Pressure cooker ropa vieja is a time-saving Instant Pot version of the traditional Cuban beef dish, and is naturally gluten and dairy free. There’s also a slow cooker version! This post is sponsored by Pomí.
Have you tried ropa vieja? Don’t worry about the fact that the name is Spanish for “old clothes”–this is supremely delicious comfort food, with nothing old or ragged about it. To make this pressure cooker ropa vieja, beef is quickly seared, then cooked until tender in an addictive sauce made with Pomí tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic, smoked paprika, and other spices.
Next, capers, raisins, and pimiento peppers are added for pops of color, sweetness, and tart, briny flavor. The result is a dish so soothing and satisfying that Ben and I aren’t even close to being tired of it, despite having eaten three giant batches over the past two weeks.
No pressure cooker? Don’t fret (but I do highly recommend the Instant Pot*<–this and all others marked with * are affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases). This ropa vieja is just as delicious made in a slow cooker*. I was surprised to find the two versions indistinguishable in taste and texture, so it’s really just a question of how much time you have and which appliance you want to use.
I used Pomí Organic Strained Tomatoes* for this recipe. They’re similar to crushed tomatoes and provide all the great umami-packed flavor of fresh tomatoes grown in the Italian sunshine. (By the way, I also tested this recipe with Pomí’s chopped tomatoes and they worked great, too!) I love that they’re organic and non-GMO certified.
This pressure cooker ropa vieja is a satisfying meal on its own or atop a bed of rice (white, yellow, or cauliflower!), but it’s even more exciting with a few extra trimmings. Here I served it with tostones (fried green plantains) and guacamole.
Last week I made maduros (fried sweet plantains) to go with the previous batch of ropa vieja, but this week I could only find green plantains at the market so I had to go with tostones. I couldn’t even pick a favorite plantain side because I love both of them so much.
I hope you give this pressure cooker ropa vieja (or the slow cooker version) a try!
If you’re looking for more delicious Cuban food, check out my recipes for picadillo with plantains and slow-cooker Cuban short ribs or this recipe for lechón asado in the Instant Pot or slow cooker from The Curious Coconut.
If you’re looking for more Instant Pot recipes, try my five-ingredient Instant Pot carnitas, Instant Pot fesenjan (Persian chicken stew with pomegranate and walnuts), and Instant Pot tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes. If you’re doing a Whole30, check out my roundup of 40 Whole30 Instant Pot recipes.
Note: To make this recipe Whole30 compliant, replace the wine with a tablespoon of sherry or white wine vinegar. Taste before adding additional vinegar to finish the dish.
If you enjoyed this ropa vieja, come join me on Instagram to stay in the loop as I develop new recipes!
Pressure Cooker Ropa Vieja
Pressure cooker ropa vieja is a time-saving version of the traditional Cuban beef stew, and is naturally gluten and dairy free. See notes for a slow cooker version.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sirloin tip roast, cut into 6 large chunks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup ghee or avocado oil
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 red, orange, and/or yellow bell peppers, stemmed, deseeded, and sliced into thin strips
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (I used pinot grigio)
- 1 (26.46-ounce) box Pomí Organic Strained Tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup capers
- 1/4 cup chopped jarred pimento peppers
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Instructions
- Season the beef on all sides with salt and pepper. Put the avocado oil in the Instant Pot and push “Sauté”, then push “Adjust” to increase the heat to “More”. When the ghee is hot, add the beef and brown for ten minutes, turning the pieces over halfway through. Use tongs to transfer the beef to a plate.
- Add the onion and peppers to the pot and sauté, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes, until softened somewhat and reduced in volume. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and spices and cook for about a minute. Pour in the wine and let it bubble away for 2-3 minutes, until most of the liquid is gone.
- Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and press “Keep Warm/Cancel”. Return the beef to the pot along with any juices on the plate, and stir to combine. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the valve is turned to “Sealing”. Push “Manual” and use the plus button to increase the time to 40 minutes. Cooking will begin automatically.
- When the time is up, push “Keep Warm/Cancel” and let the pressure release naturally (this takes 15-20 minutes; a manual pressure release can negatively impact the texture of the meat).
- Carefully remove the lid, transfer the meat to a plate, and shred it with two forks. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Return the meat to the pot along with the capers, pimientos, raisins, and sherry vinegar, and stir. Push “Sauté” and cook for about 10 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve hot alongside white or yellow rice, guacamole, and tostones* or fried sweet plantains.
