Dinner · 120 min · spanish

Ropa Vieja Canaria

Beef chuck does the heavy lifting here, with chickpeas rounding it out. A Spanish dinner that takes 120 minutes, start to finish. Each serving lands at 625 calories with 55g of protein, so it eats like a much heavier meal. Leftovers keep well, so it doubles as next-day lunch without any extra work.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 2.5 lb Beef chuck
• 2 cups Chickpeas
• 3 Potatoes
• 1 Red bell pepper
• 1 Onion
• 3 Tomatoes
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 2 tsp Smoked paprika
• 1 cup White wine

Steps

1. Simmer the beef with onion, garlic, and bay 90 minutes until it shreds at a touch; reserve the broth.
2. Shred the meat into long strands — ropa vieja means “old clothes,” named for the tattered look.
3. Soften the pepper, onion, and tomatoes in olive oil 12 minutes into a rich sofrito with paprika.
4. Add the shredded beef, chickpeas, and potato chunks with enough broth to braise; simmer 25 minutes.
5. The potatoes should be tender and the broth reduced to a clinging sauce.
6. Rest 10 minutes and serve with white rice; the Canarian version adds chickpeas to the Cuban classic’s formula.
7. Traditionally made from the previous day’s puchero leftovers — the best ropa vieja is always a second act.

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