Venezuelan Asado Negro – Perfect Eye of Round Roast cooked in a flavorful wine broth until the beef is meltingly tender and divine.
I’m super excited to share this recipe with you. The Asado Negro and Carne Mechada are my signature Venezuelan dishes. Not trying to be modest over here, but they are truly amazing. I have made this recipe so much throughout my life that I could do it with my eyes closed.
Asado Negro is one of the most traditional dishes in Venezuela. Each Venezuelan family has its own version. But today you can forget all other Asado Negro recipes… this one is to die for! Usually, this dish is served with white rice and fried plantains but this time I served it with mashed potatoes because Vicky LOVES mashed potatoes.
Through the years I have been testing and improving my recipe up to this version I’m sharing with you today. It’s so luscious and flavorful. I like to use different types of wine and a lot of garlic, which gives it a delicious savor. The special touch is the brown sugar cane, which adds it a slightly sweet flavor.
Eye round roast is a tough piece of meat. It’s best to cook it very slowly using moist heat. For that reason, I like to prepare it in the slow cooker. I leave it cooking all night, or all day, and when it’s time to eat I just need to reduce the sauce. It’s a great make-ahead recipe. Actually, when I buy eye round roast at Costco they come in packs of two so I double the recipe and freeze second the Asado for another day. By the way, don’t miss the slow cooker giveaway at the end of the post!
If you have any leftover you can eat them with spaghetti or arepas.
LOOKING FOR MORE VENEZUELAN RECIPES?
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- Venezuelan Polvorosas Cookies
Very important: you’ll need some crusty bread to sop up the leftover sauce in the plate.
Venezuelan Asado Negro - Perfect Eye of Round Roast cooked in a flavorful wine broth until the beef is meltingly tender and divine.
- 3 – 4 lb Eye of Round Roast
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (other neutral taste oil such canola or corn, will work fine)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 onion, roughly diced
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and roughly diced
- 1 fresh oregano sprig
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 beef bouillon
- 1 cup red wine full bodied eg. cabernet sauvignon or merlot
- 1 cup Marsala wine
- 1 cup papelon/panela/piloncillo, cut into small pieces or grated (brown sugar cane)
- Prepare the beef: cut off any large, fatty membrane.
- Place the beef in a resealable bag and add salt and pepper to taste, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Seal and squish around to combine. Place in the refrigerator to marinate at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
- When ready to cook remove meat from marinade. Transfer the remains of the marinade into the slow cooker.
- Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan over high heat. When the oil starts to heat, add the sugar in the center of the pan and let it dissolve without stirring. Sear the beef on each side until nicely browned. Transfer beef to the slow cooker.
Add onions, carrots, green pepper, oregano, bay leaves, beef stock, beef bouillon, and wines to the slow cooker.
- Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours.
- Open the slow cooker and remove the beef. Discard the oregano sprig and bay leaves. Let the meat rest for 5 min and then place roast on cutting board and slice into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Set aside.
- Transfer the liquid and veggies to the blender and puree into a smooth sauce - it will change from a dark brown to a lighter brown color. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat. Add the papelon (brown sugar cane), mix well and simmer until the sauce turns a darker brown color and reduces by to a gravy consistency, about 8 - 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper) if necessary. Add the sliced meat and simmer for 10 – 15 more minutes.
- Serve hot with mash potatoes or white rice.
If you don't have a slow cooker you can prepare this recipe in a regular saucepan. You just need to adjust cooking time accordingly and more liquid, preferably beef broth. Start with about 3 cups and add more as it evaporates. It can take up to 5 hours to get the meat tender.
Looking for more Venezuelan recipes?
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Please note that nutritional information is a rough estimate and it can vary depending on the products used.
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- Instant Pot
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- Bamboo Cutting Boards
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- Chef Knife
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- Measuring Cup Set
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Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have made this several times and it comes out great. I made some small tweaks, mainly reducing the amount of panela to 1/3 cup, and the amount of wine to 3/4 cup each to reduce the amount of sugar and carbs, as I found it to be too sweet for me on the first time around. I also find that using a top round roast versus eye round roast was even better for me.
I used a cast iron dutch oven to make this before, but I just got a pressure cooker and wanted to test it out on that. Any idea on how long it would take, I’m thinking 90 minutes but not totally sure.
