Barbacoa Beef (Slow Cooker)

This slow cooker barbacoa beef recipe is so easy to make and is the perfect filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas and more!

Taco night is always a big hit at my house, my kids love to make their own Mexican food creations! I get tired of the same old ground beef tacos sometimes, and decided to add this easy and delicious slow cooker barbacoa beef to our dinner rotation. It’s super tender and flavorful meat that’s perfect for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, you name it! Best of all, the prep time is only 10 minutes. Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker, go about your day, and dinner will be waiting for you when you get home! How can you go wrong with that?

This recipe starts with beef. I use cubes of chuck roast, but you could also use brisket if you prefer. The meat is seasoned with garlic, chipotle peppers and a variety of spices. When you’re ready to eat, simply shred the meat and serve. Chipotle peppers come in a can and are actually smoked jalapenos in adobo sauce. While the peppers are spicy, the sauce is not, but packs all of that great flavor. Since I’m feeding kids who are sensitive to spice, I use one chipotle pepper plus a tablespoon of adobo sauce in this recipe to keep the heat in my beef barbacoa to a manageable level. If you prefer spicy, go ahead and use 2 chipotle peppers. You can freeze the remaining chipotles for another use.

My favorite way to serve barbacoa beef is in tacos, in these photos we’ve got flour tortillas, shredded purple cabbage, and store bought pico de gallo with some diced avocado added to it. This is similar to what you’d get at the Chipotle restaurant, except you can make it at home yourself and without a ton of effort!

Print

Barbacoa Beef (Slow Cooker)

This slow cooker barbacoa beef recipe is so easy to make and is the perfect filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas and more!

Course Main

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 413 kcal

Author Dinner at the Zoo

Ingredients

• 4 lbs chuck roast or brisket cut into large cubes
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano use Mexican oregano if possible
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 canned chipotle pepper
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from chipotle pepper can
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. Place the meat in a slow cooker. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, chipotle, adobo sauce and beef broth. Stir to combine.

2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours. Shred the meat with two forks and remove bay leaf. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Barbacoa Beef (Slow Cooker)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 413 Calories from Fat 234

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 26g 40%

Saturated Fat 11g 55%

Cholesterol 156mg 52%

Sodium 879mg 37%

Potassium 782mg 22%

Protein 43g 86%

Vitamin A 0.8%

Calcium 5.1%

Iron 29.2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Things You’ll Need (or Want!)

Slow Cooker This is the slow cooker I like to use for this recipe, it’s inexpensive, holds a lot of food and gets the job done!

Tell Me More

Meat Claws These meat claws come in handy for shredding barbacoa quickly and efficiently!

Tell Me More

Mandoline I use my mandoline to finely shred cabbage for my tacos.

Tell Me More