or was this an issue that happened when you tried another similar recipe? Just curious! One way or the other (whether you use my full recipe or alter it as you’ve suggested) I sure hope you give it a try, it’s very delicious!
starr ritchie says
This turned out awful:( I grew up in tampa where I was able to eat this at local restaurants. This was really watery and didn’t have great taste
I think maybe a tomato sauce/paste instead of diced tomatoes may have helped
Bill says
I made the instant pot version. And I used venison! It turned out great. It was farm raised venison, and the flank steaks were small, but I just used enough of them to make up about 2 pounds. I also used the homemade sazon, as I try to avoid MSG and the preservatives they put in the store bought spice mixes. I thought it was going to be too soupy, but when I put the shredded meat back in, it was just right. I served it with white rice and black beans. I live in Miami, so I can get the real thing any time I want it, but now I have an instant pot recipe to make it myself.
Now to find that 7″ springform pan and make some oreo cheesecake…..
Rebecca says
Thanks for letting me know you loved it, Bill. Farm raised venison sounds absolutely delicious for ropa vieja! And as for the springform pan, psssst. Here’s a link. 🙂
Robert McQuin says
I used the Instant Pot version. Turned out great, our guests loved it as well. I did end up removing almost two cups of the broth before serving, thinking next time I will try less beef broth and draining the tomatoes before adding. Flavors were on point, meat was super tender and shredded almost by itself. Will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you.
rafael gonzalez says
this is such a good dish, however I never got the recipe from my mother therefore i am really looking forward to this!