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!
Ali, I have to let you know that I love your site, I have tried many of your recipes, always pleased with the results! My friend used my husband and I as guinea pigs a few nights ago to try this recipe, we are very glad she did! It was amazing, I am printing it up now to keep in my personal recipe book.
I have made this recipe 3 times now. I use it for tamale filling and then use the leftovers for tacos. Absolutely delicious and about as easy as a recipe gets. I’m making it for the 4th time right now but I realized last second that I don’t have cumin so I am substituting 1/3 corriander and 2/3 garam masala. Not too worried as there is plenty of flavor in the other ingredients to carry or mask the difference.
I also use 2 small cans of chipotles in adobo sauce. 2 chipotles seems like it must be a typo. But it works great with 2 cans.
We don’t care for cloves. Will leaving it out affect the taste very much? How strong is the clove flavor?
Soooo good!
Was I supposed to use a lot of the adobo sauce, and not just what clung to the chiles? My barbacoa doesn’t have much flavor…
Yummy recipe. I used some cut of pork. Used pressure cooker since I was out of time to slow cook. I let the sauce reduce in the end to concentrate the flavor.. Served over rice. Definitely making again.
THANKS for a delicious recipe.
This is the most amazing recipe! Straightforward and delicious. I usually tweak recipes to my liking but I measure exactly to the recipe. Well done. Perfection.
Oh. My. Goodness.
This is the best thing I’ve ever produced in my kitchen. Thank you for the recipe.
I followed exactly, except I do not have my crock pot at the moment (it’s in storage- we’re moving). I modified and used the cooking instructions for a regular pot roast I made in the oven a few weeks back.
So I used this recipe, threw it all in a Dutch oven, mixed ingredients together, and cooked it at 275 for 3 hours.
This was the tastiest beef I’ve ever eaten. Even my picky husband liked this. I Just polished off the leftovers for lunch, and I have to say, it’s even better a few days later. I will be making this again and again!
I found one extra step to kick this recipe up. After letting the Barbacoa soak up the juices, cool down the slow cooker for 20 minutes depending on its heat and let it sit over night. Reheat it on low for around 2 hours the next day before you need it. This took the flavor to a whole new level.
Absolutely perfect!