Carne Mechada (Puerto Rican Style Pot Roast)

A delicious comforting dish of Carne Mechada (Puerto Rican Style Pot Roast) cooked in savory spices, yummy veggies and cooked to tender perfection in an instant pot.  Stove top and slow cooker directions included as well.  Freezer friendly too!

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Carne Mechada is a dish known throughout many Latin countries known under different names.  Each country has its own version of making this delicious and comforting dish.

Today we are going to focus on a Puerto Rican version of this dish.

But before we continue, know that Puerto Ricans too, have different versions and ways of making carne mechada.

Traditionally, Puerto Ricans use a beef eye of round roast to make carne mechada which is incredibly delicious.  The roast is stuffed with ham, vegetables, garlic and olives and surrounded with potatoes.  It is then cooked on the stove top and sometimes finished in the oven.

While others choose to make carne mechada with a beef roast.

Today we will be making our carne mechada with exactly that, a beef roast.  No stuffing, no baking.

We will put every ingredient into an instant pot.  This dish will cook itself!

Ingredients for Carne Mechada Recipe

• 2 pounds beef roast
• 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
• 2 tablespoons sofrito
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder
• ⅓ cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• cornstarch for thickening sauce

Veggies

• 3 potatoes cut into large chunks
• 4 carrots sliced
• 2 onions quartered
• 1 pepper quartered

Marinade

• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 4 tablespoons oil

Note:  You can also add one sazon packet and 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce to the pot but I decided to exclude them this time.

How to Make Carne Mechada (Puerto Rican Style Pot Roast)

1. Rinse beef roast and gently poke a few holes into the meat with a knife.

   Place in instant pot.

2. Put all ingredients for the marinade into a blender and blend until smooth.

   Pour marinade over beef. 

   Flip over and make sure marinade gets on both sides.

3. Add the sofrito, adobo seasoning, chicken bouillon powder, red wine, vinegar, water and bay leaf to pot.
4. Marinade beef for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Place roast instant pot and turn venting knob to sealing position.
6. Add all the vegetables to pot.
7. Pressure cook for 60 to 80 minutes depending on the size of your roast.
8. When the cooking time is up, do a natural release for 10 minutes.
9. After 10 minutes, turn vent to the venting release position and allow all of the steam to vent and the float valve to drop down before removing the lid. 

1. Add the cornstarch to a ⅓ cup of water and stir to form a slurry.
2. Add slurry to instant pot and stir in to thicken sauce.

3. Remove roast and cut into large chunks.  Done.

   This carne mechada can be served by itself or with a side of rice.

Serve Carne Mechada Along with

For rice ideas, consider serving this comforting dish with:

Arroz Blanco (Puerto Rican White Rice)

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

Puerto Rican Yellow Rice with Corn (Arroz Amarillo con Maiz)

Cilantro Lime Rice

Stove Top and Slow Cooker Instructions

For stove top:

• Follow instructions to marinade beef roast.
• Once beef is marinated, add a tablespoon of oil to a dutch oven or large pot.
• Heat pan over medium heat and sear beef roast on both sides.
• Add the sofrito, adobo seasoning, chicken bouillon powder, red wine, vinegar, water and bay leaf to pot.
• Cook for 2 hours over medium low heat.
• Then add vegetables and cook for an additional hour or until beef is fork tender.
• Once cooked, shred beef with two forks into large chunks.

For Slow Cooker (Crockpot):

• Add all ingredients to slow cooker including beef.
• Cook beef roast on low for 7-8 hours or until fork tender.
• Once cooked, shred beef with two forks into large chunks.

Freezer Friendly Too!

If you like to make a batch of carne mechada to freeze, you can do that too!  Or you can make a big batch and freeze!  Simply add cooked mechada to a freezer safe container and when ready to eat, simply allow container to defrost for a few minutes and then pop mechada into a pot and heat until fully heated through.

Or add freezer container to microwave and heat through for 12 minutes or until heated through.

For more savory recipes like this one:

Carne Guisada (Puerto Rican Beef Stew)

Pollo Guisado (Puerto Rican Chicken Stew)

Mofongo con Camarones (Mofongo with Shrimps)

Camarones al Ajillo (Puerto Rican Garlic Shrimp)

📖 Recipe