Bistec Encebollado (Stewed Steak & Onions)
This Puerto Rican Bistec Encebollado is a comforting main dish made with stewed steak & onions marinated in a garlicky, spice forward sauce. It’s typically made with cube steak and served over white rice with fried brown plantains.
If you’re a fan of traditional Puerto Rican flavors, you’re going to love bistec encebollado.
The tenderized cube steak is marinated with a blend of garlic, adobo, sazon, vinegar, and oil, then stewed with onions and water. The result is a super flavorful, super tender steak with a luscious broth and perfectly cooked onions that are perfect for serving over a bowl of white rice with fried sweet plantains.
It’s one of those recipes that comes together with simple ingredients and minimal effort.
Just make sure you have the time to let the steak marinate for a few hours; bonus points if you throw the marinade together the night before and let those flavors really soak in.
Ingredients
How to Make Stewed Steak & Onions
Let’s dive right in:
Tip: Check the steak & onions every 5-10 minutes while stewing to make sure nothing is sticking, adding a splash of water if things get too dry.
Picking Your Steak
Cube steak is a cut of steak that is pounded & tenderized before you buy it.
If you can’t find it or want an alternative, you can certainly buy a few pounds of top sirloin or top round steak and pound it out with a mallet at home. That said, cube steak is the traditional cut of meat to use in this dish.
It’s the perfect cut of meat for this recipe because the pounded steak allows it to soak up the marinade and delivers in a super tender end result.
Feel free to use whatever kind of beef steak that’s available to you if you can’t find it, and know that you can also slice your steak into strips to cook quicker!
More Meat Forward Recipes
Here are some more meat-forward dishes that are similar to this Puerto Rican steak:
Buen Provecho,
Homemade Bistec Encebollado (Stewed Steak & Onions)
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Entree, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish
- Method: Stewed
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican, Latin
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Puerto Rican bistec encebollado is a comforting main dish made with stewed steak & onions marinated in a garlicky, spice forward sauce. It’s typically made with cube steak and served over white rice with fried brown plantains.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, grated or mashed with a pilon
- 2 tsp adobo seasoning (can also be store bought)
- 2 tsp sazon seasoning (can also be store bought)
- 2 lbs cube steak (or your favorite cut of steak)
- 3 yellow onions, peeled & sliced into rings
- 1 cup water
- salt & pepper to taste
- optional: cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Prep the marinade. In a large bowl combine the oil, vinegar, garlic, adobo & sazon. Mix well.
- Marinate the meat. Add the cube steak to the bowl with the marinade, mix well to coat the meat evenly, and cover. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight.
- Brown the steak. Heat a caldero or pot with a lid over medium heat. Add the steak and cook for a few minutes, or until the meat begins to brown.
- Stew the meat & onions. Add the onions & water on top of the meat. Bring the water to a boil before lowering to a simmer, covering & cooking for 20-30 minutes, or until the onions & beef are fully cooked. Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy with rice & plantains.
Notes
Tip: Check the steak & onions every 5-10 minutes while stewing to make sure nothing is sticking, adding a splash of water if things get too dry.
Can I make this in the crockpot?
It should work great in the crockpot! Just make sure the beef cooks through entirely; I recommend using a meat thermometer.
This is the only recipe I use that taste just like when my mom used go cook it growing up!