I’m reposting this delicious Cuban recipe to bring some excitement to your dinner table. If you can find affordable flank or skirt steak, take a chance on a recipe you might be unfamiliar with.

Ropa Vieja literally means old clothes or old rags, as it’s a Cuban Shredded Beef dish.  In Spanish, it sounds exotic. If I were to say, let’s make some old clothes in English, it would not sound so appealing, would it?

I got this idea and recipe for Ropa Vieja from the butcher at my local grocery store. I trust his word because he was an executive chef at a very ritzy hotel. Normally, I would not have chosen to slow cook flank steak, which is always quickly grilled. He convinced me to use the flank steak and I’m glad I stayed the course.

What Cut of Beef is used for Ropa Viaja?

Flank steak is the cut of meat most used for Ropa Vieja. It’s tough and stringy and requires long, slow cooking to get that delicious shredded meat. This slow cooking will build a complex flavor profile, while tenderizing at the same time.

I have seen some recipes that use chuck, which might taste good, but it’s not authentic. Chuck is short pieces of beef, and will be more like a ragu.

The main flavors for the Ropa Vieja come from oregano, paprika, cumin, tomatoes, olives and peppers, very similar in flavors to picadillo, another Cuban dish I made here.

What Peppers are used for Ropa Vieja?

The typical peppers for ropa vieja is green and bell peppers, not hot peppers.

Ropa Vieja, Cuban Shredded Beef, is the kind of dish to make in large quantities.

If you can, get a large piece of meat and make enough to freeze. This is the kind of dish that tastes better the next day, and freezes well for very quick meals.

Make sure the meat is fully cooled before freezing. I used a food saver to freeze. The food saver compresses out the air, vacuum seals, and prevents freezer burn. This is the first thing we bought together as a married couple eighteen years ago and we’re on our second saver.

How is Ropa Vieja Served?

Ropa Vieja is served with rice and beans.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to serve Ropa Vieja so I asked people on instagram. Rice or Tortillas?

What I didn’t realize is that Cuban do not eat tortillas. This doesn’t mean you can’t do that; just know that’s not the authentic way this dish is served. Ropa Vieja is served with rice and beans.

I used fresh oregano out of my garden with a squeeze of lime. The meat is so flavorful, so enjoy it just as is without adding any extra toppings, but perhaps herbs and little extra chopped onion.

More Flank or Skirt Steak Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Flank Steak in Honey Marinade
• Carne Asada Citrus Marinade
• Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

Print

Ropa Vieja

How to Cook Ropa Vieja, a cuban beef, in a crock pot.

Course Entree

Cuisine Cuban

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 hours hours

Total Time 6 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 flank steak
• 1 large onion chopped
• 3 bell peppers can use red, yellow, orange
• 6 cloves garlic peeled
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 16 ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons vinegar wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 10 spanish olives

Instructions

• Season flank steak with salt and pepper.
• Brown flank steak five minutes on each side on medium high heat. Remove from pot.
• You can brown the flank steak in separate pan and then remove to a slow cooker.
• In same pot you browned the flank steak In, sauté onion and peppers for about 5 minutes, stirring on low heat. Add In garlic cloves and saute for one minute.
• At this point proceed either with slow cooker method or dutch oven method,

Slow Cooker Method

• Add onions, peppers, garlic, one can diced tomato.
• Add in flank steak. You may need to cut flank steak into two pieces.
• Add about one cup beef broth or water, vinegar or enough liquid to just cover the flank steak.
• Add cumin and oregano.
• Cook for six on high, 10 hours on low.
• In last hour, add olives, second can of tomatoes.
• Once done, use a fork to shred beef. Serve with rice and beans

Dutch Oven Method

• Add flank steak back to dutch oven with the onions, peppers, garlic.
• Add one can of tomatoes, broth, vinegar. You need enough broth to cover beef.
• Add cumin and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook on top of stove, very low for 4 hours. You can also put dutch oven inside oven at 300 degrees f. Make sure you have enough liquid and check frequently about every 30 minutes.
• In last hour, add olives, and second can of tomatoes.
• Once done, use a fork to shred beef.
• Serve with Rice and beans.

Notes

If making in a dutch oven, you can reduce the cooking time, but cook on a very low heat on to of stove for about 4 hours, or put in an oven no higher than 300 degrees. Make sure you have enough liquid in the pot.

Green Bell Pepper: It’s not necessary, but will add in another layer of flavor.

The post How to Make Ropa Vieja (Cuban Shredded Beef) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

If you are on a keto or grain free diet, you can now have fried fish tacos!

Pork Panko is made from pork skins and are zero carbs. Our Costco in now carrying Pork Panko at a good price. If you can’t find them, you can make your own use a food processor and grind pork rinds. 