Notes
To make this recipe in a slow cooker, complete steps 1-2 stovetop in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Once the beef is done browning, you can place it directly in your slow cooker along with the bay leaves. Once the wine has bubbled away, turn off the heat, stir in the tomatoes, and pour the mixture on top of the meat in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the meat falls apart easily. Transfer the meat to a plate and shred it with two forks. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Return the meat to the slow cooker, add the capers, pimientos, raisins, and sherry vinegar, and stir. Continue to cook on high, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.
*There's an easy recipe for tostones on page 52 of Paleo Planet.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 servings Serving Size: 1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 471Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 133mgSodium: 573mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 35g
The nutrition label provided is an estimate for informational purposes only and may not be accurate. I am not a nutritionist or medical professional.
This post is sponsored by Pomí. Thank you so much for supporting the sponsors that keep A Calculated Whisk up and running! This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase on Amazon after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission (the price you pay is not affected). Thank you so much for supporting my site!
Hi! I have the 8qt instapot and was wondering if I doubled this recipe, would I have to double the cooking time or just increase it by a little? I know it says 40 min so do you think I should put it at 1hr 20 or just an 1hr?
Hi Vanessa, I don’t have the 8-quart IP and haven’t tried doubling this so I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t think you’d need to double the time. (It will take you twice as long to sear all the meat before pressure cooking, though.) I would say you’d probably be good with the same cooking time or maybe 45-50 minutes. You could always start with 40 and if the meat doesn’t seem tender enough, pressure cook for another 10 minutes or so.
Thank you! Can’t wait to try this out, we’re doing a Cuban themed dinner for Christmas this year.
What happened to the recipe? It seems to have disappeared!
Cheryl, I’m still seeing it—-what device and browser are you using? I’ll try my best to figure out what’s going on. Thanks for commenting to let me know!
My whole family could not stop raving about this dish. I had to make a couple of adjustments due to store limitations right now. I used Pomi diced tomatoes, beef broth instead of wine, rice vinegar instead of sherry vinegar, and I omitted the raisins. My teenage son rates it in the top three dishes I’ve ever made. I cook a lot, so that’s very high praise! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Woohoo! I’m so happy to hear you guys loved it. Thanks for commenting and sharing your modifications!
I got a burn notice …. what did I do wrong!! I was getting all excited about this recipe 🙁
What size IP are you using? I use the six-quart Instant Pot and have never gotten a burn notice with this recipe (I’ve only gotten one at all ever!), but here is a good resource for troubleshooting: https://kristineskitchenblog.com/instant-pot-burn/ The article mentions that the burn warning “can be more common with the 8 quart Instant Pot and also with newer models”, explains reasons it can happen, and outlines simple steps to take to make sure you can still enjoy your food even after getting this notice. Hope it’s helpful!
I have a 6 qt new IP. I’m not sure what I did wrong, I even deglazed the pot while sautéing. Luckily I was able to transfer food and clean out the inner pot and reset to cook. Thank goodness because the Ropa Vieja came out delicious!!! Thanks so much for the recipes and tips! My Cuban husband even approved the flavoring!
Oh good—I’m so happy you both liked it! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know how it went 🙂
I made this and loved the flavor but it was a little soupy. I think I’ll add a third more meat next time but the flavor is amazing
I’m so glad you liked the flavor! You can definitely add more meat. If it’s soupier than you like, you can also let it reduce longer in the last step.
I’m making this for my supper club, so I am doubling the recipe. I was thinking it might be easier to do in my crockpot vs instant pot since there will be so much more. Do you think I should keep the same amount of liquid?
I haven’t tried doubling the recipe so I can’t say for sure (my instant pot is also bigger than my slow cooker but if you have one of the big oval slow cookers that should work). You saw the note about slow cooking below the recipe, right? I think just doubling the wine and tomatoes along with everything else should work, but you might need to let it cook uncovered for a little while longer at the end to reduce. Let me know how it goes! Hope you enjoy and have a great supper club.
My husband doesn’t like bell peppers, but I think they add a lot of flavor. Could I leave the bell peppers in larger chunks so that I can easily pull them out before serving?
I think that would work! Hope you enjoy!
I have everything in my pantry to make this recipe except the golden raisins. Will be picking them up this week and trying out your recipe. It sounds awesome!
Yay! Hope you love it!!
Excellent recipe. Add hot cherry peppers or mix in diced hot cherry pepper paste (just a little) and wow. It kicks this recipe into the hall of fame.
A spicy version sounds great! Thanks for sharing your addition and I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
I’ve made it a few times and I am Venezuelan. My mom loves when I make it and best of all it’s super fast to make.
Question, how do you think this will freeze? I’d like to double the recipe.
Thanks!
I haven’t tried freezing it, but imagine it would freeze well!
Hello Becky, I want to double this recipe, and was wondering if i should increase the amount of time the meat is left in the instant pot under pressure. Should I leave it at 40 minutes or increase to 80 minutes?
