Braised Potatoes are a classic Ukrainian dinner. With so much savory flavor, this dish is the epitome of comfort food. The ingredients are so simple, you probably have them onhand.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t get enough of my mother’s braised potatoes with beef. This dish was on repeat in our home and we craved it with the same fervor each week. For Ukrainians, potatoes never get old and I still crave this dish to this day!
Serve your braised potatoes with the classics. Pickled veggies, cabbage salad and tomato and cucumbers salad are some of my family’s favorite pairings.
Oh, and don’t forget a big hunk of crusty bread to sop up all those juices…
More to braise: Braising is such an easy method of cooking, try these ultra tender braised lamb shanks next!
Best Meat for Braised Potatoes
I love using beef stew meat. If that’s not your style, feel free to use chicken, pork or even bone-in beef. The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any protein you like and it’s guaranteed to come out nice and tender! You can thank the long cooking time and braising for that…
Inexpensive and typically tough meats are the best for braising! Here are a couple alternative protein cuts to use:
- Beef – Chuck roast (pot roast), bone-in beef
- Chicken – Chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks
- Pork – Pork tenderloin, pork shoulder, pork ribs
- Lamb – Lamb shank, lamb shoulder

What Potatoes Should I Use?
You can truly use any potatoes you like! I recommend using yukons. They have a beautiful, golden coloring and a touch of sweetness to them. You can also use russets, but keep in mind that they have a higher starch content and are prone to getting a bit mushy.

How to Make Braised Potatoes
Follow these simple steps to make braised potatoes as good as my mother’s!
- Preheat a deep cast iron pot with oil. Cut your beef into cubes and brown all the sides.
- Add your onions and carrots to the beef. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until veggies are golden.
- Add Better Than Bullion and bay leaves to the pot.
- In a separate dish, whisk your tomato paste with warm water. Add directly to your beef. Turn the heat to medium/low, simmer for about 45 minutes.
- Clean potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Add to cooking ingredients.
- Let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Using a fork, verify that potatoes are cooked through. Serve hot!
Hot tip: In a pinch and don’t feel like being in the kitchen? Put all your ingredients in a slow cooker on low while you head out for the day. In 8-10 hours, your meat will be ultra-tender and your potatoes perfectly creamy.




