This Venezuelan Shredded Beef recipe is amazing! It’s tender, juicy and so flavorful. Make a big batch and you can have something different with it for days.
This past weekend my native country Venezuela celebrated its Independence Day. It’s sad to say but today, over 200 years later, my beautiful country is fighting to achieve their freedom again. It is extremely difficult for us to see how the situation has deteriorated in recent years. It is even harder knowing that our family, who still lives there, has to struggle, every day, with the simplest things like buying food. Even though, we LOVE and celebrate our adopted country, which has given us so many wonderful things, our hearts aches for Venezuela.
Politics really sucks!
But for me, Venezuela is much more than the unfortunate circumstances in which it lives now. It is the country of my birth, my family, my childhood, my memories and my loves. I hope and pray to see it free and prosperous again very soon.
As a tribute to my beautiful Venezuela today I share my recipe for Carne Mechada!
The shredded beef is part of Venezuela’s national dish “Pabellon Criollo“; which consists of shredded beef, black beans, white rice and fried plantains. Usually, this dish is accompanied by arepitas and white cheese. This dish is a hearty combo. Some people even add a fried egg over the rice, but I’ve never eaten it like that.
Seriously, this meat is delicious!
Juicy and full of flavor…Super good.
When I prepare it I always double the recipe, and if there are leftovers, I freeze it, and then we eat it with arepas or I make empanadas.
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This Venezuelan Shredded Beef recipe is amazing! It's tender, juicy and so flavorful. Make a big batch in the slow cooker or stove top and you can have something different with it for days.
- 1-2 lb flank or skirt steak
- 6-8 cups beef broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 cup green pepper, chopped into small cubes
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 can (6oz) tomato paste
- 1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
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Cut the meat into 4 pieces.
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Place beef broth in a large pot over medium-high heat. At first, boil add the meat and cook for 15 minutes. Taste the broth and add more salt and pepper, if necessary. Cover and let it cook for about 2 hours, or until meat is fully cooked and tender. As the meat cooks check the broth levels and add more if needed (meat should always be covered by the both).
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When the meat is tender and fully cooked carefully removed from the pot, place on a plate and let it cool. Reserve broth (about 3-4 cups).
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Once the meat is cool enough sheered using two forks or your hands.
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In a large skillet over medium heat the oil. Sauté onion and pepper for 3-5 minute, or until onion is translucent. Add garlic and let it cook for 1 more minute.
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Stir in shredded beef and mix well.
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In a medium bowl combine tomato paste, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, sauce, cumin, oregano and reserved beef broth; mix well until everything is well combined. Add this mixture to the meat. Add the bay leaves, cover and cook for 20 -25 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been consumed.
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Serve hot with white rice, black beans and fried plantains if desired.
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Cut the meat into 4 pieces. Season the beef with salt and pepper to taste.Transfer beef to a slow cooker.
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Combine ½ cup beef broth, tomato paste, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cumin and dried oregano in a mixing bowl. Add mixture to the slow cooker.
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Add onion, peppers, garlic and bay leaves. Mix to combine.
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Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
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Shred beef with two forks and toss to coat with the juices
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Serve hot with white rice, black beans and fried plantains if desired.
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- Chef Knife
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- Bamboo Cutting Boards
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- Kitchen Tongs
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- Cast Iron Skillet
Oriana! Tenía mucho tiempo sin comer pabellón estando lejos de Venezuela, antes de venirme solo cocinaba mi mamá y yo no aprendí pero NADA!
Lo extrañaba tanto. Gracias infinitas por publicar esta receta y la de las caraotas. Mi esposo me regaló en navidad la instant pot y lo primero que pensé fue “por fin voy a intentar hacer pabellón”.
Estuvo divina! En 1 mes la he hecho dos veces y literalmente se acaba en dos dias (ojo, somos dos personas jaja).
Solo le hice una modificación a petición de mi esposo, al no ponerle tomate porque le cae mal. E igual quedó deliciosa y tiernita.
Que Dios te bendiga tus manos!
Saludos desde Miami
Hola Andrea!! AMEN 🙂 Me alegra mucho que te haya gustado mi receta. El pabellon es el plato favorito de mi familia y lo preparo con bastante regularidad. Si usas Instant Pot (olla de presion) te recomiendo esta version que se hace muy rapido: https://mommyshomecooking.com/instant-pot-venezuelan-shredded-beef/ . Por favor dejame saber si tienes alguna pregunta! Un abrazo fuerte.
This is the best Carne Mechada recipe on the internet!
I’ve made a couple of changes though, purely due to personal taste:
1. I am not a fan of green peppers due to the pyrazines si I use poblanos or red/yellow/orange bell peppers
2. I cut back on both the oregano and the Worcestershire sauce by 25%
Hello Daniel! Wow, what a compliment! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know 🙂
I’m so excited! My husband’s work is having a potluck party and one of his co-workers is making this recipe, which means I get to try it too! It looks crazy delicious, I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Christina! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Thanks so much for stopping by, and Happy Holidays!
Hi Oriana!
Today I made your Asado Negro recipe in my new crockpot and it was DELICIOUS!!! Hands down!
I want to ask you if you can publish a Slow Cooker Venezuela Shredded beef recipe. I’m new using this amazing kitchen tool and I don’t know how to use it for this recipe. PLEASE!
Hello Vanessa! I am so glad you like my Asado Negro recipe. I added the instructions to make Carne Mechada in the slow cooker. Please let me know how you like it. Thanks for stopping by ????
Hi! Would it be possible to do this same recipe with chicken? My favorite venezuelan restaurant has shredded chicken!
Hi Lauren! Yes, you can definitely use chicken. Just make sure to use chicken stock instead of beef stock. Thanks for stopping by ????
Do you cook it on medium high for the 2 hrs or on low?
Hi Andrea! I cook the beef on medium high until is super tender, about 2 hours.Make sure to add more broth, if necessary. You can also cook it in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low. When I use the slow cooker I set it up at night and when I wake up is ready. Hope this help. Thanks for stopping by.
Great recipe, thank you. The meat bit is confusing though: “1 lb flank steak about 2” means 2 lbs. of flank steak.
Hello Alirio! So sorry for the confusion. For some reason the recipe got disconfigured. It’s fixed now. Gracias por la visita.
Riquísima! Se la voy a llevar a mis compañeras de trabajo con unas arepitas asadas para que prueben comida venezolana. Saludos desde Iowa ????
Que bueno que te gusto, Vanessa!! Yo necesito una compañera de trabajo como tu jajajaja. Gracias por visitar my blog ????