Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

This Crockpot beef barbacoa cooks beef until it’s falling apart tender and infused with south of the border flavors like smoky chipotle, earthy cumin and tangy lime. After a brief sear, the slow cooker handles the long cook, so the recipe is mostly hands-off time.

More delicious beef dinner recipes you might like to try include these Skillet Beef Gyros, Mississippi Crockpot Ground Beef Tacos or my Slow Cooker Beef Taco Casserole. If you have tortillas and peppers to use up, Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas are another tasty pick, ideal for Taco Tuesday or any other day of the week.

Why You’ll Love It

• Delicious flavors: The chuck roast cooks in chipotle, adobo sauce, lime juice, vinegar, broth and spices until it pulls apart and mixes back into the cooking juices. The saucy shredded beef has an incredibly rich flavor.
• Slow cooker meal: Most of the cooking time happens in the Crockpot, so the hands-on work is mainly cutting, browning and adding the sauce ingredients. The rest of the time, you can forget all about it until the kitchen starts to smell amazing!
• Good heat: I love how the chipotle peppers give the beef smoky heat. You can easily customize the spiciness too, if you like.
• A versatile dish: Use the beef in tacos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, enchiladas or nachos. It’s a great recipe for when you want one batch of meat for more than one meal. The shredded beef freezes well too, so leftovers don’t have to be used within a few days.

What is Beef Barbacoa?

Beef barbacoa is a traditional dish in both Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine with beef that’s seasoned with chiles, spices and citrus, and then braised slowly until it’s fall-apart tender and can be shredded easily.

Slow Cooker Braised Beef Barbacoa Ingredients

See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and exact measurements.

• Beef chuck roast: I recommend using chuck roast because it can handle a long slow cooker time and shreds well once tender.
• Vegetable oil: A neutral oil for browning the beef in the skillet.
• Onion: A chopped yellow or white onion works here. It cooks down into the braising liquid and adds plenty of savory flavor.
• Garlic: I like to use freshly minced garlic for the freshest flavor.
• Chipotle peppers in adobo: These add smoky heat. Look for small cans in the Mexican or international aisle of your grocery store.
• Adobo sauce: Use some of the sauce from the chipotle can to season the cooking liquid.
• Fresh lime juice: I find that fresh lime juice tastes cleaner than bottled juice in this sauce.
• Apple cider vinegar: Adds acidity to the braising liquid and rounds out the flavor of the sauce.
• Tomato paste: Also known as tomato concentrate, this ingredient darkens the sauce and adds tomato flavor.
• Ground cumin: A spice that gives the beef warm, earthy flavor.
• Dried oregano: Mexican oregano is a good choice if you have it, though regular dried oregano also works.
• Smoked paprika: This adds another smoky layer with the chipotle peppers.
• Beef broth: Broth gives the beef enough liquid to braise in your slow cooker.
• Bay leaves: These cook with the beef and should be removed before shredding. They add a delicate flavor to the dish.

Substitutions and Variations

• Spice it up: Add another chipotle pepper with the sauce ingredients.
• Make it sweeter: Stir a little brown sugar into the slow cooker with the seasonings if the chipotle tastes a bit harsh.
• Low-sodium broth: Use low-sodium beef broth if you’re sensitive to salt or you prefer a less salty flavor.

How to Make Easy Beef Barbacoa

STEP 1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

STEP 2. Sear the beef chunks on all sides until browned. Work in batches if the skillet is crowded. Move each batch to the slow cooker.

STEP 3. Add the onion, garlic, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, beef broth and bay leaves to the slow cooker and stir to combine.

STEP 4: Cover and slow cook until the beef is fork-tender and easily shreds.

STEP 5: Remove and discard the bay leaves, then transfer the beef to a large bowl and shred it with two forks.

STEP 6: Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker and stir it into the cooking juices. Let it sit briefly before serving.

Kim’s Top Tips

• Brown in batches: I like to keep my beef chunks in one layer in the skillet. A crowded pan can trap moisture, and the beef will steam instead of searing and browning.
• Use low when you can: The low setting on a Crockpot gives chuck roast more time to tenderize. High works too, but I’d only recommend this when your timing is tighter.
• Check tenderness, not just time: The beef is ready when a chunk pulls apart with two forks. If it resists, keep cooking and check again later.
• Remove the bay leaves: Find both bay leaves and discard them before shredding. They can hide under the beef!
• Return beef to juices: Stir your shredded beef into the hot cooking liquid and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. This way, the edges absorb more sauce and more flavor.

How to Store

• Storage: Cool the cooked beef in the cooking juices and transfer it to airtight containers. It’s best to refrigerate leftovers promptly.
• Refrigerator: Store leftover beef in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Freezing: Freeze the beef with some of the cooking liquid for up to 3 months. When I do this, I use freezer bags or freezer-safe containers to prevent freezer burn.
• Thawing: Thaw frozen beef in the refrigerator overnight.
• Reheating: Warm it back up in a covered skillet or microwave with some of its cooking liquid until hot all the way through.

Serving Suggestions

Spoon the beef into warm tortillas with diced onion and cilantro, or serve it over rice with chopped tomato, lime wedges and Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce. For nachos, add Chunky Salsa Recipe with Fresh Tomato and Copycat Chipotle Guacamole with Jalapenos as toppings. You could also use it for enchiladas with this Red Enchilada Sauce or pair the beef barbacoa with Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad or Elote Corn Ribs for a tasty lunch or dinner.

Easy Beef Barbacoa FAQs