I wondered if it would ever be possible to have fried fish again, since grains aren’t a regular part of my diet (outside of some sour dough here and there).

While you could crush your own, these are already perfectly made and more cost effective. They don’t have an overbearing oil flavor, are more neutral and perfect for oven-fried zucchini , chicken parm,  mayonannaise baked chicken, or shrimp scampi.

What makes a good Keto Fried fish taco and fish taco sauce?

Firstly, the fish should be good, but it has to have the right fish taco sauce and shredded cabbage. There are two ways to make an easy spicy creamy sauce. I usually will combine sour cream with mayonnaise, add lime juice and sriracha.  You could also use a fire-roasted salsa or a salsa verde to make a sauce for fish tacos. My favorite is even amounts of fire roasted salsa, sour cream and mayonnaise.

I use my grain free tortillas for these fish tacos.

Wild Alaskan Cod (make great fish tacos)

Cod is a delicious fish that is mild in flavor but has a firm enough flesh for frying. I used Alaskan wild cod in this recipe sent to me from Sitka Salmon Shares.

Here are the reasons Sitka Salmon Shares is worth joining.

Wild: Wild-caught from the pristine waters of Southeast Alaska

Community-based: Sourced from traditional fishing communities. Supported by a Midwest community of conscious consumers.

Premium: Harvested and hand-processed individually, flash-frozen at the peak of freshness to ensure the highest quality, guaranteed.

Sustainable: Harvested using hook-and-line methods to minimize negative ecological impact.

Traceable: The only fully-integrated Midwest CSF. 100% traceability from boat to doorstep.

Just: Owned by a collective of carefully selected small-scale family fishermen, all of whom

retain 20-30% more of the retail value or their harvest.

Convenient: Home delivered direct to your door, with recipes, newsletters, and more.

Conscious: Carbon offsets purchased and 1% of revenue donated back to the wild.

How You Can Get Wild Alaskan Seafood

I have received two boxes of fish in exchange for instagram posts and they are packed perfectly. Fish remains frozen, and you are notified in advance of delivery. This is such a joyful way to eat responsibly.

More Spinach Tiger dinners you will love.

Pan Seared Salmon Tacos with Mango Tomato Salsa

Keto Green Enchiladas 

Salmon Greek Salad with Lemony Dressing

Whole Grilled Snapper

Sole Menuiere

Print

Grain Free Panko Wild Alaskan Cod Fish Tacos, Keto Friendly, Gluten Free

Grain Free Pork Panko Keto Fried Fish Tacos with Alaskan Wild Cod.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound wild Alaskan cod or white fish of your choice
• 2 cups pork panko ORDER HERE
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour optional
• 2 eggs[
• salt
• pepper
• 
  
• Taco Sauce
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons salsa verde or 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 6 grain free tortillas RECIPE HERE

Instructions

• Place eggs, panko, and tapioca flour in 3 separate shallow medium bowls.
• Season fish with salt and pepper.
• Dredge fish in flour (you can skip this part if you don't want to use)
• Dip into egg, allowing excess to drip back into bowl
• Coat with pork panko (or panko).
• Heat 1/2 cup oil in frying pan. Cook in batches 3 minutes on each side.
• Transfer to paper towels.
• 
  

Make Taco Sauce

• Use equal amounts of sour cream, mayonnaise and one of the following. Sriracha, Salsa, or Salsa Verde. Stir until well-incorporated.
• Assemble Tacos
• Tortilla, red cabbage, cilantro, fish, sauce, avocado, lime.




The post Keto Fried Fish Tacos with Wild Alaskan Cod appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Most of these are keto friendly, grain free.

Authentic Table-side Guacamole, made with red onion, lime, orange and plenty of avocado.

This is the the BEST ever guacamole, perfected by my husband, inspired by Boudro’s in San Antonio. We keep it a bit chunky.  You’ll never make gaucamole any other way.

You might also need to know how to ripen an avocado before you get started.

Low Carb Mexican Recipes are now possible with my easy grain free tortillas

There’s much to celebrate eating grain free, sugar free and still having your favorites. You will see a few amazing recipes for grain free tortillas, which give you endless possibilities. and lots of avocado, the healthy fat!

These Keto Tortillas are life changing if you’re doing a low-carb diet.

Grain Free Spinach Tortillas

This Tortilla Press is will help you make your own tortillas easily.



Keto Taco Cups, which can be made in any sized muffin tin, even mini tins for taco bites. The secret here is to use a few crushed corn chips to push that flavor we love for crunchy tacos.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

This is no sugar, easy with spices you probably have in your pantry.

