Carne con Papas is a classic Mexican beef and potato dish made with tender chunks of beef, potatoes, and a savory tomato sauce. It’s an easy, hearty meal that comes together in one pot and is perfect with warm corn tortillas.
This is a simple, traditional Mexican recipe with everyday ingredients and lots of flavor. The beef is seasoned and seared, then simmered with a fresh tomato and chile sauce until the potatoes are tender and the sauce is rich and flavorful.
If you’re interested in the regional dishes and traditions behind recipes like this one, be sure to read my History of Durango Mexican Food.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Simple and comforting. Tender beef and potatoes simmer together in a flavorful tomato-based sauce for a hearty, satisfying meal.
- It’s a family favorite. This is the kind of traditional Mexican recipe that reminds me of home, family, and my mom’s cooking.
- Easy ingredients. You probably already have most of what you need in your kitchen.
- Perfect for a weeknight dinner. It’s filling, comforting, and easy to serve with warm tortillas, rice, or beans.
A Taste of Durango 🦂
I feel like I can make Carne con Papas in my sleep. LOL. It’s one of those recipes that feels so familiar to me that I don’t really have to think about it.
It reminds me of Durango, my mom, and my aunts cooking. A lot of traditional food from Durango is hearty and comforting, with plenty of meat, potatoes, beans, and homemade tortillas. These are the kinds of meals that fill you up and bring everyone to the table.
One year, my family went to visit Durango, and we ate meat-and-potato dishes one after another. I loved every bite—but when I got back to the United States, I was craving salads! 😂
That trip made me realize just how much these simple dishes are connected to my memories of Durango and my family.
If you enjoy this style of Durango cooking, you may also want to try my Caldillo Durangueño, another traditional dish from my family’s home state.
Ingredients
🥩 To Make The Beef
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ½ lbs chuck roast beef chopped into 1-inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground oregano
- ½ onion diced (for the beef)
- 2 potatoes peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
🥫 To Make The Sauce
- 3 Roma tomatoes quartered
- ½ onion rough chopped (for the sauce)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 serrano peppers stems removed
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon
- 4 cup water
Serrano chiles are spicier than jalapenos. You can easily use jalapenos instead in this recipe.
For a less spicy dish, use only 1 serrano chile.
Knorr Beef Bouillon is a very common ingredient in Mexican households. If you are not a fan, you can use Better than Bouillon instead.
👩🏼🍳 Instructions
- Chop up the beef into 1-inch pieces.
- Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and cumin.
Here, we are using chuck roast. This is the same cut to make Slow Cooker Birria. It has a good amount of fat in it to give the dish flavor.
For a leaner cut without as much fat, try top loin, bottom round, or eye of round steak.
- Heat the oil in a large stock pot.
- Add the beef and onion.
- Cook for 5 minutes, or until the juices are released.
Be sure to use a big stock pot. You need something big enough to handle all the ingredients.
Since we are searing the meat, some people refer to this dish as “Carne Guisada con Papas.”
- Add the tomatoes, serrano, onion, and garlic to the blender.
- Add bouillon and water.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour the tomato sauce into the pot.
Taste the sauce before you add it to the pot. This is your opportunity to ADJUST if you need to.
🌶️ How to Adjust the Heat
If you find the sauce too spicy, add another tomato to the blender. More tomatoes will tame the heat. Alternatively, you can add 1 cup of beef broth. To make it spicier, add more serrano.
- Peel and dice potatoes.
- Add the potatoes to the pot.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
To keep the potatoes from turning brown, place them in water while you’re waiting to add them to the pot.
Hate peeling tomatoes? Me too! Swap out for red potatoes or fingerling potatoes that require NO PEELING.
- Add the tomato paste.
- Stir to combine.
- Cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked.
- Check them in 5 minutes. If they are fork tender, then you’re good to go.
The tomato paste will thicken the sauce, making it rich and yummy.
For a thicker cut potato, you might need as long as 15 minutes to fully cook through.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Carne con Papas is a traditional Mexican dish made with beef and potatoes simmered in a flavorful tomato-based sauce. It’s a simple, hearty meal that is especially popular as home-style Mexican cooking.
You can use a variety of beef cuts for Carne con Papas. I recommend a tender, flavorful cut that can be cut into bite-sized pieces. If using a tougher cut, allow it to simmer until the beef becomes tender.
