40-Minute Fast-Braised Beef Chuck en Chile Pasilla (The Tuesday Entomatado)
Listen, I love a slow-simmered weekend mole as much as the next person, but sometimes it is Tuesday at 5:30 PM and someone is asking for a snack while homework is melting on the kitchen table. We are not suffering for dinner tonight! This 40-minute fast-braised beef chuck en chile pasilla is my weeknight rescue mission. It tastes like it spent all day on the stove, thanks to a quick toast-and-blend move with smoky pasilla chiles and charred tomatoes. Cut your beef into bite-sized pieces so it cooks down in a flash—mom math at its finest. If you can only find ancho, use it! Taste it, salt it, and remember: this is a Tuesday entomatado, not a wedding entomatado. Finish it with a mountain of crisp radishes and lime juice to wake the whole dish up. Ándale, let's cook.
Featured Recipe
40-Minute Fast-Braised Beef Chuck en Chile Pasilla (The Tuesday Entomatado)
Bite-sized beef chuck simmered down fast in a smoky, velvety toasted pasilla chile and charred tomato sauce. It delivers deep weekend-stew energy in 40 minutes flat, finished with a bright radish and lime crunch.
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Timeline
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs beef chuck roast(trimmed of hard fat and cut into small 3/4-inch bite-sized cubes for rapid tenderizing)
- 3 whole pasilla chiles(stems and seeds removed (Bodega swap: 2 tbsp chili powder + 1 chipotle in adobo))
- 4 medium Roma tomatoes(halved)
- 1 medium yellow onion(half left whole for charring, half finely diced for stewing)
- 4 whole garlic cloves(peeled)
- 1.5 cups beef broth(low sodium)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar(our secret speed-tenderizer and brightener)
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano(crushed between your palms)
- 0.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil(divided)
- 1.5 tsp kosher salt(divided)
- 1 cup shredded green cabbage(for topping)
- 4 medium radishes(thinly sliced)
- 0.25 cup fresh cilantro(chopped)
- 2 whole limes(cut into wedges)
- 8 whole warm corn tortillas(for serving)
- enough to cover hot water(for softening chiles)
- 0.5 tsp kosher salt(for cabbage slaw)
- a splash lime juice(for seasoning beef)
Instructions
- 1
Set a skillet or comal over medium-high heat. Toast 3 whole pasilla chiles for about 30 seconds per side until fragrant (don't burn them or they get bitter!). Move chiles to a bowl and cover with hot water to soften. In the same dry skillet, blister 4 medium Roma tomatoes, 0.5 medium yellow onion (the whole half), and 4 whole garlic cloves for 5 to 6 minutes until charred in spots.
6 min
Tip: Press the tomatoes down so they catch that good dark char—that's instant depth.
- 2
While the veggies char, chop your 1.5 lbs beef chuck roast into small 3/4-inch cubes (small cubes braise in half the time!). Season the meat generously with 1 tsp kosher salt.
4 min
Tip: Keeping the beef pieces small is the ultimate weeknight shortcut.
- 3
Transfer the softened pasilla chiles, charred tomatoes, onion half, garlic, 1.5 cups beef broth, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp Mexican oregano, and 0.5 tsp ground cumin into a blender. Purée until silkily smooth.
3 min
Tip: The vinegar breaks down the muscle fibers in the beef while adding a lovely tart backbone.
- 4
Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a heavy Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced 1.5 lbs beef chuck roast in a single layer. Sear without touching for 3 minutes to get a dark brown crust, then toss and brown for 2 more minutes. Add the remaining diced 0.5 medium yellow onion and sauté for 1 minute.
6 min
Tip: Don't crowd the pan too much—let the beef sizzle, not steam.
- 5
Pour the blended pasilla sauce right over the browned beef, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a rapid simmer, turn heat down to medium-low, cover tightly, and fast-braise for 20 minutes until the beef is fork-tender and the sauce is thick and rich.
20 min
Tip: If the sauce looks too thick before the meat is done, splash in tantito water.
- 6
While the beef braises (mom math: time to clear the counter or pour yourself a glass of water!), toss 1 cup shredded green cabbage, 4 medium radishes (sliced), and 0.25 cup fresh cilantro together in a small bowl with a squeeze from 1 whole limes and 0.5 tsp kosher salt.
5 min
Tip: This quick cabbage crunch brings the whole plate alive.
- 7
Uncover the beef pot. Taste it—then decide if it needs another pinch of salt or a splash of lime juice! Serve hot en cazuela with 8 whole warm corn tortillas and top generously with the bright cabbage-radish slaw.
5 min
Tip: We're not suffering for dinner on a Tuesday. Warm your tortillas right over the gas flame if you have one!
Chef's Notes
Pantry Mode: If you don't have dried pasilla chiles, swap in 2 tablespoons of good chili powder and 1 canned chipotle pepper blended right into the tomato sauce. It gives that smoky depth in a pinch!
María “Mari” Santiago
Oaxacan comfort, Brooklyn shortcuts, weeknight bright.
María “Mari” Santiago was born in Oaxaca, where her earliest kitchen memories are measured in scent: chiles toasting on a comal, cinnamon and chocolate blooming in mole, and the warm, nutty snap of a tlayuda folded in half for the walk home. She learned by watching—first her tías, then her abuela—picking up the small, practical rules that never made it into written recipes: how to tell when the garlic is *just* right, how to rescue a too-spicy salsa, and why you always taste the broth before you add the salt. Now in Brooklyn, Mari cooks the food she grew up on while raising two little kids and juggling real-life time limits. Her style is “real flavor, real life”: traditional Oaxacan and everyday Mexican dishes—moles, caldos, frijoles, enfrijoladas, salsas, and crispy tlayudas—made weeknight-friendly with smart shortcuts, brighter salsas, and more vegetables without losing the soul of the dish. She’s not precious about rules, she’s big on swaps, and she’s on a mission to prove that you can cook deeply flavorful Mexican food with what you can actually find at a normal grocery store (and still get dinner on the table before a meltdown). Mari’s recipes read like a friend texting you from the produce aisle: clear, funny, and unpretentious, with a side of abuela wisdom. If there’s a hard-to-find ingredient, she gives you a realistic alternative, tells you what will change (and what won’t), and keeps the focus where it belongs—on food that tastes like home, even when home is a small Brooklyn kitchen.