Adobo Chipotle Beef

This recipe blew my mind. I bought some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce a while back. I wasn't sure what to do with them, but I knew I wanted to try them. The Pioneer Woman uses them with stew meat, so I thought I'd try that, so this is inspired by her recipe, Spicy stewed beef.


Although, instead of buying stew meat, I bought a roast that was on sale and cut it up myself. Way to save some money!

I have a picture of the meat after I had cut it up, but I refrained from posting it. It wasn't very pretty. It looked a little alarming...

So, you have to brown the meat, but if you overcrowd your pan, the meat juices will be very moist and you will boil the meat, instead of sear it.

So, I seared mine in 3 small batches. Then, set aside.

See how nice and browned it got? Don't cook it all the way through, just get some color on the outside edges. Let it sit, too, don't move it around too much. Let it sit and count 10 seconds or so, flip the meat around, let it sit again and them see if you need to flip it again.

Once the meat is all seared, throw diced onion in the pan, just cook it long enough to become translucent, or about 5 minutes.

Then, deglaze your pan with about a cup of beer. Any kind will do, but if you use something with more flavor, the finished product will have more flavor.

And it's all about the flavor.

Besides, you're gonna hafta drink the rest of that beer. So, you'd better like it.

Just sayin.

Let this simmer just long enough to pull all the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan, then throw this in a deep skillet or dutch oven, with your meat.

Add about 3 cups of beef broth.

And a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

This stuff rocks!

Adobo is a seasoning that is garlicky. It's basically jalepeno peppers that are smoked and canned in this sauce with vinegar, tomato, paprika, garlic and other spices. It's smoky and hot!

To this I also added some chili powder and cumin.

Then, just stir it all together and bring up to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and simmer for about 3-4 hours.

Once it's cooked for 3-4 hours, the meat is fall apart tender, and the sauce is nice and thick.

The meat will nearly be shredded, it breaks down so much.

 There is some wonderful bits of the peppers scattered throughout and the smell is amazing. You can really smell the cumin and the flavors have serious depth.

The heat is kinda slow, but building.

I threw this on a warmed whole wheat tortilla.

Nice tortilla trick* if you have a gas stove, turn your burner on, and throw the tortilla over the metal grate. Let it sit for a few seconds and flip with tongs (don't be stubborn like the fireman and use your fingers) You'll get a nice char in places and a nicely warmed tortilla. No sog factor.

We topped with chopped lettuce and tomatoes, the sour cream helped cool down the dish.

The fireman squeezed lime juice over his. He said it inhanced the flavors incredibly!

I can't tell you how good this was. But it was spicy, man. Really, really spicy!

The fireman said it was one of my best recipes. How about that?! He loves anything spicy.

Try it!

I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight. I'm thinking shredded cheddar cheese and some lime juice! Yum!

The Recipe:

Adobo Chipotle Beef (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

2 pounds stew meat or beef cut up in cubes

1/2 diced onion

1 can chipotle peppers in adobo seasoning

1 cup good beer

3 cups beef broth

1 tsp chili powder

scant tsp cumin

dash salt and pepper

Sear the meat in batches, don't overcrowd. Remove the meat to a dutch oven, brown the onion in the skillet, then deglaze pan with beer. Pour over meat, add beef broth and the remaining ingredients.

Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 3-4 hours, covered. 

*Alternate crockpot method* cook in a crockpot on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Then, cook with lid off on high for 45 minutes or transfer to the stove in a large skillet or saucepan to thicken and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Serve on tortillas with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and fresh lime, or whatever you like! Brace yourself, it's spicy!