Bistec is how you say beefsteak in Spanish, and bistec encebollado is just one of the many traditional Dominican recipes made with this kind of meat. Some of my other favorites are bistec guisado, pepper steak, and Dominican beef stew.
Use sirloin tip steak, beef top/bottom round, or sandwich steak
When it comes to what kind of meat you need to make bistec encebollado, the most important thing is that you get thinly sliced meat, whether it’s sirloin tip steak, beef top or bottom round, or sandwich steak. Buying thinly sliced will cut your cooking time and help you get super tender steak in just an hour.
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Recommended for this recipe
Caldero Pot
The caldero cooks everything evenly and builds flavor with every step. It’s a staple in any Dominican kitchen!
Use sugar to caramelize the steak
To get a really nice, effortless char on the meat, carefully sprinkle a little sugar into the hot oil right before adding the meat. It caramelizes as it cooks, and this trick never fails me in any of my bistec recipes.
Tenderize and cut the steak
If your steak is on the thicker side, use a meat tenderizer to pound it until it’s very thin. If the steak pieces are too big, cut them into about 3-inch pieces. This helps the meat cook faster and lets all the flavors from the marinade soak into every bite of the bistec.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a bowl, add the beef, garlic, sofrito, sour orange juice, adobo, oregano, and salt. Mix until the beef is well coated with the seasonings.
- Heat oil in a pot over medium heat and let it get very hot. Add sugar to the hot oil and let it caramelize.
- Add the beef to the pot and cook until browned on both sides and the beef has absorbed most of it’s juices, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the beef pieces, add ½ cup of water and continue cooking, covered, for another 5-8 minutes or until most juices are absorbed. Repeat this step one more time
- Add the onion slices and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they soften and are slightly charred.
- Add tomato paste and 1 cup of water to the pot and continue cooking, covered, for about 10-12 minutes, or until half of the liquid evaporates and the meat and onions are tender. ¡Buen provecho!
What’s the difference between bistec encebollado and bistec guisado?
Bistec encebollado is made with thin cuts of meat like sirlion tip steak, sandwich steak, and beef top round, while bistec guisado is made with cuts of beef round cubed steak. Another key difference is that bistec encebollado is made only onions and bistec guisado is made with both peppers and onions.
Bistec Encebollado (Dominican Steak with Onions)
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a bowl, add the beef, garlic, sofrito, naranja agria, adobo, oregano, and salt. Mix until the beef is well coated with the seasonings.
- Heat oil in a pot over medium heat and sprinkle the sugar evenly into the pot. The sugar will melt quickly and start to caramelize, turning light brown. As soon as this happens, quickly add the beef to prevent the sugar from burning.
- Cook until browned on both sides and the beef has absorbed most of it's juices, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the beef pieces, add ½ cup of water and continue cooking covered until most juices are absorbed, about 5-8 minutes. Repeat this step one more time
- Add the onion slices and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes, or until they soften and are slightly charred.
- Add tomato paste and 1 cup of water to the pot and continue cooking covered until half of the liquid evaporates and the meat and onions are tender, or about 10-15 minutes. ¡Buen provecho!
3 Responses
Hello,
I have been looking at different recipes online for dominican style steak, pink beans and rice. I have pretty much over a year taken a lot of different recipes, information, ingredients and basic tips. I have tried to make it my own and so far every time delicious so thank you for the help. There is one thing that concered about out regarding this recipe. At one point it stated to heat oil to HOT add SUGAR to caramelize. I am hoping it’s just me but my pan pan was smoking like crazy, the sugar was burnt. I don’t know if making sure the oil is super hot and adding sugar prior to adding the steak is the best idea. Thanks again, if you can let me know if I did something wrong please and thank you.
Hi! Thank you for trying the recipes and sharing your experience. I love that you have been making them your own. For the caramelizing step, the oil should be very hot, but keeping the heat at medium helps control the process. Sprinkle the sugar evenly, and once it melts and turns light brown, quickly add the meat to prevent burning while locking in the caramelized flavor. Hope this helps, and I appreciate your feedback!
My husband is from DR and loves this.