Hello David! I am very happy you like this recipe so much. I would start with 30 – 40 minutes in the pressure cooker. Please let me know the outcome. Thanks so much for your feedback and for trying my recipe.
So you say add sugar to the center of the pan to brown the meat, then you mention using sugar again in the sauce? So which one is it, is the sugar divided?
Hello Oml! First, you use the granulated sugar to brown the meat. Then, you use the papelon/piloncillo/cane brown sugar in the sauce. Be sure to shout out if you have any questions!
Hi, hola. I really like learning about Venezuelan recipes considering my fiance is from Venezuela and I want to try to at least learn something. I have learned to make arepas and the avocado chicken salad. delicious.
I don’t quite understand what is going on here with all the comments about making different things in the slow cooker. I thought these were supposed to be comments about the recipes that are listed here.
Forgive me if I’m wrong and I have seen a few comments that are actually about some of the recipes.
I want to make the Bienmesabe, that looks delicious. This pot roast looks divine. Although I haven’t made this recipe but I give it 4 stars. When I make it I’m sure it will get 5 =-)
I’m still waiting for response on my fiance’s visa from South America so we can get married here in the USA.
Hello Yosef! It’s so sweet of you trying to learn Venezuelan cuisine. This Asado Negro is divine, I am sure you are going to love it. Finger crossed your fiance will get the visa soon. Be sure to shout out if you have any questions!
I lived in Cucuta, Colombia, which is right on the border with Venezuela (San Antonio is the closest Venezuelan town) for 16 years. While I am a huge fan of arepas rellenas (Reina Pepiada!) and Hallacas (making them for Christmas eve), I never heard of the asado negro. I am definitely going to try this. THANK YOU for sharing a recipe you’ve worked so hard to perfect. Question: On step five, when you say VINES, do you mean wines? I’m assuming you do and moving forward with the recipe attempt, but hopefully you will respond and confirm before I do. I’m making Hallacas for Christmas Eve and was thinking of adding this to the menu… 7 days from today!
Hello Kris! Thanks so much for your interest in my recipe. I apologize for the misspelling! Yes, it’s wines. Please let me know how you like the Asado Negro. Happy Holidays!!
Hola Oriana
Dariela Cruz me recomendó tu receta de asado negro (yo andaba suplicando una en Facebook) y la voy a probar porque me convenciste de que debe ser exquisita. Y ahora me alegro mucho de haber visitado tu blog porque me encanta y tienes recetas buenísimas.
Saludos desde Montreal!
Hola Jackie! Que lindo verte por mi blog. Yo soy una gran fan de tu trabajo. Esta receta de Asado Negro es deliciosa así que estoy segura que te encantará. Por favor cuando la prepares regresa y déjame saber que te pareció. Un beso ?
This asado negro recipe is out of this world! I made it yesterday as a Christmas treat for my Venezuelan husband, and it was a huge hit with not only him, but with the Chilean and American friends we also celebrated with. I marinated the meat overnight, and replaced the green bell pepper with a red one as a personal preference, but otherwise followed exactly as written. Divino! Thank you Oriana for sharing your family recipe with the online community!
You’re very welcome, Yvonne. I’m so glad you all liked it!!! The asado negro is our all-time fave.
I am venezuelan and have had this dish many many times, and I think it turned out ok. I have a smaller slow cooker (4qt) so the meat was not totally covered and I added a bit more liquid to the mix (in the same proportions) so it would actually cook all over, and then flipped it a some point to make sure both sides were equally cooked.
The only part I would correct is the simmering part of the sauce… I def took more than 8-10 min to reduce the sauce to a gravy consistency.
I tried putting 5 stars but it didn’t let me!
Thanks Maria Alejandra for the feedback! Perhaps because you added more liquid it took longer to reduce. Also keep in mind that cooking times are estimates, and results vary depending on your ingredients, your stove,type of pan, altitude, and a many other factors. I am glad you like it.
This is a wonderful recipe. When I read to put the oil in the pan and put the sugar in the middle and let it melt before searing the meat – I was hooked. 🙂
I WOULD LOVE TO COOKS RIBS!!! YUMMY
I would like to cook some Colombian rice that includes chicken and vegetables. Thanks for the chance to win such a DELICIOUS giveaway 🙂