Slow Cooker Lomo Saltado + VIDEO

Lomo saltado is Peruvian dish that combines beef stir-fry, french fries and rice. Make this healthy, paleo/whole30 version in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.

I had lomo saltado for the 1st time a few months ago and it’s been on my radar ever since. Succulent beef, french fries, delicious sauce…what’s not to like? There are tons of different versions of lomo saltado out there. What I love about this recipe is that you can put your own unique spin on it. While usually made as a stir-fry, my version is made here in the Instant Pot with instructions for slow cooker as well. Like a lot of my recipes, it’s all about the sauce. The sauce is a simple combination of coconut aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce but not compliant), vinegar and beef broth.

Appliances Used

6-quart slow cooker OR 6-Quart Instant Pot

2-quart Air Fryer

 Aji Amarillo Paste

Aji amarillo paste is a popular ingredient in Peruvian cooking made from the aji amarillo pepper. Aji amarillo literally means “yellow chili” in Spanish which makes sense because the pepper is golden in color. It also packs heat; aji amarillo is a spicy pepper hence why only a little is used here.

You can find aji amarillo paste in specialty grocery stores and online. I was able to find it very easily and inexpensive so I used it in my recipe but I understand that might not necessarily be the case for most people. This recipe went through several rounds of recipe testing (more than I would have liked to be honest) and in round #2  I specifically used a generic habanero sauce as a aji amarillo paste substitute and guess what? It worked just fine with very minimal difference in taste.

Potatoes AND Rice

Traditionally, lomo saltado is serves with two starches – both french fries and rice. To make this version paleo and whole30 compliant, I made my own homemade air fryer french fries using potatoes (or you can use sweet potatoes) and I substituted the rice for cauliflower rice. Because of the potatoes, this recipe is not low-carb. Of course you can omit them but the fries are a big part of lomo saltado. Having said that, if you do omit the fries, you’ll still have nice ‘beef, onion, and tomatoes in Peruvian sauce over cauliflower rice’ to enjoy.  If you’re not worried about this recipe being paleo or whole30, you can serve this with regular white rice instead of cauliflower rice.

I followed my air fryer fries recipe to a tee when making this recipe. If you do not have an air fryer, you can pan-fry the fries or bake them. Below are methods for both. Regardless of your method for making the french fries, I suggest you soak the cut up potatoes in water for 30 minutes prior to remove excess starch.

Pan-Fried French Fries – Place the fries in a single layer in a large skillet at least 1-inch deep (like a cast iron skillet). Add 1 cup of compliant oil of your choice (doesn’t matter to me what you use) at turn on the heat to medium. Cook potatoes 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they’re done to your liking, remove the fries and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Toss with salt and pepper.

Baked French Fries – Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat potatoes with 1 tbsp of oil and salt & pepper to taste. Place fries in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes in preheated oven or until crisp to your liking.

Slow Cooker Notes

While the pics you see here are from when I made this in my Instant Pot, I have made this in my slow cooker as well. There are a few things to make note of: 1) I did not brown my meat before adding it to the slow cooker. You can if you want to but I did not. 2) This isn’t a recipe that will take a long time to cook. We’re not cooking a roast here. Since the meat is sliced thin, it cooks fairly fast. Mine was done in 1.5 hours on the high setting. 3) You can use less beef broth when slow cooking. A cup of liquid is needed to pressurize the Instant Pot. All that liquid is not needed for the slow cooker. There’s nowhere for the liquid to evaporate when slow cooking so using too much can cause your dish to result in a soupy mess. I lower the broth amount to 3-4 tbsp when using the slow cooker.

Like this recipe? Check out my Peruvian seco de carne recipe: Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Peruvian Beef Stew (Paleo,Whole30)

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”6tWzXzfA” upload-date=”2019-04-25T21:25:09.000Z” name=”Instant Pot Lomo Saltado” description=”Lomo saltado is Peruvian dish that combines beef stir-fry, french fries and rice. Make this paleo/whole30 version in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.”]

Slow Cooker Lomo Saltado

Pin Recipe

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Author: Shannon Epstein
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb beef sirloin, sliced into strips
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 3 medium-size tomatoes, sliced into wedges
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/3 cup beef broth
• 3 tbsp coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp aji amarillo paste
• 1 lb french fries
• 2 cups riced cauliflower
• 2 tsp oil (for IP)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Slow Cooker

1. Add all ingredients EXCEPT the tomatoes to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
2. Cook HIGH 1-2 hours or LOW 2-4.
3. Stir in tomatoes. Cook and additional 10-15 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
4. Serve with french fries and cauliflower rice.

Instant Pot

1. Turn the Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add the oil, beef, and red onion. Cook a 3-5 minutes or until beef is browned. Drain any excess grease if needed.
2. Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the tomatoes. Stir to mix well.
3. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook 6 minutes. Quick release remaining pressure.
4. Stir in tomatoes and cook and additional 5-10 minutes on WARM or until tomatoes are soft.
5. Serve with french fries and cauliflower rice.

Nutrition

• Serving Size:
• Calories: 287
• Sugar: 6.9 g
• Sodium: 639.7 mg
• Fat: 4.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
• Carbohydrates: 31.1 g
• Fiber: 5.9 g
• Protein: 29.9 g
• Cholesterol: 66.9 mg

While I used a large 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot, with only 1 lb or meat, this easily could have been made in a smaller 3.5-quart.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/