Cuban recipe

Cuban Completa with Vaca Frita, Congrí, Tostones and Tomato-Avocado Salad

Name: Cuban Completa with Vaca Frita, Congrí, Tostones and Tomato-Avocado Salad
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 180 min
Ingredients: 1 cup dried red beans (about 200 g), soaked since the night before; 4 cups fresh water for cooking the beans, plus what is needed for soaking and for topping up during cooking; 2 cups long-grain rice; ½ onion, finely chopped; ½ green bell pepper, finely chopped; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 bay leaf; 3 tablespoons oil; 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 3 cups liquid in total: 1½ cups of the bean cooking liquid and 1½ cups of the meat broth; 800 g beef flank steak; Enough water to cover the meat while it cooks; 1 small whole onion, for the broth; 3 large onions, thinly sliced, for browning; 6 garlic cloves: 2 for the broth and 4 crushed for the marinade; ½ cup lime juice (about 4 limes, depending on size); 1 teaspoon ground cumin; ¼ cup oil; Salt and pepper to taste; 3 green plantains; Oil for frying (about 1½ cups); 1 cup water with 1 teaspoon salt for briefly dipping the flattened plantains; Salt to taste; 3 ripe but firm tomatoes, sliced or cubed; 2 ripe avocados, sliced; ½ onion, thinly sliced (optional); Juice of 1 lime; 3 tablespoons olive oil; Salt to taste

A complete Cuban plate for 4: loose-grained congrí, crispy vaca frita with onion and lime, tostones and a fresh tomato and avocado salad.

CiberCubaNovember 11, 2026

AI-generated image.CiberCuba

Preparation1 h
Cooking2 h
Total time3 h
Servings4 servings
DifficultyMedium

This is the quintessential Cuban table: loose-grained congrí, vaca frita made from shredded flank steak fried golden with onion and lime, crispy tostones and a fresh tomato and avocado salad. All together, on one generous plate, as a Cuban Completa, a combination plate with several dishes served together.

It is Sunday food, family-gathering food and party food, the kind you prepare without hurry and eat with gusto. The key is coordinating the four components so they reach the table hot and ready.

Method

The day before

Wash the red beans, cover them with plenty of cold water (about 4 cups) and let them soak for 8 to 12 hours in the refrigerator.

The beans and the meat

Drain and rinse the beans. Put them in a pot with 4 cups of fresh water, bring to a boil and keep a strong boil going for at least 30 minutes. Then lower to a gentle simmer and continue until they are tender but whole, about another 30-45 minutes or as long as they need. Add hot water if needed to keep them covered. Set aside the beans and their liquid.
Meanwhile, put the flank steak in another pot with enough water to cover it, the whole onion, 2 garlic cloves and one teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook at a gentle simmer for about 75-90 minutes, or until it shreds easily. In a pressure cooker, allow about 35 minutes from when it reaches working pressure, following the manufacturer's instructions for filling, use and safe opening.
Remove the flank steak, let it rest for about 15 minutes until you can handle it without burning yourself, and set aside 1½ cups of its broth. Shred the meat into thin strips with two forks.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba

The congrí

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion, bell pepper and garlic until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, bay leaf and salt, keeping in mind that the meat broth already contains salt.
Add the rice and stir for a minute so it absorbs the sofrito. Add the drained beans and 3 cups of hot liquid in total: 1½ cups of the bean cooking liquid and 1½ cups of the meat broth. If the bean liquid falls short, make up that part with water.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba
Bring to a boil uncovered until the liquid has almost been absorbed. Lower the heat to the minimum, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Check that the rice is tender; if it is still firm and dry, add a few tablespoons of hot water and cook a few more minutes covered. Turn off the heat and let it rest covered for 10 minutes; remove the bay leaf and fluff the grains with a fork.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba

The vaca frita

Mix the shredded meat with the lime juice, the remaining 4 crushed garlic cloves, the cumin, salt and pepper. Let it marinate for 20 minutes in the refrigerator and drain it well, pressing it a little, so it browns instead of steaming.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba
Heat part of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and sauté it for about 6-8 minutes, until it softens and starts to turn golden. Remove it and set it aside so it does not burn while you brown the meat.
Divide the remaining oil among the batches of meat. Fry the flank steak without overcrowding and without moving it too much for about 6-8 minutes per batch, until golden and crispy at the edges. Add the onion back at the end, mix briefly, adjust the salt and keep warm until serving.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba

The tostones

Peel the green plantains and cut them into thick slices about 2-3 cm. Fry them in moderately hot oil for 3-4 minutes per side, until tender and barely golden. Do it in batches and do not let the oil smoke.
Remove them and flatten them with a tostonera or the bottom of a sturdy glass until they are about 1 cm thick. Away from the heat, dip them briefly in the salted water. Drain them and dry them very well with paper towels: they must not drip or have any surface water before going back into the hot oil.
Fry them again in batches in hot oil, without letting it smoke, for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden and crispy. Drain them on paper towels and salt right away.

The salad and assembly

Cut the tomatoes and avocados, put them on a platter with the optional onion and dress with the lime juice, olive oil and salt. Do this right before serving so the avocado does not darken.
Serve on each plate a portion of congrí, the golden vaca frita with onion, the tostones and the tomato and avocado salad. Bring to the table immediately.

Tips and variations

Organization and timing: soak the beans the night before. The 3 hours indicated cover the work on the day of preparation and do not include the 8-12 hours of soaking. Cook the flank steak while the beans are cooking. While the congrí finishes cooking and rests, season and brown the meat; fry the tostones last and prepare the salad right before serving.

Shortcut: you can replace the dried beans with about 500 g of already cooked, drained red beans. Measure their liquid separately: the congrí takes 3 cups of liquid in total, combining 1½ cups of the bean cooking liquid and 1½ cups of the meat broth. If the bean liquid falls short, make up that part with water. Canned beans are already cooked and do not need the soaking or the initial cooking.

Crispy vaca frita: the meat must be well drained and the skillet hot, without overcrowding. Remove the onion while you brown the meat in batches and add it back at the end. It is made without tomato sauce: lime, garlic and onion are what matter.

Tostones: use very green, firm plantains. Frying them twice leaves them crispy outside and tender inside. If you give them a brief dip in salted water, do it away from the heat and dry them very well with paper towels before returning them to the oil; they must not drip.

Storage: cool the congrí and the vaca frita in shallow containers and refrigerate them promptly, without leaving them out at room temperature for hours. Eat them within 2 days at most and reheat them until they are piping hot in the center too. The tostones and the salad are best freshly made.