There’s not many of my mother’s recipes that are a part of my daily dinner roster—but her take on Filipino beef caldereta, a savory stew with Spanish roots, is one that I make at least once a month.
This tomato-based stew is loaded with hearty vegetables, green olives and chunks of beef, but there’s a lot of different versions of this dish that span across regions, families and traditions.
My mother’s take on beef caldereta—as a Filipino woman in suburban South Jersey—usually featured liverwurst from a deli counter instead of the traditional canned stuff. I typically leave out the liver, but it definitely deepens the flavors of the stew.
Ingredients
2 small onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup of yukon potatoes, halved
4 small carrots, cut into once-inch chunks
1 small bell pepper, cut into strips
1 cup green olives (Castletrevano olives are preferred)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon black pepper & salt
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons liver spread (optional)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup tomato puree/passata
1.5 pounds beef stew meat, cut into large chunks (can use chuck roast, top round, sirloin flap)
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or pot to medium-high heat and add about a tablespoon of neutral oil.
- Sear chunks of beef on both sides, two-to-three minutes.
- Remove beef and add onions, garlic and bay leaves, saute for two minutes and then add tomato paste.
- Add water, passata and beef back into the dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Let it rip for 30 minutes before lowering heat and adding carrots, potatoes, bell peppers and olives.
- Add salt, pepper, liver spread (if needed) and oregano, and simmer for one hour, or until beef is tender and liquid is reduced by at least half.
- Serve over a piping hot bowl of white rice. Serves three-four people.
Tips
- Be sure not to oversalt the stew in the beginning, as it will become saltier and more flavorful as it reduces.
- For a little more flavor, use half beef broth and half water. For an even more flavor, sear beef in tallow instead of oil.
- Patting beef dry with a paper towel will deliver a better sear.
- More traditional variations of Filipino caldereta call for goat instead of beef, and some versions call for the addition of cheddar cheese or even peanut butter to help thicken the stew.
UPDATED 10/22/25 3:56 p.m. Updated recipe to use 2 1/2 cups of water.
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This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2025.