This Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa is cooked low and slow all day to get the perfect Mexican flavors and tenderness. It’s rich, spicy and perfect on tacos with cilantro and lime wedges!
My Favorite Beef Barbacoa Recipe
Taco night is kind of a big deal in my house. I love tacos, the hubs loves tacos, and the kids love tacos, too. We have our favorite go-to taco recipes and this Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa is definitely one of them! The meat is spicy and rich with a burst of brightness from the lime juice.
And best of all, it’s made right in your crock pot – so no fuss and crazy easy. Mom’s happy, dad’s happy, and the kids are happy. What’s better than that?! CHIPOTLE! 😁 I digress…
What is Barbacoa?
Barbacoa is an authentic Mexican recipe usually made with beef, lamb, or goat. I like to compare Barbacoa to a Mexican shredded pot roast. You use the same, or a similar cut of meat, you cook it in the same way, but you throw some authentic Mexican spice into the mix and it’s dang amazing!
Then, to finish it off, you shred it and add it back to those spicy and rich juices to sop up all the goodness. I love using it for everything from tacos and tamales, to enchiladas and quesadillas.
Why Make Barbacoa in the Slow Cooker?
Like any tougher meat, you’ll want to cook this chuck roast low and slow. Cooking a tough meat this way makes it incredibly tender.
The simplest way to cook something “low and slow” is in your slow cooker. Of course, you could do this using a dutch oven, but it’s so easy to pop the ingredients in the slow cooker and walk away rather than having to keep an eye on it.
Not only is using your slow cooker almost completely hands off, but you can also head outside for a walk or to play with the kids without any worry. When you come back, the aroma will knock your socks off!
Barbacoa Recipe Ingredients
For your slow cooker Beef Barbacoa, you’ll need beef and lots of Mexican flavors.
This is what you’ll want to grab:
- chuck roast, cut into 6 to 8 chunks
- yellow onion
- garlic
- green chilies
- chipotles in adobo sauce
- cumin
- dried oregano
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
- lime juice
- apple cider vinegar
- beef broth
- bay leaves
- fresh cilantro or parsley
How to Make Beef Barbacoa
- Prep: In the bowl of your slow cooker combine prepped chuck roast, onions, garlic, green chilies, chipotles, ground cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Mix: In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, vinegar, and beef broth; pour broth mixture over ingredients in slow cooker.
Add bay leaves. - Slow Cook: Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Cooked beef should be tender and should fall apart easily when shredded with a fork.
Remove beef from slow cooker and transfer to a cutting board. - Shred: Using two forks, shred the beef into bite size pieces. Even better if you have a pair of these shredder claws. Makes the shredding so much easier.
Transfer shredded beef back into the slow cooker; stir everything together until completely incorporated. - Serve: Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve Beef Barbacoa is in tacos with low carb flour tortillas. I like to top them with a sweet corn salsa, sliced avocado, and cilantro. You could also simply top your tacos with sliced radishes and fresh parsley. It’s also great as the meat in a rice and bean filled burrito or a cheesy enchilada.
You can also serve it over rice or coconut lime riced cauliflower, quinoa, or mashed sweet potatoes. If you’re in the mood for more Mexican recipes, barbacoa makes an amazing tamale filling! I’ve even used it as an enchilada filling or added it to quesadillas.
Don’t miss the opportunity to have it over a salad with your favorite taco toppings for a yummy and filling beef taco salad meal!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- If you end up with leftovers of this slow cooker Beef Barbacoa, let it come to room temp and then place it in an airtight container with the juices. Then, you can refrigerate the beef and juices for up to 5 days, or freeze them for 3 months!
More Slow Cooker Beef Recipes
ENJOY!
Tools Used in this Recipe
Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 pounds chuck roast, cut into 6 to 8 chunks
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can (4-ounces) green chilies
- 2 chipotles in adobo, diced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ cup beef broth, (try to use low-sodium beef broth whenever possible)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- juices from 2 limes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- In the bowl of your slow cooker combine prepped chuck roast, onions, garlic, green chilies, chipotles, ground cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- In a small bowl whisk together beef broth, vinegar, and lime juice; pour broth mixture over ingredients in slow cooker.
- Add bay leaves.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Cooked beef should be tender and should fall apart easily when shredded with a fork.
- Remove beef from slow cooker and transfer to a cutting board.
- Using two forks, or shredder claws, shred the beef into bite size pieces.
- Transfer shredded beef back into the slow cooker; stir everything together until completely incorporated.
- Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve.
Notes
NET CARBS: 2 g
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
30 Min
One Pot
Instant Pot
Chicken
Can I use lemon juice instead of lime juice?
You can, but the flavor won’t be as intended.
Excited to try this tonight! I do not have bay leaves. Suggestions for replacements or is it fine to leave out? Looks delicious, thanks for the recipe!
Hi!
You can add a couple teaspoons of dried thyme, instead.
Hi! I made this recipe last week and it is really good, leftover too!! I am wondering approx how much meat would be in a serving? Thanks!
Hi! 😊
A 4-pound chuck roast divided by 10 servings is 6.4 ounces per serving. Add in some of the extras that are in the recipe and you can round it off to maybe 7-ish ounces.
