Costa Rican Carne en Salsa Recipe
Tender shredded flank steak simmered in a sweet and tangy Costa Rican red sauce—serve with rice or in a casado for a true taste of Tico home cooking.
There is really nothing that I love more than a great carne en salsa from Costa Rica- especially served with Costa Rican white rice.
I spent many years living in San Ramón, and they celebrate Saint Raymond Day in the two weeks leading up to his feast day on August 31. There are processions, an ox cart parade, and street food vendors everywhere.
The celebration is also a church fundraiser, and women from all around the area donate their time to make classic Costa Rican dishes in the turnos, or small food stalls. This carne en salsa recipe (along with estofado, olla de carne, arroz con pollo, and homemade tortillas) is sold by the ton because it’s the best eating of the year. (I’m salivating just thinking about it!)
Since it isn’t exactly practical for me to fly to Costa Rica every time I’m craving shredded beef in red sauce, I finally got a tutorial from my husband’s uncle on how to make an authentic carne en salsa just like you can find in Costa Rica. (Tío William is also the one who taught us how to make traditional pork tamales.)
Carne en Salsa Recipe
(Printable recipe below)
Ingredients
For the Meat
- 3 lb flank steak
- 1–2 Tbsp salt
- 1–2 Tbsp chicken bouillon
- 1–2 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ red pepper, roughly chopped
- ½ white onion, roughly chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro with stems roughly chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2–3 Tbsp Salsa Lizano
- 6–8 cups water
For the Sauce
- 2 cups reserved beef broth
- 2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes or equivalent fresh tomatoes
- ½ white onion quartered
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 Tbsp ketchup
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp Salsa Lizano
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
For the Meat
- Place all the ingredients into the pressure cooker. (I use an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot.) Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. You can use the quick release or the natural release- I don’t think it matters, but I usually just let the pressure release on its own unless I’m in a hurry.
- Remove the meat from the pressure cooker and set aside to cool slightly.
- Strain the beef broth through a fine-mesh strainer and place it in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I usually put the broth in Ball jars or freeze it in plastic gallon bags for later.
- Shred the beef using two forks or your hands. You can do this several days in advance or right before making the carne en salsa sauce.
For the Sauce
- Place all ingredients (except the shredded meat!) in the blender and liquefy. If you are not getting a smooth enough consistency, add a bit more broth.
- Heat the sauce in a large saucepan on medium until it simmers.
- Stir in the shredded beef and bring to a low boil.
- I then taste the meat with sauce to see how it is, and add salt or sugar accordingly.
Substitutions
If you don’t have canned or fresh tomatoes on hand, about two cups of tomato sauce will have a similar effect.
You can make this dish with shredded chicken as well.
If you can’t get the Salsa Lizano, you can use Worcestershire sauce.
WONDERING ABOUT SALSA LIZANO? Read What Is Salsa Lizano From Costa Rica?
Variations
A similar version of this dish is made with ox tail- estofado.
You will often find that traditional Costa Rican nachos use this recipe along with meltable white cheese on top of freshly fried corn tortillas for nachos. It’s delish.
The shredded beef on its own is used for empanadas and also as a nice sustancia de carne.
Serving Suggestions
This dish will often be served as a light soup with traditional Costa Rican white rice at the bottom of the bowl or on the side.
You will also find this on top of a homemade corn tortilla for a gallo de carne en salsa.
We eat this dish for breakfast alongside gallo pinto, fried eggs, cheese, and avocado.
As a lunch item, this carne en salsa is my favorite protein in the Costa Rican casado.
Leftover carne en salsa is often made into a Costa Rican sandwich- a fresh French baguette filled with meat, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayonnaise, and white cheese.
Printable Recipe
Costa Rican Carne en Salsa
Costa Rican carne en salsa is a braised flank steak mixed with a sweet and tangy tomato sauce and served with white rice or as part of a Costa Rican casado.
Ingredients
- For the Meat
- 3 lb flank steak
- 1–2 Tbsp salt
- 1–2 Tbsp chicken bouillon
- 1–2 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ red pepper roughly chopped
- ½ white onion roughly chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro with stems roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2–3 Tbsp Salsa Lizano
- 6–8 cups water
- For the Sauce
- 2 cups reserved beef broth
- 2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes or equivalent fresh tomatoes
- ½ white onion quartered
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 Tbsp ketchup
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp Salsa Lizano
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
For the Meat
- Place all the ingredients into the pressure cooker. (I use an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot.) Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. You can use the quick release or the natural release- I don’t think it matters, but I usually just let the pressure release on its own unless I’m in a hurry.
- Remove the meat from the pressure cooker and set aside to cool slightly.
- Strain the beef broth through a fine-mesh strainer and place it in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I usually put the broth in Ball jars or freeze it in plastic gallon bags for later.
- Shred the beef using two forks or your hands. You can do this several days in advance or right before making the carne en salsa sauce.
For the Sauce
- Place all ingredients (except the shredded meat!) in the blender and liquefy. If you are not getting a smooth enough consistency, add a bit more broth.
- Heat the sauce in a large saucepan on medium until it simmers.
- Stir in the shredded beef and bring to a low boil.
- I then taste the meat with sauce to see how it is, and add salt or sugar accordingly.
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Meet Christa
I’m Christa and I help families plan stress-free, culturally immersive trips to Costa Rica. As a home chef, I also share my passion for Costa Rican food through authentic recipes. My mission is to help your family fall in love with Costa Rica through practical advice, unforgettable experiences, and delicious meals.