I haven’t doubled it myself but I think it would still be done in 40 minutes! If the meat isn’t as tender as you’d like after that you could always pressure cook for 5-10 more minutes, but I do not think it would need anything close to 80. Hope you enjoy!
Have you tried doubling this recipe? If so, have you experienced any ‘burn’ warnings with the instapot?
I have not tried doubling it, but as long as you double the liquids, too, I would not expect a burn warning. (I have never gotten one of those, though, in all my IP cooking, so I don’t have the best sense of what causes them other than too little liquid.)
40 minutes of pressure cooking (plus 15-20 for the pressure to release) doesn’t turn the veggies to mush or the beef to leather?? It seems like such a long time.
Forty minutes of pressure cooking makes the beef tender and easily shreddable with a fork! This is basically a stew, so the vegetables are definitely not crunchy, but the dish is really delicious! If you like your veggies with more bite, you could try adding the bell pepper at the end with the pimientos, capers, and raisins.
Amazing recipe!
Thank you! I’m so glad you like it!
Great recipe! I used adobo instead of salt and pepper on the meat, but other than that, no changes. My husband gave this a big thumbs up!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! This looks like a wonderful recipe. If I use sweet paprika (all I have on hand) and omit the raisins, do you think it would alter the flavor of the recipe too much? I have never had this dish before so I’m not sure. 🙂
Sweet paprika should be fine! It’s not as spicy, so add a little cayenne if you’d like. The raisins add nice pops of sweetness, but if you don’t like them or don’t have any, I bet it will still be great without. I recently had ropa vieja with no raisins at a restaurant and it was still really good! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Becky – this looks like a likely candidate 🙂 but I’m wondering: I have several pounds of skirt steak hanging around in my freezer – do you think I could use it for this recipe? I’ve never IP’d with skirt steak before, but I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work….
I think skirt steak should work! Let me know how it goes if you decide to try it!
Do you use half an onion or the whole onion for this? I am not a good cook so I am confused by the part where it says “1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced”.
Do I use half of it or the whole thing? HELP!
The whole onion! The amount that you’ll need of each ingredient is listed first (in this case, 1 large yellow onion) followed by what you need to do to prepare it (halved and thinly sliced). So, take the whole onion, slice it in half, peel it (this is not listed because it’s a given), and then slice each half thinly. (The reason I say “halved and thinly sliced” here instead of just “thinly sliced” is that it’s much easier to peel and slice an onion once it’s been cut in half. Unless I need pretty circular rings, I always do it like that.)
Hope this was helpful and that you enjoy the recipe! Let me know if any other questions come up. <3
So tasty! I made this in my Instant Pot yesterday and loved it. It brought back some good memories of Cuba 🙂
So happy you liked it!
Stumbled upon your site looking for the basics to make chx stock in my newest toy Instant Pot. So happy to see a Ropa recipe! But as a line cook, kitchen manager & restaurant brat growing up back east I can confirm that Pomi is one amazing product. I’m Italian and we are notoriously picky about our tomatoes but Pomi is one we all turn to when we need it. Love this stuff, freshest most unsullied true flavour of tomato.
So glad you found my site, and happy to hear from another fan of Pomì! Their tomatoes really are delicious. Hope you enjoy this recipe and your new IP, and thank you so much for commenting!
I e never seen bittersweet smoked paprika. Would regular smoked paprika work in this dish?
Any smoked paprika should work! It does come in hot, bittersweet, and sweet, but I’ve also seen some just labeled smoked paprika like you have. I would imagine varieties labeled without a heat level wouldn’t be super spicy, but just be careful if you’re heat-averse.
It came out fantastic! Thanks for a great recipe!
So happy you enjoyed it!!
Fabulous and authentic looking recipe – I will be trying this out over the weekend! When I got my Instant Pot, the ONE thing I wanted to be able to do was to make Ropa Vieja. I thought I would have to go to several sources to get the right recipe, timing, etc. But yours looks to be spot-on! I grew up loving this dish–now I can have it any time! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Hope you love it as much as we do!!
I believe I am going to venture out of my household’s comfort zone and make this recipe! My daughter used to cook and try new things but lately her diet consists of cheese pizza and homemade French fries! My husband, on the other hand, thinks he is worldly with his eating habits because he will eat burgers, fajitas, enchiladas, a bit of Cajun and a touch of soul food. Oh, and crayfish. You guys wish me oodles of luck!!
Haha, good luck!!! It’s tough cooking for picky eaters but this is so delicious that it just might win them over!
Do you have an electric pressure cooker recipe?