Yes! Carne con Papas is a great make-ahead meal. The flavors have time to come together as it sits, and leftovers can be reheated gently on the stovetop or in the microwave.
It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. The level of heat depends on the chiles or peppers you use. You can easily adjust the amount to make it mild or spicy to your taste.
They are similar in that both are hearty Mexican dishes made with beef and potatoes, but they are different recipes. Caldillo Durangueño is a traditional dish from Durango with its own preparation and uses chile pasado. If you enjoy Carne con Papas, I think you’ll love trying it, too.
Side Dishes
- Frijoles de la Olla
- Arroz Mexicano
- Ensalada de Nopales
- Corn Tortillas
- Frijoles Refritos
- Ejotes a la Mexicana
Carne con Papas is the kind of Mexican comfort food that doesn’t need anything fancy. Tender beef, hearty potatoes, and a flavorful sauce come together to make a satisfying meal the whole family can enjoy.
For me, it’s also a taste of home. This is the food I associate with my mom, my aunts, and the hearty cooking I grew up with.
Serve it with warm corn tortillas, rice, or beans, and don’t forget to spoon plenty of that delicious sauce over everything. ❤️
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Carne con Papas
Ingredients
To Make The Beef:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ½ lbs chuck roast beef chopped into 1-inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground oregano
- ½ onion diced (for the beef)
- 2 potatoes peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
To Make The Sauce:
- 3 Roma tomatoes quartered
- ½ onion rough chopped (for the sauce)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 serrano peppers stems removed
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon
- 4 cup water
Instructions
To Make the Beef:
- In a large stock pot, heat the oil.
- Season the beef with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano.
- Add the beef and onion to the stock pot and cook for 5 minutes.
To Make the Tomato Sauce:
- While the beef is cooking, add tomatoes, onion, garlic, serranos, bouillon, and water to a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour sauce into the stock pot with the beef.
- Add the diced potatoes.
- Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste to the pot.
- Stir to combine.
- Cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Serve with plenty of sauce and enjoy!
Another great keeper, Ms. Maggie. The sauce was a bit more liquid than I expected (though I used only about half the suggested amount of stock), but with a wonderful flavor. Maybe my Romas were a bit juicier than normal. Served it with Mayocoba pot beans, which I then fried with bacon drippings.
Thanks again,
Joe
If the roma tomatoes are juicy, yes, that could’ve done it. I like this dish a little runny. If you want to thicken it up, add a squirt of tomato paste next time you’re making Carne con Papas.
Thank you for providing actual measurements! So, very helpful. Is the nutrition info based on a single serving?
My recipe card generates the nutrition based on single servings.
Came out sooo good. My husband and kids loved it!
I love it when I hear that kids liked a recipe. My kiddo can be somewhat picky. Hope you make it again!
I love making it my dad was from canatlan and my mom was from chihuahua so we grew up with all the dishes and carne con papas was my dad’s and my favorite we would have it with Mexicn rice and frijoles de la olla also the tortillas con huevo loved them thank you
So glad you enjoyed this Ana!
Beautiful and yummy recipe – it made a delicious supper. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! So glad you enjoyed this!
Thank you so much for this recipe! My family is from Durango too (Santiago Papasquiaro)!! It’s SO nice to see recipes from Northern Mexico/ Durango online, since they’re usually so hard to find. Thanks for posting!!!
Santiago Papasquiaro, Durango! I have distant family there. Saludos paisana.
This looks so amazing and flavorful. I’m off to the grocery store to get the ingredients and make this today!!
Wohoo! Hope you like it as much as I do
This carne con papas looks like it’s full of flavor! We have Mexican nights at least once a week, and this is next on our list!
Great. It’s a really yummy dish. Hope you try it
Good flavor except too runny. I let it cook a little longer, and it thickened it. My family loved it!
That’s great to hear! Yes, some times you just need to let it go a little longer to thicken up. Potatoes help thicken up the sauce.
Great, hearty recipe!
It is! Hope you try it!
Great recipe, the family thoroughly enjoyed this dish 🙂
So glad you and your family enjoyed this!
One of those perfect recipes for make ahead Weeknight dinners! Live these flavors so much.
It is! Hope you try it
Delish!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed this!
Delicious recipe!
So glad you enjoyed this!
mine was waaaay to watery. What did I do wrong
Did you add the tomato paste? That’s what thickens it up.
Yum! Perfect for a nice cool night!
So glad you enjoyed this Amy! Hope you try it