I think I may be one of the only people in the world who’s not a Chipotle fan. I know…judge away.
But. I absolutely love shredded beef tacos. They’re my absolute favorite thing to order at two of my favorite Mexican restaurants in town. So when I saw one of my favorite bloggers post a delicious photo and recipe of her shredded beef tacos a few months ago, I knew I had to give them a try!
In the past whenever I’ve tried making shredded beef, the seasonings have always seemed too bland. But sure enough, this recipe — rockin’ the chipotle peppers, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic and more — made for some totally flavorful tacos!!! And for leftovers later in the week…it starred again in some quesadillas and sandwiches as well. :)
So bring out your crock pot, and give this recipe a try! It’s definitely a keeper!
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 0 About 3-4 servings 1x
Description
This slow cooker shredded beef recipe is packed with flavor, simple to make, and the beef is delicious in all sorts of other recipes as well.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 2 pounds beef (I used a boneless chuck roast)
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (if you want extra flavor/heat, add an extra pepper)
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- Flour tortillas
Favorite taco toppings:
Instructions
- Whisk together the chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Rub the spice mix into the beef, covering each side evenly.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully place the beef in the skillet and sear on each side until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the beef from the skillet and place in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and diced onion to the saute pan. Saute for an additional 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the beef stock and stir the pan to deglaze it, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add tomato paste and minced chipotle, and whisk into the pan sauce until combined. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a 3-5 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Pour the pan sauce down over the beef in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until the beef shreds easily.
- Shred the beef with two forks, and toss to coat with any of the remaining juices. Serve the beef in the flour tortillas, topped with your favorite taco toppings.
Notes
Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Addiction
Ali’s Tip:
If you’re like me and rarely make it through an entire can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, would highly recommend chipotle powder! It’s now available in most grocery stores, and is so fun to have on hand. For one pepper, I usually substitute in around 1/2 tsp. of the powder.
Do you have the nutritional information for this recipe?
Would this work with stew meat?
I’m about prep everything and get it in the slow cooker! My mouth is watering :)
Going to make these for my Bunco group next week. They sound delicious!!
I’m way behind here but…. When I open a can of chipotles in adobo I fish out whatever I’m not using in the recipe and place them (seperated) on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper and put in the freezer. Once they are frozen (maybe hour or 2) I remove them and place them in a freezer storage bag with the date. Then when your next recipe call for one of those hot and tasty little peppers just get what you need out of your little stash in the freezer. (They are easier to chop up when frozen too~bonus!)
Stumbled upon your website searching for a recipe for fajitas… these were AMAZING and such a hit. Made it for a church group and cooked for 60 people. It had everyone raving! I live in Australia now and everyone kept saying, so Americans can cook? We didn’t think you guys had any food worth eating! (We export all the average stuff… McDonalds,…) Anyway, it was a huge success. I couldn’t find the Chipotle peppers here, but no fear. This was really quite easy. I did end up with a lot of excess liquid (maybe because tripled the recipe?) Instead of removing the meat and onions, I removed the liquid, reduced it by boiling off the excess and had a more intense/concentrated flavor. Thank you, thank you! I will use this one for years to come.
I have made this twice now for parties and people rave over them. The second time around I added some beer to the saucey mix and it was a delicious addition! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this yesterday for our New Year’s Eve dinner. So good! We doubled it and plan to freeze the leftovers. Can’t wait to have another taco tonight before it goes in the freezer! You know a recipe is great when you look forward to leftovers! Yum!
I don’t think you describe it this way, but when I added the tomato paste I put all the adobo sauce in there along with 2-3 chopped up chipotle peppers. The meat definitely has some kick, but its not mouthburning or anything.
I still scooped out the goodness after I shredded the beef, but left out the juice as it was crazy spicy when I tested it on my finger.
I had some previously cooked shredded beef in the freezer, so I thought I would try the sauce with it. Delicious!