The Instant Pot is the only electric pressure cooker I have used, but you should be able to adapt this for others! It would depend on the model, but if you’re able to cook it under high pressure for a similar amount of time, it should work.
Wish there was a print version to print out the recipe
Alex, there is one–you should see buttons entitled “Save” and “Print” right below the little photo of the recipe on the recipe card. When those don’t display, it’s usually an issue with an outdated browser that needs updating. In case they’re not showing up for you, here’s the direct link to the printable recipe: http://acalculatedwhisk.com/easyrecipe-print/5920-0/ 🙂
It’s not really clear when to add the salt and pepper. I made this tonight, and forgot these because it never really says when to add them…and unfortunately, they’re pretty essential. Otherwise, very good recipe.
Sorry about that–just fixed it! The salt and pepper go on the meat at the beginning, and then I add more to taste at the very end. Glad you still enjoyed the recipe!
Plating is very attractive. Nice photos. Definitely a must try recipe.
Thank you!
My Instant Pot has two options (Low Pressure and High Pressure). Do I cook this for 40 minutes on Low Pressure or High Pressure? Please advise. Also, I am interested in the texture of the peppers with cooking that long – are they pretty much disentigrated or do they retain some texture?
This recipe cooks on high pressure. If you push the “Manual” button as specified in the instructions, the Instant Pot will automatically be set to high pressure, so you don’t need to worry about it. The peppers do get very soft but they add flavor to the dish as it cooks. If you prefer them less cooked, you could try adding them after pressure cooking along with the capers and raisins.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was SO tasty. I barely touched the meat with the fork and it fell apart! The sauce was so flavorful – even though I (go figure) forgot to add the turmeric and forgot to buy the raisins altogether. I really hate raisins, though, so I wasn’t that sad about that, though I am sure they add a great layer of sweetness. I can’t believe how much food this made! I’ll be freezing most of what’s left, since we won’t be eating at home much for the next few days.
I’m so happy you liked it, Mary! I have some in my freezer, too, and am really looking forward to pulling it out sometime soon.
This dish steeped in so much Spanish tradition and culture looks absolutely incredible. I think it is funny that this translates to “old clothes” and makes me wonder, if these are old clothes, what are new ones? HA! I hope you and your husband enjoy it for many more weeks to come. Thanks for sharing your world with us!
Haha, good question! Thank you so much, Kelly!
I’m always looking for different slow cooker recipes to add to my rotation! This looks incredible!
Thank you, Taesha! I’m all about the slow cooker recipes in winter, too!
I love love cuban food. Especially plantains. This looks bomb! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Katja!
Yeeessss this recipe is right up my alley! Tostones anything and I am THERE in a heartbeat! I’ve only tried to make ropa vieja once and it didn’t turn out well, so I will definitely try out this recipe!!
Thanks, Dana! Hope you love this version! 🙂
Wow, this looks so delicious, especially with the plantains. Very comforting and I will be making this for sure!
Thank you, Michele! Let me know what you think!
I’m majorly craving everything in that bowl right now! Looks absolutely delicious.
Thank you so much, Michele!
WOW!!! This looks amazing! My husband would love this meal. I love that you can make it in the pressure cooker.
Thanks, Emily! My fiancé loves this one–hope you and your husband enjoy it!
I love Cuban food, but I don’t make it very often at home so thanks for a fantastic easy recipe! This is definitely my ideal meal + you can’t go wrong with a few tostones added in there!
Thank you, Kari! You’re right, tostones are never wrong!!
Ohhh YES! I love all those flavors but have never had this! I can’t wait to try it! Thank you!
Thank you, Renee! Hope you enjoy it!
That looks so legit! and I’m Cuban so I know 😉 My mom always used Pomi too!
Thank you so much, Cristina! Glad to hear about a fellow Pomi fan. I’ve been to Cuba three times but actually never got to eat ropa vieja while I was there, so I’m happy this looks legit to you!!
Aaaaagh, I love everything about this dish!! I need to try this pressure cooker situation, and my mouth is watering over that shredded meat. Plus I love that you love plantains! Sheer perfection, m’dear!
Thank you so much, Julia! Plantains make everything even better, am I right??
This is like a dream come true ! Love ropa vieja and now instant pot version available. I know what I’m going to make this weekend ! :))
Thank you, ChihYu! Hope you love it as much as we do.
This looks so amazing! I love my Instant Pot and I’m always looking for new recipes. I have to try this one!
Thank you, Jessica! I adore my Instant Pot–it’s definitely my best-loved kitchen appliance.
This look so good! I’ve been wanting to make ropa vieja, so I think I’ll have to try your recipe!
Thanks, Mary! I bet you’ll love it–it’s quickly become a favorite around here. We just had some of these leftovers for dinner tonight!