Hi Katrina, would you follow the same cooking time if this is being made for 3 people? Thank you so much!
If I do this in the instant pot how long does it take plus what do I set it at
Hi! 👋
I have a recipe for that on my other site: https://easyweeknightrecipes.com/instant-pot-beef-barbacoa/
I didn’t have chipotle peppers, so used jalapeños from a jar and added some adobo seasoning in addition to all other ingredients! Cooking now! Hope it turns out as good as others say it is!!! 😊
I hope you enjoy it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Instead of oregano, try Mexican/Cuban oregano. It’s a game changer!
AMAZEBALLS!!!! Was so good and as the substitute chef in the kitchen(husband/father), was also super easy to put together. Had guajillo pepper adobo paste so I Sub’d 2tbsp of that instead.
Served over rice. Absolutely delicious
Thank you so much! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
is 2 chipotle in adobo sauce counting 2 peppers out of a can or 2 of the 7oz cans it comes in?
Only use 2 Chilis out of the can. Made the mistake of using a can of chilis and it was to spicy to eat.
Made this a few days ago. LOVED IT!!! We have had it several ways. On rice, with veggies (similar to Chipotle’s burrito bowls) , on a salad, in a taco and on chips with a sprinkle of Monterey Jack cheese. And we still had some to freeze for another time! Thanks for this recipe, I’ve already passed it on to a few friends💙
That’s great to hear! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Dumb question – could you substitute pork for the beef?
Hi!
Yep, you can definitely make a nice pulled pork out of this.
I can’t wait to make this for NYE!
I am mixing all my ingredients to make tomorrow cooking easier. Can I marinate the beef in the mixture?
Real Barbacoa is made with COW TONGUE. Not a pot roast.
There’s no claim on this web page that this is an authentic Mexican version of barbacoa. Rather it is a knock off of the recipe used at Chipotle- read the heading at the top of the page. So it’s an Americanized version of the real thing, much like American style Chinese food.
Geez Elbert, take it down a couple notches! Yes, TRADITIONALLY, Barbacoa utilized the offal cuts, but have you seen the prices of tongue, cheeks, brain, etc. lately (that’s if you can even find them in your store anymore)? My daughter-in-law is Mexican and I have many friends who are Mexican also and they ALL make a seasoned meat dish similar to this. They all mainly use boneless chuck or top round for the dish and they ALL call it…..wait for it…..BARBACOA! So, by all means, if it offends your purist sensibilities to use anything else other than the traditional cuts then stick with those. However I, and I dare say many others, are not going to turn down a tasty Barbacoa, regardless of what cuts of meat are used. I will definitely be giving this one a try, it looks delish!
Barabacoa is It’s the cheek meat. Lengua is the tongue meat.
TRUE barbacoa is made from Meat from the head of the cow(Lips;nose, tongue and ears) I grew up in Texas. So I have eaten real Barbacoa. Mexican people were not afraid to eat those caut of mat.were taught to eat all of a steer. Yourrecipe sounds great. But you should make it with the proper cuts of meat.
Elbert, be quiet! Good luck getting beef cheek in 95% of grocery stores. 🙄
Any idea how long to cook in an Instant Pot vs slow cooker?
A couple of times in the recipe, it says, “place prepped roast in bowl of crockpot.” I don’t see instructions for prepping the meat, other than cutting it into 6-8 chunks. Should I sear it on the stovetop and/or pre-season it? Thanks for the clarification.
Hi,
The recipe in its entirety is at the bottom of the post, right above the comments area. All ingredients, directions, nutritional analysis, notes, and so on, are included in the recipe card.
But, “prepped roast” just refers to the cut up meat. I don’t brown the meat beforehand.
Such a delicious meal for my family!
Thank YOU! 🙂
That is so amazing!! Perfect any night of the week!
Thank YOU, Toni! 🙂
I’m making this tonight. Serving it over Coconut Pineapple Rice. Thanks for the recipe! I was looking for something where I already had all the ingredients on hand.
My family will go crazy for this!
Thank YOU! I hope they enjoy it! 🙂
How I can resist to this? Looks so inviting!
Wanting to make this but have 1 question regarding the liquid. The 1/2 cup of beef broth is the only liquid added to this? Thank you, looks amazing!!
Hi!
The liquids are beef broth, vinegar, and lime juice. The recipe in its entirety is towards the bottom of the post and it includes all ingredients, amounts, directions, nutritional analysis, and so on.
Thank you!!
This Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa is needs to happen at my house very soon!!
I hope you enjoy it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This recipe is wonderful. The meat was tender and so flavorful. I did pickle red onion, sliced very thin, in red wine vinegar and just a bit of sea salt. It was a meld of different flavors and our new taco recipe. I added a cheese shred on top.
This beef barbacoa is perfect! Whole family loved it
That’s great! I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
What an amazing recipe so easy to follow and absolutely delicious!
Thank YOU! I am very happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
My mouth is watering! This meat looks so juicy & flavorful! I need me some tacos with this pork asap!
I hope you enjoy it! Thank YOU! 🙂
So flavorful and well worth the cook time wait. The slow cooker really does stew out all the flavors.
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Delicious, just delicious. Well done!
Thank YOU! I am very happy you enjoyed it! 🙂