Sharing a fantastic Carne Guisada inspired vegetable beef stew today that is easy and straightforward to whip up. This vegetable beef stew gets its inspiration from Carne Guisada, a Latin beef dish that lends its best parts to a stew that’s both hearty and healthy. Furthermore, this is a wonderfully affordable recipe, as it cuts the amount of beef required in a typical 4-person cane guisada recipe in half. Read on for more, or jump ahead to the main event.

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What is Carne Guisada?

Carne Guisada is a Tex-Mex or Latin style beef stew that is typically made by slow cooking chunks of beef chuck with spicy chili peppers (such as jalapenos), ground spices, aromatics, and oftentimes beer. It is usually served with flour tortillas, taco style.

About this Carne Guisada Inspired Vegetable Beef Stew

Carne Guisada is essentially a spiced stewed beef dish that is far more about the meat than it ever would be about any veggies. So, that’s why I’ve called this Carne Guisada “inspired” vegetable beef stew – it’s not an authentic recipe but rather it’s simply inspired by the classic Latin dish. This version basically takes a basic vegetable beef stew (which can be a little hum-drum let’s be honest) and ratchets up the flavor and excitement level a bunch of notches. The spices and chilis help to keep things interesting, you know?

Also though, and not for nothing, this is a very affordable way to serve beef. I’ve essentially halved the amount of beef called for in a classic carne guisada recipe, and replaced it with loads of fresh, healthy (and cheap) vegetables. It’s a practical, affordable, totally delicious dinner that is especially great when serves with different types of tortillas. I like to spoon the beef into soft tortillas, creating tacos. And I like to crush some tortilla chips over the stew for a nice salty crunch.

Ingredients in this Carne Guisada Inspired Vegetable Beef Stew

With loads of fresh veggies, aromatics, and just enough meat to make it nice and hearty, this Carne Guisada Inspired Vegetable Beef Stew is worthy of any weeknight meal rotation, and beyond.

2 tablespoons olive, vegetable, or canola oil
1.5 pounds beef stew meat
Salt and pepper, as needed
1.5 pounds or 24 ounces small red potatoes, halved or quartered
2 yellow onions, diced
2 celery stalks
2 to 3 large carrots, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cumin
1 packet Sazon seasoning
⅓ bunch cilantro, chopped, stems and leaves separated
5 garlic cloves, minced or grated
2 teaspoons beef stock concentrate (optional)
1 chipotle pepper + 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can (to taste)
4 cups beef stock, plus more as needed

Serving suggestions: Sour cream, fresh tortillas and crunchy tortillas, cut limes

How to make this Carne Guisada Inspired Vegetable Beef Stew

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Adjust the rack to the middle position.
Add the olive oil to a large, deep lidded pot set over medium high heat. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper all over and brown in the hot oil, takes about 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer elsewhere for now, and wipe out the pan if needed.
Add a little more oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the potatoes, onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, cumin, and Sazon. Cook adding more oil if needed to prevent sticking, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Season the pot with salt and pepper and add the cilantro stems, garlic, stock concentrate, and chipotle pepper; cook for one minute more.

Add the beef back into the pot (and any collected drippings) and add enough stock to fully cover the beef. Stir to mix it well and cover. Put the pot in the oven and let the stew cook for 2 hours, or until the beef is nice and tender. You can add more stock (or even water any any time to ensure you’ve got enough liquid in your stew.

Serve the stew with the reserved cilantro leaves, limes, sour cream, and soft and/or crunchy tortillas.