What Is Carne Guisada?

Beef stew is one of the most classic dishes around, but after a while chunks of beef and carrots in a simple brown sauce can get boring. Enter carne guisada, a Latin staple that kicks the traditional American beef stew up by about 15 notches.

While this dish is popular throughout Latin America, it's most commonly eaten in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It's also a popular Tex-Mex dish, served at places like the legendary Bob's Taco Station in Rosenberg, Texas and Henry's Puffy Tacos in San Antonio. To make carne guisada, you start as you would any other beef stew: brown cubes of round steak in vegetable oil, then add a couple tablespoons of flour into the mix. Follow that up with minced green peppers, garlic, tomato, jalapeño, onions, some cumin, and chili powder (and some traditional MSG-kicked seasoning mix called Sazon). If you like, top it off with some beef broth and let it all simmer, covered, two or so hours until it's tender.

You can always serve it over rice or potatoes, but we suggest you keep it traditional and spoon it directly into flour tortillas. At the end of the process, you'll be rewarded with not only an updated take on the classic beef stew, but one with classic Latin flavors that the whole family can enjoy.