Low Carb Mexican Recipes for Enchiladas

Once I was able to make grain free spinach tortillas, green chicken enchiladas was the first thing I made.

Keto Chicken Enchiladas.

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa and Avocado

This is one of the most refreshing and flavorful taco, as mango and avocado are perfect duo.

Salmon Tacos with Mango Salsa served on grain free tortillas

You can see how festive and filling these are!

Keto Taco Salad – Skipping the beans and rice, this low-carb Mexican recipe with taco meat, lettuce, cheese  has plenty of flavor and texture from the homemade taco meat made with bacon. (recipe coming).

Pin This ↓

The Meats for Low Carb Mexican Recipes

Taco meat made with ground beef, bacon and queso.  We like adding bacon to the mix with just a bit of queso.

We make this with our own homemade taco seasoning.

Pork Carnitas is one of my most popular recipes. Made in slow cooker or dutch oven, then crisped up in the oven, it’s one of our favorite party meals.

Ropa Viejo (Cuban shredded beef) and Picadillo (Puerto Rican ground beef)  dishes also make amazing tacos.

Roasted Salsa Verde made with tomatillos and just enough heat.

Pico de Gallo

Mexican Chicken Pasta that Your Kids will LOVE

This is not low carb, but it’s an idea I wanted to share with you for your family.

Cocktails from Spinach Tiger

Freshly Made Citrus Margarita

Avocado Margarita

This is creamy margarita with a kick. I first had this in a vegan restaurant. It was the best thing there!

This site has Amazon affiliate links which earn a small commission.

The post My Best Mexican Recipes with Low Carb Options appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

You are going to love these keto crunchy taco cups.  This is one of those recipes where I had an idea and it worked on the first try even better than imagined.

I think I was working out when I started thinking it was time to tell you how we make our amazing taco meat. Think bacon. As my mom, Retro Rose says, a taco has to have a crunchy shell. I personally think they also need to have that “corn” taste.

I have a great base low carb keto tortilla recipe here. This recipe adds 9 crushed tortilla corn chips to the recipe, and we love it. You can leave the chips out if you want to, but they only add 1.5 net carbs to each tortilla. Adding the chips stretches the recipe to 10 mini-taco bowls.

You can fill these keto taco cups with your favorite taco meat recipe or make little avocado bowls for that serious high-fat keto recipe. A breakfast bowl of scrambled eggs would be great fun, and you can use these unbaked in muffin tins  as a base for small quiche recipes. The creative possibilities for these are endless.

I use the same ingredients I used when making these tortillas, except for the chia seeds. You add those back in if you want to.

You will need these ingredients:

• almond flour
• coconut flour
• xanthan gum
• egg
• cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• golden flax meal
• tortilla chips (or chia seeds)

It’s important that you do use the xanthan gum, or else they will fall apart.

You will need these kitchen tools:

• A tortilla press – this will give you perfect rounds for the muffin tins, although you could use a rolling pin in  pinch.
• Parchment paper to use with tortilla press.
• Food processor or kitchen aid mixer – to mix the dough.
• Muffin pan that makes 12.

I put in one tortilla chip per serving to give some crunch and flavor. If you cannot eat corn or any grains for some reason, put the chia seeds back in and skip the corn chips.

Options for Crunchy Taco Cups: Make Taco Shells or Soft Tacos

You can make these in a taco container like this one if you want a crunchy taco shell or you can heat flat on a griddle like this. Instead of putting into muffin tins, you will heat on a griddle.

Print

Crunchy Keto Taco Cups

Keto friendly crunchy taco cups for fun tacos. Good for meat or breakfast tacos.

Course Keto

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 10 tortilla chips see notes
• 1 cup almond flour 96 grams
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour 21 grams
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon golden flax meal
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons water may need another teaspoon
• 2 teaspoons vinegar I use either apple cider or white balsamic
• 1 egg

Instructions

• Put tortilla chips in plastic bag and crush (or put in food processor).
• Mix together all dry ingredients in either food processor or Kitchen Aid mixer.
• Put egg, vinegar and water in cup. Mix and add to dry ingredients.
• Mix until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic and rest in refrigerator 30 minutes.
• You can skip this part, if time is short.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal parts, or about 29 grams each.
• I use a kitchen scale to weigh each dough ball to keep a uniform size.
• Flatten with tortilla press using parchment paper. If you don't have a press, you can roll.
• Press into muffin tins.
• Bake at 350 f. for 10 minutes.
• 
  You can heat these on top of stove in a frying pan a minute each side for a soft taco.

Notes

This recipe contains Amazon affiliate links.

The post Keto Crunchy Taco Cups appeared first on Spinach Tiger.