This homemade beef barbacoa recipe is easy to make in the slow cooker, and it’s SO flavorful and delicious! Perfect for burritos, tacos, salads, quesadillas and more.
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Homemade Barbacoa Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Barbacoa
This barbacoa recipe is simple to make in your slow cooker, and makes the most tender, flavorful, delicious barbacoa beef.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef chuck roast (fat trimmed), cut into 2-inch chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
- 1 small white onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano (or standard dried oregano)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 cup beef stock or water
Instructions
- Slow cook. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a slow cooker. Toss gently to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, or until the beef is tender and falls apart easily when shredded with a fork.
- Shred and toss. Using two forks, shred the beef into bite-sized pieces inside of the slow cooker. Toss the beef with the juices, then cover and let the barbacoa beef soak up the juices for an extra 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
- Serve. Use a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon to serve the barbacoa beef and enjoy!
Notes
Storage instructions: Any leftovers can be stored (with their juices) in a food storage container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
this was excellent! made it last night with some homemade adobo sauce, then picked up some chipotles in adobo on the way home and added them for the last hour or two. After 6+ hrs on low the meat was still solid, so turned it up to high for a couple of hours and it melted apart! shredded up and just enjoyed as Easter Sunday lunch! Thanks!
Thanks Marbella — we’re glad you enjoyed this! :D
I want to make this today with a chuck roast that is just a little over 2lbs. We like heat but not over bearing where it’s Hot. Do you recommend adding all the same measurements as the recipe calls for the 3lb? Perhaps one Chipotle pepper?
Hi Ruth! If you’re on the fence about the heat, you can just do one chipotle pepper. If you feel like it could use more heat (once you’ve tasted it), you can always mix in a little of the chipotle pepper sauce. :) We hope you enjoy!
For the Barbacoa recipe, you state in the directions to mix all ingredients in the crock pot and when fully cooked add the juices for and extra 10 mins.
Could you be more specific on the directions?
I do not know if you mix all 14 ingredients together that is listed and at the end add the juices again like the beef broth, apple cider vinegar, and lime juice. I’m a little confused.
Hi Mireya! For this recipe, we literally mean combine all of the ingredients in the slow cooker. The direction about the juices just means to shred the beef (after its cooked) and toss it with all of the juices that from everything already int he crockpot. Make sense? We hope you enjoy!
This was SO delicious!!! I did 3 Chipotle peppers and a few spoonfuls of the sauce because we like spice and it was seriously so good!! I did about 7 hours on low in the crockpot and it was so tender and shredded perfectly! I made it last week for dinner and my husband has requested it again this week!! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Thanks Kelsey! We’re happy you and your husband liked it! :D
Made this the other night. It was fantastic. The only substitute I did was add 3 heaping tablespoons of Ancho Chile powder in place of the Chipotle in adobo. Worked great. The acid ratios are excellent in this recipe. Sauce was a great combo. Thanks for a great recipe. I used a high quality grass fed chuck roast.
Awesome Kristine, we’re glad to hear that! :D
I wanma tey this recipe soon. What brand of Chipotle in adobo sauce do you recommend? Also do you mean 2 cans of the Chipotle or just 2 pieces?
Thanks .
Hi Brandi! Just two peppers, not two cans (there are several that come in each can). :) We tend to use Embasa or Goya brands. WE hope you enjoy! :)
Best thing I’ve eaten in a while. So, so delicious!! Had this with corn tortillas and homemade roasted tomatillo salsa. Thank you!!!
Thanks Luis — we’re happy you enjoyed it! :)
Really great recipe! I grew up eating Barbacoa made very similar to this , with the same spices. Never had it made with head, though. I’ve definitely had tacos de cabeza, but it was never called barbacoa. My very distant cousins use goat instead of beef, but still, they use same spices used in this recipe. Pretty good.
Thanks for sharing with us Cynthia!
I grew up in Wichita and Pizza Hut, Felipes, and Dog & Shake were always my favorite places to eat. So funny to come across this post when searching for a new twist on tacos. I moved to NY in 2009 and always get a warm fuzzy feeling when Wichita is brought up. Apparently thus recipe was meant to be….in my tummy. Lol.
Haha! We hope you love it Mandi! :)
I see you have been informed that this recipe is not what we call Barbacoa. We use the head, the cheeks and tongue. This recipe that you have is for a roast with Mexican spices. My recipe is very simple and only takes 3 hours in the crock pot. It would be nice if you could find the right recipe. Nonetheless, I’m going to try your recipe since it looks delicious.
Thanks Elvira — we hope you enjoy it! :)