Dried Beef with Sweet Potato (Tasajo con Boniato)
Salted, sun-dried beef is soaked back to life, simmered until fork-tender, then shredded and braised in a garlicky onion-and-pepper sofrito. Served next to boiled boniato, it's old-fashioned Cuban country cooking at its best.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Soak the tasajo
Rinse the dried beef, then put it in a large bowl and cover generously with cold water. Soak in the fridge for 8–12 hours, changing the water two or three times, so the beef softens and loses most of its salt.
- 500 g dried salted beef
- as needed water, for soaking
✅ Done when: the beef feels soft and pliable, and the soaking water no longer tastes very salty
Boil until tender
Drain the beef and put it in a pot with the whole onion and bay leaves. Cover with fresh water by about 5 cm, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover partly, and simmer for about 90 minutes.
- as needed water, for boiling
- 1 whole onion
- 2 bay leaves
✅ Done when: the beef is fork-tender and pulls apart easily
Shred the beef
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Build the sofrito
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Braise the beef
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Boil the boniato
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Serve
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Soak the tasajo
Rinse the dried beef, then put it in a large bowl and cover generously with cold water. Soak in the fridge for 8–12 hours, changing the water two or three times, so the beef softens and loses most of its salt.
- 500 g dried salted beef
- as needed water, for soaking
✅ Done when: the beef feels soft and pliable, and the soaking water no longer tastes very salty
Boil until tender
Drain the beef and put it in a pot with the whole onion and bay leaves. Cover with fresh water by about 5 cm, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover partly, and simmer for about 90 minutes.
- as needed water, for boiling
- 1 whole onion
- 2 bay leaves
✅ Done when: the beef is fork-tender and pulls apart easily
Shred the beef
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Build the sofrito
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Braise the beef
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Boil the boniato
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Serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Tasajo was not originally Cuban beef at all: for centuries, Spanish ships brought in salted, sun-dried beef from the cattle plains of South America, because it traveled well in the tropics without spoiling. It became a cheap, filling protein for enslaved people and rural workers, and over time Cuban cooks turned it into a proper dish, soaking it tender and braising it with the island's own onions, peppers and garlic.
In Cuba's cattle country, especially around Camagüey, tasajo con boniato became a classic plate of campo (countryside) cooking, pairing the deeply savory beef with the mild, starchy sweetness of boiled boniato.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It turns a tough, salty, long-preserved cut into something richly savory and tender, and shows how Cuban cooks build big flavor from humble, practical ingredients.
💡 Fun Fact
Long before refrigeration reached rural Cuba, dried beef like tasajo was one of the few meats that could be stored for months, which is why it became such a staple in the countryside.
Camagüey and the cattle-raising provinces of eastern Cuba
21.38°N, -77.92°W
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