Nice! I have this a lot around here, but I’ve never made it, mainly just because of an aversion to buying meat. But I’ll try this. I’m assuming it’s basically the same as the carne in salsa that has the beef in cubes, right?
Why make it when you can get a huge plate of it for about $4? Yes, it’s similar to the cubes or the slabs of meat, but I definitely can’t get that cut of meat here. You’ll be back for Dia de San Ramon, and eating at the ranchos is the best carne en salsa ever. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Hey!
I think that there is also the carne en salsa that’s more common around breakfast time, and that tends to have cubed meat, at least from what I’ve had. The two seem pretty similar, but this shredded beef does look more like the lunch/dinner versions.
And good point about the price, but there’s nowhere where I live that sells that, and I’d have to drive to town to get it, probably. I actually do cook about 95% of the food we eat, since we rarely eat out in Costa Rica. But that’s fine, and it’s always good to have recipe options!
I know you cook a lot, which is totally awesome. I eat out in Costa Rica a lot more than here in the States, since I don’t really like to cook on vacation. I’ll have to pay more attention to the breakfast vs. lunch carne en salsa next time. There’s a soda at the cruce de Naranjo that sells a casado with carne and salsa that is incredible… it’s on the south east side of the road and it’s got a cool view into the forest right there. Anyway, you know me and eating in Costa Rica…
It looks so tasty, what an amazing dish.
Hi
I made your recipe. My husband who is from Plantares Oratorio, CR. He loved it. His family Oratorio is located in San Jose. Mostly farms. All of his family is still there. I am American and I am always looking for CR recipes so my husband can have a little taste of home. He has not been home in almost 20 years. We hope 2017 will be his year.
Thank you for the delicious recipe.
Marie
Hi Marie!
Thank you so much for visiting the site! I am always putting up new recipes, so please come back and visit any time! I hope that 2017 is also his year… it’s hard to be away from Costa Rica for that long!
XO
~Christa
Hi! Thank you so much for posting all these recipes. I’m Tica but I live in the states with my husband and daughter. Thankfully because of your site I can make them delicious food from my home country.
Lola this makes my day! I am so happy these recipes are helpful- sometimes we just need to know how to adapt the foods to the ingredients we can find in the United States. If you ever have any recipe requests- please let me know!
Pura vida! ~Christa
I know i’m late to the party, but just found this recipe (and others) and super excited about it! Have you ever made this with shredded pork shoulder? i usually have a pork shoulder or two in my freezer and just trying to use what i have. Pork shoulder generally is deliciously tender after slow cooking and i think it could be a good sub for the beef in this recipe?
I think it would be super good and I can’t wait to hear how it turns out! ~Christa
My wife had 2 amazing casados with carne en salsa while visiting the Monteverde region of Costa Rica recently—and she’s not one who usually swoons over beef. (Note: both times were for lunch, and both times the beef was cut in cubes, just fyi.) So I’m using your recipe to try to replicate it for some friends in a few days. I’m only part way there, but I thought I’d share some notes on cooking the carne. First of all, since your ingredients had ranges, here’s what I actually used:
2.75 lb flank steak, cut into cubes (can’t recall the last time I spent $41 on meat)
2.5 tsp diamond kosher salt (using the 1 tsp salt per 1 lb/500 g meat rule-of-thumb)
2 10 g poultry bouillon cubes
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
75 g of red pepper, roughly chopped
150 g of white onion, roughly chopped
10 g garlic, smashed
2 tbsp Salsa Lizano
6 cups water
(left out the cilantro)
I first dry-brined the flank streak with about 1.5 teaspoons of the salt for about 6 hours in the fridge. I don’t have a pressure cooker, so I cooked the meat in a Le Creuset dutch oven at 325°F for 2 hours. At that point the meat hadn’t fallen apart but was clearly quite tender. I ended up with 6 cups of broth—I’ll admit I was hoping it would have reduced more. I’d probably use less water in the future, probably enough so that it just covers the beef, especially since the sauce only requires 2 cups. Also my first impression of the broth is that it’s quite salty. That’s probably due to using both salt + bouillon cubes. It will probably mellow out in the context of the eventual sauce, but I might try using use just salt or just bouillon in the future. I’ll report back when I make the sauce and put everything together. Thanks!
Hi Justin- this is such great info- thank you for putting it in the comments! I will say that you picked up on something- some regions of Costa Rica use the cubed beef (which is way to expensive right now, I concur) and some the shredded. Keep me posted as you keep experimenting- and pura vida! ~Christa
My “long-awaited” follow-up, ha! I had a hunch that blending 2 cans of diced tomatoes would create a lot of sauce. So I figured, why not just start by making half the sauce? And if I needed more, I could easily make the other half. Well I’m glad I did, because A) I’m not sure I could have fit more than half the sauce ingredients in my blender, and B) the 2.75 lbs of cubed flank steak that I’d previously cooked (which seemed like a lot at the time!) was positively swimming in just half the sauce. I simmered the cubed (and already cooked) flank steak in the halved-sauce for 2 or 3 hours before serving, and remarkably the cubes held together. My concerns about the saltiness of the broth were unfounded—or at least the saltiness was mellowed by the other ingredients, and of course no additional salt was needed. The end result tasted a little different from my memory of the carne en salsas we had in Costa Rica…in a hard to describe way. Yours was sweeter, more “Lizano-y”, thicker, tomato-ier…still very very good. I guess I’m just going to have to go back to Costa Rica!
Hey Justin! It IS long awaited! I will say- the tomatoes in Costa Rica just taste totally different. So yes, the best version of this dish is down there, which is why I eat carne en salsa non-stop when I’m down south. I am going to try your adjustments next time I make it! ~Pura Vida, Christa