Ropa Vieja Sliders
I decided to take this childhood dish of mine and give it a fun and new twist by combining it with one of my all-time favorite dishes, sliders. So I mashed the two together and we now have these Ropa Vieja Sliders to devour this weekend. Just in case I haven’t mentioned it enough, I’m the self-appointed Slider King of the World, having written the book on it, and so I figured why not continue adding to my passion of sliders by throwing in a new one into the ring. These are relatively easy to make, so there are no excuses as to why you shouldn’t make them this weekend!
I like to serve these sliders with lime wedges on the side and fried plantain chips. If you’d like to make your own, you can peel two large green plantains and then slice them into thin strips, lengthwise, using a mandolin. Then fry in hot oil, a couple of minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Drain and season with salt right when they come out of the oil.
Ropa Vieja Sliders
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds flank steak
- 1 large yellow onion sliced
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and sliced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 12 dinner rolls or slider buns
- 1 can refried black beans heated through
- 2 avocados mashed
- 1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco
Instructions
- Set a large heavy duty dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil. Once hot, sear the steak on both sides until browned, about 2 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the steak to a plate or platter and set aside. Stir in onion, bell peppers, garlic and tomatoes and cook until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Return the steak to the pot with the veggies and add in the bay leaves, tomato paste, tomato sauce, chicken stock, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Stir in the capers, cover the pot once more and cook until the beef shreds easily with a fork, about 1 hour to 1 hour and half. If the liquid dries out, try adding in a bit of water if needed.
- Carefully transfer the meat to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Return to the sauce and veggies.
- To assemble the sliders, split the rolls in half and spread the bottom halves with refried beans and the top half with mashed guacamole. Top the bottom half with the shredded beef and veggies, draining the liquid as best you can. Then sprinkle the guacamole half with queso fresco. Sandwich together and skewer with a long toothpick to hold in place. Enjoy!