Other Potato Recipes
Love spuds as much as we do? Try some of our other go-to potato recipes:
- Oven Roasted Potatoes – With just three ingredients – potatoes, avocado oil and salt – you will get an excellent side dish sure to please.
- Air Fryer Potato Chips – Love potato chips, but not all the calories and preservatives that come along with the packaged types? Air fryer crisps are here to save the day!
- Chicken and Potatoes – This one-pan meal is a weeknight savior! Whip it up when you aren’t in the mood to fuss around in the kitchen.
- Guilty Mashed Potatoes – These mashed potatoes are called “guilty” for a reason. They are loaded with butter and salt — just the way they should be. 🙂
Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 medium potatoes
- 2 lb beef
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large onion
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 4 cup water
- 1 tbsp Better Than Bullion (beef or chicken)
- 3 Bay Leaves
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the iron cast oven with oil. Cut meat into one inch cubes. Brown all sides of the meat.
- Dice onions and chop carrots, add them to the beef. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until veggies turn golden brown.
- Add bay leaves and better than bullion seasoning to the beef.
- In a separate dish, combine tomato paste with warm water, whisk together to dissolve tomato paste. Add to the cooking meat. Turn the heat to medium/low and allow it to simmer for about 45 minutes or until the meat is tender.
- Clean potatoes, cut them into small cubes. Add to cooking ingredients.
- Let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Using a fork, verify that potatoes are cooked through. Enjoy!
I can't wait to make this one! I am sure my dad will love it too
Hi Chieko, I'm sure your dad will too. It's a delicious dish!
Congratulations! A recipe I love from this site with minimal salt! Awesome!
Bob, glad to hear you approve!
Can I make this over 24 hrs for on low in a slow cooker?
Hi Anni - Thanks for reaching out! I've never tried it in the slow cooker before, but I bet it would work just great. Quick heads up - you'll want to still brown the beef in a cast-iron before popping it into the slow cooker. This works wonders for creating not only a great texture, but also depth of flavor. Also, I would expect it would take less than 24 hours. Maybe somewhere in the 8-10 hour range? Hope this helps and let me know how it turns out!
My family LOVED this! So good! Definitely will make again and again!
Amazing! That's so great to hear, Shari. It's one of those comforting meals that's so nice to gather the family around.
Turned out delicious 🙂 thank you!
Hi Polina, I am so glad you loved the recipe, thank you for taking the time to comment!
I made this recipe twice already, it is delicious and super easy. I put beef broth instead of bullion, I also added 1 slice of lemon ( it will make the beef more soft). Thank you!
Thank you for the tips, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
My family really enjoyed this meal!
This is so good to hear. Thanks for sharing!
This is like pure comfort food for me! Such a hearty meal that always puts a smile on my face.
Yes Jen, we love it too. Plus some pickled sides, heaven! 🙂
This is so good! thank you!
Glad you loved it! 🙂
Hi Natalya, I followed the recipe and it turned out great tasting. However, I ended up with a lot of liquid that didn’t thicken looking more like a soup than a stew. Any tips to avoid that?
There could be a few things. The potatoes you used may be smaller and you would end up with more liquids. It is supposed to be on a runny side. As it cools, the liquids would get absorbed by potatoes as well.
And also can I cook it in a regular pot as I don't have the cast iron ! N is it ok if I simmer the meat in regular pan ??
You can use regular pot, the cooking time may be different.
Do you think it will taste good if I add a lil bit of whipping cream to the potatoes as they are cooking ? Or it would ruin this recipe ?
I have never tried adding whipping cream so many can't tell you.
What beef did you use?
I used chuck roast cut of beef. For this recipe any cut would work.
So when do i add the potatoes?? When the meat has already cooked for half an hour or when it cooked for an hour?? 🙂
For about an hour or until its tender. This way when you bite into meat, it's yumness 😉
So for one hour I fry the meat then after one hour I add the potatoes and dry everything for thirty more minutes?? Sorry I'm confused because it says your overall cooking time is one hour but I guess it's one hour and thirty minutes?? :):)
After step 4 you would cool for 60 minutes and when you add potatoes in step 5, cook for 30 more minutes. I'll edit total cooking time. Thanks 😉
Heyy sorry for getting back to you after such a long time but wanted to say, this dish was the bomb lol I made it for my fiancee and he not just ate, but inhaled the whole plate in minutes lol Great recipe and sooo easy, thank you :):):)
That totally made me smile! I am sure he loved it even more because you prepared it for him 😉
Hehe oh yeah the fact that i made it was even more amazing for him haha kept calling me hazyayushka haha :):):)
Made it for dinner today. Didn't have Bay leaves but it was yummy. I don't cook with beef often...now that will change.
Thank you for another yummy recipie with few ingredients.
Hey! My husband loves loves beef so I have adopted to it too. Thank you for your sweet comments 😉
Hi:) are you cooking this in a crock pot?
I used iron cast oven but I have sued a regular pot before.
Does it matter which potatoes to use?
What ever you have on hand would work for this recipe.
I made this and was amazed with the results! It tastes exactly how my mom used to make it & my hubby was one happy man! I used chicken breasts instead and it came out just as good.
Yana, it is such a childhood dish. Thank you for writing me, I love reading feedback 😉
No problem! I personally love your blog because it doesn't use a lot of ingredients but makes the dish flavorful no matter what. You also make it easy to tweak to my liking! I was wondering, would you by any chance have a recipe for Kapysnyak? It's like braised lettuce with rice & meat.
Have you seen this recipe http://momsdish.com/recipe/37. It kinda sounds like what you are describing. Thank you for your sweet feedback 😉
Hi there, can I use pork instead? Not a big fan of beef.
Thankyou:)
For sure, my mom uses pork all the time and it's as delicious. 🙂
I love jarkoe! What I especially like about this dish is that potatoes absorb all the flavors from the tomato based sauce which makes the potatoes very flavorful and delicious!
For sure, I cant agree more with you 🙂
Looks yummy, Trying this tonight!
How did you like it?