Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Smoky chipotle, warm spices, and fresh lime juice add bold flavor to this slow cooker barbacoa recipe. Pile the juicy, fall-apart tender beef into tortillas for epic tacos!
How long it takes: 4 hours 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: slow cooker
Servings: 8
Future You Will Be So Glad You Made This
Sometimes I make this because I’m craving barbacoa. But usually, I make this because I know future me is going to be tired.
You spend a few minutes throwing everything into the slow cooker, come home, and you have tender, flavorful beef waiting for you.
Dinner that night? Done.
Lunch the next day? Also done.
Random “what are we eating” moment later in the week? Covered.
What makes mine special:
- Authentic-ish flavor with a Rachel Cooks twist: This is not a Taco Bell kind of dinner! (Although I do love this Mexican pizza Taco Bell copycat recipe.) These are the real deal street-style tacos made with smoky, super-tender shredded beef with just enough spicy heat to let you know it’s there. But in classic Rachel Cooks style, it’s still crazy easy to make.
- Big batch recipe: Whether you’re planning a game day party, feeding a crowd, or need a meal prep protein to repurpose throughout the week, this slow cooker barbacoa has you covered!
- Versatile serving options: Use slow cooker barbacoa in tacos, bowls, nachos, or salads.
Ingredient Notes
- Beef chuck roast: The marbling and connective tissue break down during slow cooking, making the barbacoa super tender and juicy. (Traditional barbacoa is made with the whole cow, the whole head, or beef cheek, and roasted in a pit, but now it’s more commonly made with slow-cooked beef, goat, or lamb.)
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce: These canned peppers add heat with a side of smokiness. If you want to adjust the spice level, you can use fewer chipotle peppers, but keep the amount of sauce the same.
- Yellow onion and garlic: They should be minced pretty finely so they infuse the meat with flavor as it cooks.
- Lime juice: There’s a lot of earthy, savory flavor in barbacoa, so lime juice adds a bright balance.
- Seasonings: I season the barbacoa with ground cumin, dried oregano (Mexican oregano is best), kosher salt, black pepper, and bay leaves.
- Beef broth: You can use low-sodium broth to help control the salt level.
Ingredient Tip
Don’t waste the leftover chipotle peppers! Since there are always leftover chipotle peppers in the can, I dump the remaining peppers and sauce into a small blender or food processor and purée them into a sauce, then divide this into an ice cube tray. Freeze and then place the cubes in a freezer bag. You can use the cubes to add flavor to soups and marinades.
How to Make Slow Cooker Barbacoa
Prepare. Trim the fat off the roast and cut it onto 2- to 3-inch chunks. You don’t want to remove all of the fat because it helps make the meat rich, but if you leave all of it on the beef, your barbacoa will be greasy. Place the meat in your slow cooker.
Assemble. Add the chipotle peppers and adobo, all the seasonings, and stir well to distribute the seasonings and coat the beef. Tuck the bay leaves in between some of the cubes of beef.
Cook. Cover and cook the barbacoa on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or high for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is tender and shreds easily with a fork.
Shred. Discard the bay leaves. Transfer the beef to a plate and shred it with two forks. Then, add it back to the slow cooker and stir it into the juices.
Finish. Season to taste and adjust any elements as needed: more lime juice, salt and pepper, or even an extra chipotle pepper. Use a slotted spoon for serving (the meat mixture is quite juicy) and add the barbacoa to tortillas for tacos with your favorite toppings.
Serving Suggestions
- Tacos: Serve on charred corn tortillas with chopped onion (or pickled red onions), fresh cilantro, and lime. Thinly sliced radishes, sour cream, crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese, and guacamole are good choices, too.
- Bowls: Layer over rice or quinoa (try my Instant Pot quinoa) with beans, onions, avocado, and crumbled cheese. I like to drizzle the contents of the bowl with the pan juices for extra flavor.
- Nachos: Spoon over tortilla chips on a sheet pan, top with cheese, and bake until melted (similar to beef nachos). Add guacamole, restaurant style salsa, and your favorite toppings.
Refrigerator: Store slow cooker barbacoa in an airtight container with some of the cooking liquid for up to 4 days. I’ve discovered that the flavor is even better the next day!
Freezer: Freeze the barbacoa with the juices in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 3 months. I like to press out the excess air and then freeze the bag flat so I can stack bags in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheating: Warm gently with the juices on the stovetop or in the microwave.
More Taco Recipes
Slow Cooker Barbacoa
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pounds beef chuck roast
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (from a 7 ounce can)
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from the same can)
- ½ cup finely diced yellow onion (1 small onion)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano is best, but any oregano is fine)
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 cup low sodium beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
To serve (optional):
- chopped fresh cilantro, diced red onion, thinly sliced radishes, lime wedges, sour cream, crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese, avocado, tortillas, rice, beans (see note 2)
Instructions
- Trim extra fat from the beef chuck roast and cut the meat into large chunks, about 2 to 3 inches. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.4 to 5 pounds beef chuck roast
- Remove 3 chipotle peppers (see note 1) from the canned sauce and chop them finely. Measure out 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Add to slow cooker.3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- Add the remaining ingredients except bay leaves to the slow cooker. Toss to coat the beef evenly with the seasonings and sauce. Tuck in the bay leaves.½ cup finely diced yellow onion, 4 cloves garlic, minced, ¼ cup lime juice, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon dried oregano , 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, 1 cup low sodium beef broth, 2 bay leaves
- Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is fork-tender and shreds easily.
- Remove the bay leaves and discard. Shred the beef on a large plate, using two forks. Return to slow cooker and stir to coat with the juices.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Add salt, pepper, and/or lime juice, if desired. Keep on warm until ready to serve.
- Serve with your choice of toppings. Refer to note 2 for serving suggestions.
Notes
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce: Canned chipotle peppers can vary quite a lot in size. If they are very large, you may want to use 2 peppers instead of 3, depending on how spicy you like it. You can stir in additional peppers or sauce after the beef is cooked, if you taste it and decide it needs a little more spice.
- Serving suggestions: To make tacos, use a slotted spoon to serve the barbacoa on charred corn tortillas with chopped onion and cilantro. Serve barbacoa in bowls over rice with beans, corn, avocado. Make nachos by layering the barbacoa onto chips, topping with cheese and baking.
- Meal prep idea: Portion the meat into containers with grains and veggies to make bowls.
- Servings/portion size: I usually purchase 2 chuck roasts and trim them, ending up with 4 to 5 pounds of beef. Serving size will vary depending on how you serve the barbarcoa (tacos, bowls, etc.). I would say this recipe makes at least 8 servings but very likely more than that!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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