Mexican Beef and Bacon Soup
This Instant Pot Mexican Beef and Bacon Soup is also called, "Carne en su Jugo," - means "meat cooked in it's own juice." It's a flavorful beef broth, with bits of beef, bacon and pinto beans -almost like a Mexican Beef Stew of sorts. It's usually served with beans on the side but for this recipe you do it all in one pot and serve it with a variety of toppings.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. tomatillos husks removed, cut in half (or you could use 2 c. green salsa)
- 3 serrano chile peppers seeded and halved
- 8 cloves garlic
- 6 slices of bacon cut into pieces
- 2 lb. round steak/stew/flank steak-cut into 1/2 inch squares
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 4 fresh jalapenos 3 sliced in half, seeded; 1 saved later for garnish
- 4 c. beef broth I like to use my Healthy Instant Pot Beef Bone Broth
- 1/2 T. kosher salt
- 1-3 t. Homemade Chipotle Seasoning or buy Chipotle Seasoning
- 1/2 lb. dry pinto beans rinsed
- 1 small head of cabbage shredded
- 1/2 c. cilantro
- 1/2 c. green onions thinly sliced
- radishes
- juice of 1 lemon/lime
- lemons for garnish
Instructions
- Place oven on broil.
- On a baking sheet covered with foil, place the tomatillos, serrano peppers, 3 jalapenos and garlic.
- Broil for 5 minutes or until slightly blackened. Set aside to cool a bit.
- In the Instant Pot, add bacon and cook until crispy. Drain on paper towel. Remove most of grease from Instant Pot, reserving 2 T. of grease in pot.
- In a food processor or blender, combine roasted tomatillos, garlic and peppers.
- Press, "Sauté," on the Instant Pot and brown the onions in the bacon grease.
- Add the cooked bacon, beef, salt, chipotle seasoning, pepper, tomatillo mixture, beef broth and beans.
- Press, "Manual," or "Pressure," and cook on high for 50 minutes. Allow to natural release (about 30-45 min). If you release the pressure early, the pinto beans will not be finished.
- When finished, stir in shredded cabbage. Press, "Sauté," on Instant Pot and cook for a few minutes. (Or if you don't mind it less cooked, just throw in the cabbage, stir it around a bit in the hot stew and serve.)
- Garnish with radishes, green onions and cilantro. Squeeze lime over before serving. It's also good with torn pieces of tortilla. (Be sure and add the points for tortilla).
Notes
One might think you would "brown," the beef before pressure cooking it. Normally this is the case, but because this is a soup/stew, you want the meat to release the juices into the pot - thus the reason you don't brown it ahead of time.
Freeze this soup in vacuum sealed bags in 1 c. portions or try Souper Cubes .