Cuajitos, a simple Mexican beef soup, is just one of the few recipes I have adapted from the cookbook Nuevo Leon. I tried to stay as close to the ingredients that are in the cookbook as possible. Sometimes it is just the cut of meat that has to be switched out. For my version of Cuajitos, I chose a chuck roast.
Cuajitos is popular in the ….. region of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. It may not seem like much because of the simple ingredients. It’s delicious! I have prepared it both in the pressure cooker and the crock pot. In my opinion, the pressure cooker version had more depth of flavors. Plus it cooks in 50 minutes!
As I mentioned, I prepared this recipe both in the pressure cooker and slow cooker. You can read the slow cooker version in the notes section after the recipe. I don’t have any still shots of the soup in the pressure cooker, sorry.
Cuajitos (Simple Mexican Beef Soup)
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 10 cups of water
- 2 1/2 pounds chuck roast sliced into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 small white onion diced
- 2-4 jalapeños diced
- 4 roma tomatoes diced
- 2-3 tablespoons maggi seasoning
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt to taste
- 1/3 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 bay leaves
Garnish
- 3 cups Mexican rice previously prepared
- 3 cups pinto beans previously cooked
- Lime sliced into wedges
- Onion diced
- Chile piquin crushed
- Corn tortillas warmed
Instructions
Directions
- To the pressure cooker, add all of the soup ingredients in the order listed, minus the garnishes. Add only 1/2 of the cilantro. Reserve the remaining cilantro for garnish. Lock and seal and turn heat to high.
- Once the pressure cooker has locked and begins to release the steam rapidly, turn heat down to below medium. Set timer for 50 minutes.
- After 50 minutes, turn heat off and let the pressure cooker sit until the safety valve unlocks.
- When ready, open cooker and you may need to take a spatula and clean up the foam that built up on the inside walls of the pressure cooker. You don't want to stir that into the soup.
- Taste the soup for salt and serve. Garnish with rice, beans, cilantro, onion, crushed chile and lime. Add rice if you like and serve with warm corn tortillas. Yields 6 servings.
Notes
The first time I only added rice and crushed chile piquin. The next time I added rice, beans, avocado and serrano salsa. I enjoyed both, but the loaded one was my favorite!
The serrano salsa is simply roughly chopped serrano peppers with water and a little salt. My mom used to prepare this quick salsa to garnish Caldo de Res, beef and vegetable soup. https://pinaenlacocina.com/caldo-de-resits-a-sunday-thing-mexican-style-beef-soup/
Another dish from Nuevo Leon cookbook that I love is Cortadillo Norteño! https://pinaenlacocina.com/cortadillo-norteno-mexican-beef-and-potato-stew/
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