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!
Really amazing! I used a beef pho broth concentrate packet for making the liquid which gives it a lovely extra lime flavor, and added extra broth so that there’s lots of pot liquor left at the end. I use that to make pinto beans with some chunks of the left over barbacoa tossed in. Best pintos ever!
Wow! This is absolutely delicious.
I didn’t have the Apple Cider Vinegar so, I just skipped it. I also like spicy food so I added an extra chipotle pepper or two. Seriously, so good.
This was fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing. I made it with pork that was a huge hit. I am now required to make this on a weekly basis. The recipe is so simple which was an awesomely pleasant surprise.
Was this supposed to be two the cans the link led to or just two chiles???? I added two of the cans from the link but wasn’t sure
I was wondering the same thing! TWO cans of Chipotle’s in Adobo OR TWO single chipotle peppers from ONE can of the peppers in adobo?
How was it with two cans? I don’t see that the author ever updated any of the questions regarding this and I put in one whole can, but did not dice them. Hoping I didn’t just ruin our dinner…
I made the recipe as stated except for omitting green chilis as I didn’t have them and I added 1/4 cup orange juice. Cut the 4 pound chick roast into 8 large chunks. Lightly floured and browned them and cooked for 8 hours. Meat was falling apart tender. I thought initially it was too spicy for me but after shredding it and putting in flour tortillas with carmelized onions and red peppers, cilantro and Mexican cheese and black beans it was perfect. Everyone raved and said it was far better then chipotle or any restaurant. This will be a go to recipe especially in football season. Served with jasmine rice with lime juice and cilantro. So pleased. Hubby loved. Thank you for this recipe. It’s a no fail recipe.
I, too, made this in my Instant Pot using Kay’s suggested guidelines below (high pressure, 1 hour, seared the beef first). It was delicious! Will definitely make again.
Any thoughts on how to sub in chicken?
Looks tasty I can’t wait to make it.
This recipe is amazing. I do it one of 2 ways. Number one, I follow this recipe and do the crockpot thing. Number two, I double all the ingredients and simmer in a sauce pan for perhaps an hour. After that, I cool and blend in the blender. I divide and freeze it in containers. I use the frozen sauce on a busy day with a jar of my home canned venison which is already super tender. I drain some, but not all, of the canning liquid and combine meat and barbocoa sauce in a skillet and simmer for half hour or so. If I need more liquid, I add some of the reserved meat juice that I held in reserve. I can literally decide on barbocoa less than an hour before supper on a crazy day.
So yummy! Will definitely make it again as it was a crowd pleaser