Cuban Mojo Pot Roast

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

15 Comments

4.67 from 6 votes
10 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes
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Cuban Mojo Pot Roast is tender, juicy and packed with bold citrus and garlic flavors. An easy slow-cooked dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights!

This Cuban-inspired Beef recipe puts a fun spin on classic pot roast, combining tender beef with bright citrus and garlic flavors. Mexican Pot Roast and Hawaiian Pot Roast offer two more delicious takes on the classic comfort food, each inspired by the flavors of their culture.

roast in pot with potatoes, carrots, lemon, lime, and orange slices
collage of shredded roast in pot and roast in bowl with veggies
Recipe Snapshot

Why You’ll Love This Pot Roast?

  • The citrus and garlic give this tender pot roast so much bright, savory flavor.
  • The slow cooker does most of the work, making this an easy and comforting dinner with incredibly tender beef.

Sabrina’s Cuban Mojo Pot Roast Recipe

This delicious pot roast recipe is full of refreshing Caribbean flavor with a homemade Cuban Mojo sauce. Cuban Mojo Pot Roast is all about the herby garlic Mojo sauce that you can find all over the Caribbean, Florida, and the Canary Islands. While there are so many variations, the base of the sauce is fresh citrus, garlic, and olive oil or meat fat. This recipe uses canola oil and the rendered beef fat in place of olive oil to bring the whole dish together. This is an easy one-pot meal, great for busy weeknights or Sunday dinner!

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Cuban Mojo Pot Roast Recipe

Cuban Mojo Pot Roast is tender, juicy and packed with bold citrus and garlic flavors. An easy slow-cooked dinner perfect for busy weeknights!
Yield 10 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Cuban Inspired
Author Sabrina Snyder
roast in pot with potatoes, carrots, lemon, lime, and orange slices
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 3 pound beef chuck roast , boneless
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 4 cloves garlic , minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 pound carrots , peeled and cut into 2" chunks
  • 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes , peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 3 cups beef broth

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
  • Whisk together orange juice, lime juice, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, and garlic until combined. Set aside.
  • Season the chuck roast with the Kosher salt, and pepper.
  • Add the canola oil to a pan and heat. When it ripples and is hot add in the roast and brown, deeply, for 4-5 minutes on each side.
  • Add carrots, potatoes, orange juice mixture, bay leaves, and beef broth and cook for 3 – 3 ½ hours.
  • If you want a thicker sauce, 30 minutes before it is done skim the fat off the top, add a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water) to the pot and cook for remaining 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 371kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 793mg | Potassium: 1041mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 7647IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 4mg

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Sabrina’s Tips

For the most flavorful roast, sear the beef well before slow cooking. Those browned edges add a rich, savory flavor that balances the bright citrus and garlic in the mojo sauce.

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About this Recipe

The sauce for this Cuban Mojo Pot Roast is mild and tangy, making it a great family friendly dinner recipe. Traditionally, a Mojo sauce is made with bitter orange, or sour orange, but they can be hard to find pretty much anywhere in the US outside of Florida. Instead, this recipe substitutes a mixture of orange juice and lime juice so that you can make it no matter where you live. If you want to add heat, you can increase the pepper flakes or add fresh chili peppers. If you prefer a Red Mojo Sauce, there is a recipe for it in the variations. Both types of sauce will taste amazing on Cuban Mojo Pot Roast! My Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork also makes for an easy, Cuban-inspired dinner!

Pairing Suggestions

This Cuban Mojo Pot Roast is a complete meal on its own. The only thing missing is some Dinner Rolls on the side so you don’t miss a drop of delicious sauce! You can make the meat on its own and serve with Black Beans and Rice for a more latin meal. For a low carb dinner, skip the potatoes and serve with a side of Roasted Broccoli or Crispy Cauliflower instead.

How to Store

  • Serve: You can keep pot roast at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Cool before storing in the refrigerator or freezer.
  • Store: Place cooled, store pot roast in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Use the oven or stove top on low heat to reheat for best taste.
  • Freeze: Once meat has cooled, transfer the pot roast to a sealed container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating pot roast in the oven or on the stove top.

Alternative Cooking Techniques

Slow Cooker Method

  • Prepare the Mojo sauce per the recipe card. Add to slow cooker with beef broth and bay leaves.
  • Sear the seasoned beef in a skillet with the oil, 4-5 minutes per side. You can also use slow cooker if it has ability to sear.
  • Place beef in slow cooker and roll in sauce to coat.
  • Add potatoes and carrots to slow cooker.
  • Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until beef is fork tender.

Instant Pot Method

  • Set Instant Pot to Sauté function and add oil.
  • Once shimmering and hot, sear beef on both sides 3-4 minutes. Remove meat and set aside.
  • Deglaze Instant Pot with beef broth, scraping off all browned bits from sides and bottom.
  • Add the Mojo sauce ingredients to the beef broth and whisk to combine.
  • Return the beef to the Instant Pot and add potatoes and carrots. Stir a few times.
  • Secure lid and seal valve. Cook on Manual High Pressure for 45 minutes. Release pressure naturally.

Variations

  • Meat: Mojo sauce can be used any cut of meat. Try this pot roast recipe with whole chicken pieces, pork shoulder or pork butt, or with beef stew meat. Cooking times will vary so be sure to check internal temperature per the FDA Guidelines.
  • Potatoes: You can use sweet potatoes, red potatoes, or russet potatoes instead of Yukon gold. For a Cuban style side, add frozen yucca or fresh peeled yucca halfway through cooking.
  • Seasonings: You can add grapefruit juice or lemon juice, cilantro, dried basil, parsley, mint, or onions to change the Mojo marinade flavor. For a spicer sauce, add diced jalapeño or Serrano peppers.
  • Red Mojo Sauce: In a food processor combine 2 chopped red bell peppers (no seeds), 4 cloves garlic, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 tablespoon each cumin and paprika, 1 dried red chili (no seeds), and teaspoon salt. Blend into a paste and then slowly add 1 cup olive oil and beef broth before adding to the pot.

More Delicious Roast Recipes

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Photos used in previous version of this post

old pin for cuban pot roast

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

      1. My husband and I are having a rare Tgiving all by ourselves. I’m going to try this instead of turkey….in the instapot!

        Reply

  2. I wanted something different than the way I make my usual roast. This was awesome Thank you for the recipe and I will definitely be using it again.

    Reply

  3. I love a good roast and this is a great twist! THank you for sharing. Delicious. I did reduce the beef broth by 1 and 1/2 cups, and I let it slowly cook in a crock pot for 11 hours. I’m actually part of a potluck Friendsgiving and am brining this to serve on rolls.

    Reply

  4. A good beef stew, but the Mojo kind of gets lost in the mix. Might try with all Mojo and no beef broth.

    Reply

    1. I am so sorry, I am just seeing this tonight. I am sure the recipe has long been cooked/or not but I still want to try to help.

      I haven’t recipe tested that, so I wouldn’t know how long would be best to cook the chicken for. Let us know how it turned out!

      Reply