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
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 250 minutes
- Total Time: 260 minutes
- Yield: 0 About 8-12 servings
Description
This barbacoa recipe is simple to make in your slow cooker, and makes the most tender, flavorful, delicious barbacoa beef.
Ingredients
Scale
- 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.
Hi! I luv this recipe. Im a rookie cook. I’ve been looking for a great barbaco recipe since it’s one meal we ALL love, which is rare.
One question though: I refrigerated the left over and was packing it the next morning for lunch and noticed a thick orange crust formed on top. My guess is its the fat? What is it and what do you do with it, lol? Once again, I’m new to this cooking thing.
Thanks again for the easy and amazing recipe!!
Hey! We’re so happy to hear you liked the barbacoa! Yes, the orange layer on top was some congealed fat — totally normal. Once you reheat, it should be completely fine, but if you’re concerned, you can always scrape it off beforehand. We hope that helps!
Do you add any of the adobo sauce to the crock pot with the chipotle peppers or just the drained/chopped peppers.
I just used the chopped peppers, but you can add some of the sauce in too if you’d like.
Just wanted to say thanks for an awesome recipe! I made this for my son’s bday party and loved it. Then I went to Chipotle and ordered barbacoa (i always order chicken) and was actually disappointed b/c i thought this was MUCH better. Put this in the slowcooker this morning and can’t wait to get home!!
You’re very welcome! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
We made this for a dinner party and it was fabulous! I made in my Dutch oven instead of a crockpot. We served it with mini tortillas and toppings for two bite tacos. We are both big foodies and we loved it and will be making it again. Also I think it’s better than Chipotle!
Yay, we’re so glad to hear that! And better than Chipotle? We’ll take that a huge compliment! : D
Can I make breakfast burritos out if this and if so how?
Hi Tabitha, good question! We haven’t tried that, but we think you could probably do that following this recipe (adjusting the filling ingredients however you’d like): We hope that helps, and that you enjoy!
Oh my GOD!!! Ive been trying to make this tacos for a long time. I ACTUALLY used to ordered barbacoas tacos almost everyday at lunch at a rest in Lake Havasu City (where I lived), named Tecualas. The challenge part for me was to find the chuck roast cut here in Puert Rico… but finally founded… and Oh my is Tecualas again. I have some leftover for tomorrow… Im gonna have this tacos with the pinneaple guacamole… mmmmm
I’m so glad to hear that, thank you for sharing! : D
I have a 12 Oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, is this big enough for the recipe?
Hey Diana, yes, that’s perfect, and you won’t use the whole can; just two peppers, and there are more than two in that size of a can. Hope you enjoy!
I’ve made this twice now and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. My meat is never tender enough to just shred with a fork. I have to slice it up, which is fine I guess. Also my sauce doesn’t look at dark as yours does in the picture. The flavor is great, I’m just not sure what I’m doing wrong. Followed recipe exactly. Thanks for sharing!
Hmmmm, it sounds like the meat hasn’t cooked for long enough. It should shred very easily with a fork. Could be a difference in slow cookers? Either way, I would recommend cooking it a bit longer. And the color may vary based on the cut of meat. (Mine was also photographed with backlighting, which makes the meat appear a bit darker against the bright light.) :) Hope that helps!
I made this recipe for a taco cook off at a (Mexican) friend’s house. And this recipe won unanimously. I used 3 Chipotle peppers instead of 2. Next time I will stick with just two because I had to add cheese and sour cream because of the heat. Thank you so much for sharing and I can’t wait to make it again!
That’s awesome, Sherita! : D
Fantastic slow cooker meal. Made as directed and served over brown rice. Need to try more recipes on gimmesomeoven!!
Thank you, Dave! So glad you enjoyed it!