Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

So easy and so flavorful! Cooked low + slow in the crockpot. Perfect for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and more!

Traditionally made in an underground oven (just saw this on 911 Lone Star), barbacoa meat (usually beef, sheep or goat) is a classic Mexican dish left to cook undisturbed overnight until the meat is very tender.

I have tried many variations throughout the years but I found that this slow cooker version is my absolute favorite. Cooked low and slow for 8-9 hours, the meat comes out incredibly melt-in-your-mouth tender, falling apart and shredding so easily.

Now how is this served? Well, the possibilities are truly endless. You can serve them with burritos + burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, and even salads.

I personally like to serve them with a base of cilantro rice and chips for dipping purposes. But that’s just me. The world is your oyster and this can be served however you would like. I had a friend serve this in a Ziploc sandwich bag and it was the best “meat bag” I had ever laid eyes on.

Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

Yield: 8 servings

Prep: 15 minutes minutes

Cook: 8 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Total: 8 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

So easy and so flavorful! Cooked low + slow in the crockpot. Perfect for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and more!

5 stars (21 ratings)

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Ingredients

• ½ cup packed cilantro leaves
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 4-pound boneless beef chuck roast, excess fat trimmed and cut into 6 pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup beer, such as Modelo

Instructions

• CILANTRO MIXTURE: Combine cilantro, vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder and cloves in the bowl of a food processor until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
• Season beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper.
• Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, add beef and cook until evenly browned, about 3-4 minutes per side.
• Place beef into a 6-qt slow cooker; stir in beer and CILANTRO MIXTURE.
• Cover and cook on low heat for 8-9 hours, or until meat is fork-tender.
• Remove beef from the slow cooker and shred the meat using two forks before returning to the pot with the juices; season with salt and pepper, to taste, if needed. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
• Serve warm.

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