Carne en su Jugo, a traditional Mexican recipe popular in Jalisco and Guadalajara. Typically the beef is slow cooked in water to create a flavorful stock.

A blend of cilantro, chiles, onions, garlic and spices are added to the beef with all it’s stock and cooked until tender. Sometimes, like in this version, poached tomatillos are blended and added in for a thicker broth. Beans are added towards the end or ladled into the bowl first before adding some of the Carne en su Jugo. Garnish with cilantro, onion, radishes and avocado. Included in this post are two versions of carne en su jugo. One prepared with tomatillos and pinto beans and the other prepared with roma tomatoes and black beans! Both are delicious and it gives you two options.

Above is the tomato version I prepared of carne en su jugo. Red tomato is not traditional, but it is delicious!

I will never forget the day when tomatillos came to small town New York!
For many years, when I first moved to central New York, there were no fresh Mexican food ingredients available. My mom used to send me care packages with tortillas and fresh produce, lol! True story! Now I cannot get enough of fresh chiles and tomatillos in my weekly cooking. I especially enjoy creating and developing new tomatillo salsa recipes!

Beans in my pressure cooker!
The day I finally learned to cook beans in my little pressure cooker was excited! I felt so accomplished! Lol! It has allowed to cook beans and different cuts of meat in a hurry.


Garnish is everything in Mexican dishes!
Some Mexican recipes would be tasty on there own. But add those garnishes and it soars to a completely new level!! I mean, what would tortilla soup be without fried tortilla strips, lime, avocado, queso panela, fried chile pasilla? Not as good. Just my opinion.






Carne en Su Jugo(Beef Braised in Broth). This version, I switched out the tomatillos for roma tomatoes. I also switched out the pinto beans for black beans. Both versions are equally delicious!

For a lighter broth, you can eliminate using the tomatillos or tomatoes all together, but it really makes the dish more complete. Just my opinion though.


Carne en Su Jugo
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 4 strips of bacon sliced small
- avocado or olive oil if needed
- 1 1/2 pounds skirt, flank or chuck steak sliced into 2 inch chunks
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 1/2 pounds poached tomatillos
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup onion plus more for garnish
- 2-3 cloves garlic sliced
- 2 serrano peppers or jalapeño
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups water or beef broth
- 2 cups cooked pinto beans in their broth
Serve With
- 1/3 cup radishes
- 1/3 cup cilantro
- Lime wedges
- 2 Serrano peppers sliced thin or minced
- Avocado slices are also delicious
- Warm corn tortillas a must!
Instructions
Directions
- Add sliced bacon to a deep skillet and heat to medium heat. Cook the bacon until most of the fat renders out and bacon is browned. Season the beef chunks with one teaspoon each of the spices listed. Add the beef to the skillet and sear good and browned on all sides.
- While beef is searing, in the blender, combine the tomatillos, cilantro, onion, garlic, serranos, bay leaves, 2 cups of water or broth, and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Blend on high until smooth.
- Add the sauce to the beef along with remaining 2 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. At this time I like to re-season to taste with the spices listed. Cover and continue cooking for 1 hour or until beef is tender. I add in the beans about 20 minutes before serving or you can add some beans into the bottom of bowl, then ladle the beef and sauce over the top. Garnish as you like, with onions, cilantro, radishes and avocado. Serve with warm corn tortillas.
My goal for the past few months and for 2014 is to learn traditional Mexican cooking techniques and different recipes from the various regions of Mexico. Carne en su Jugo or Meat in it’s Juices is a cross between a soup and a stew, simply served with pinto beans and garnished with cilantro, onions. radishes, lime and avocado slices. Oh and don’t forget the warm tortillas!
Looks yummy!
Thank you Evie!
I am not sure why I am not able to pin your recipes lately. I get a window with an error message. Ugh!
Unfortunately, this is a problem with Pinterest. It has been this way for 5-6 weeks now. You have to go to my main Pinterest board, La Piña en La Cocina, and pin recipes from there. So sorry for the inconvenience. They say it may take a long time to fix. I can pin directly onto individual board by copying the picture and link and pasting it too.
This is dumb. How much cumin ,salt and pepper do I add???? The recipe is not in detail as it should. You should just say use this and wing the rest.
Sorry Joseph, but I though I wrote clearly in the instructions to add 1 teaspoon each of the spices listed. So it’s easier to read, I added the 1 tsp notation in front of each of the spices. Hope that helps. Best regards. Happy cooking.