Bear Carne Guisada: A Wild Game Twist on Tex-Mex Comfort Food
Discover how slow-braised bear shank transforms into fork-tender bear guisada bursting with cumin peppers onions and tomato in every bite.
Bear Carne Guisada: A Wild Game Twist on Tex-Mex Comfort Food
This recipe comes from Matt Pittman, CEO of Meat Church BBQ, YouTube personality, and friend of Montana Knife Company.
6
30 minutes
4 hours 30 minutes
400
Tex-Mex
Dinner
This bear guisada recipe swaps traditional beef chuck for flavorful bear shank. The finished bear guisada has a deep, slightly sweet flavor that only bear meat brings to the table.
After I harvested a black bear in Alberta, Canada, I brought the meat home and made carne guisada. Bear is one of the most underrated wild game meats out there, and this bear guisada proves it. Low-and-slow Dutch oven braising turns tough shank meat into fork-tender bites that soak up every layer of cumin, peppers, onions, and tomato.
Pile your bear carne guisada over a bed of white rice, scoop it into warm flour tortillas, or eat it straight from the bowl. This bear meat recipe might be the wildest carne guisada I’ve ever made, and it’s a wild game guisada worth adding to your rotation.
Ingredients
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- 3 lbs. bear shank, cubed into one-inch pieces with a clean, sharp knife
1 large bell pepper, diced with your go-to kitchen knife
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp. your favorite steak seasoning (I use Meat Church Blanco)
- 1 Tbsp. your favorite chili seasoning (I use Meat Church Texas Chili Seasoning)
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 beef bouillon cube
4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 cups beef broth
2 Tbsp. beef tallow
Olive oil
1 bunch cilantro, chopped for garnish
1 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with water (optional, for thickening)
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Warm flour tortillas
Cooked white rice
Directions
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Remove the bear shank meat from the bone and cube it into one-inch pieces. A sharp blade makes quick work of the shank, and consistent cubes cook at the same rate. Season the cubes lightly with steak seasoning on all sides.
Heat two tablespoons of beef tallow in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sear the bear meat in batches, browning all sides for six to eight minutes per batch. Don’t crowd the pan, or the meat will steam instead of sear.
Remove the seared bear meat and set it aside. Pour one cup of beef broth into the hot Dutch oven and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom. Pour the deglazing liquid over the seared bear meat.
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Add a drizzle of olive oil to the Dutch oven over medium heat. Toss in the diced bell pepper, onion, and minced garlic. Cook until the onion turns translucent, about five minutes.
Add the diced Roma tomatoes and cook for one to two more minutes until they start to soften.
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Stir in the chili seasoning, steak seasoning, cumin, tomato paste, and beef bouillon cube. Mix well so every vegetable gets coated.
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir it in to start building the gravy. Let the flour cook for two minutes, stirring often, until the mixture thickens. Add one cup of beef broth and stir until smooth.
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Return the seared bear meat and its deglazing liquid to the Dutch oven. Add one and a half to two cups of beef broth, enough to cover the meat. Stir everything together and bring the bear carne guisada to a gentle simmer.
- Cover the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to low, and let the guisada cook for about four hours. Check the guisada occasionally and stir. The bear carne guisada is done when the meat pulls apart easily with a fork.
If the gravy is too thin, stir in a slurry of equal parts cornstarch and water. If the gravy gets too thick during cooking, add a splash of beef broth to loosen it up.
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Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let the bear guisada rest for five minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve over white rice or scooped into warm flour tortillas.
