Juicy, tender and flavor packed Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa makes the perfect pairing for rice bowls, filling for tacos or quesadillas or a topping for a salad. Beef is cooking in warm, rich sauce made using chipotle chilis, diced chilis, cumin, Mexican oregano, cinnamon, cloves and lime juice creating delicious shredded beef. 

SLOW COOKER BEEF BARBACOA

If you love taco night today’s Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa is the recipe for you!

Not only do you all know I love slow cooker recipes because I can throw it in my crockpot in the morning and come home to a meal, but I love that this beef is packed with flavor. For this recipe you will use a 3 to 4 pound beef chuck roast.

The beef is cooked low and slow in your crockpot with chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, diced chiles, cumin, Mexican oregano, cinnamon, cloves, lime juice, apple cider vinegar and garlic. That combination right there helps tenderize the meat and pack the flavor deep into the beef.

You might remember when I shared Slow Cooker 4 Ingredient Shredded Beef Tacos with you guys.

It is a very popular recipe on my site because it is so easy, using only 4 ingredients and it makes a great filling for things like tacos, quesadillas or a topping on salads and rice bowls.

Today’s recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa rice bowls is another one you need to add to the rotation if you liked that recipe.

This barbacoa beef is the perfect filling with tacos with a sprinkling of cilantro, red onion and queso fresco.

I also am a huge fan of and this shredded beef barbacoa works great for those.

Other ideas is to top a salad, on a sandwich or you can even use the leftover beef in your morning eggs with some pepper jack cheese.

When you make this recipe if you have leftovers it also freezes well for up to 3 months so you can just pull it out on a busy night and have meal ready.

I hear a lot of people mention they don’t think they can make their favorite restaurant recipes at home, but I am here to tell you that you can!

Beef barbacoa is something I love eating when I go to my local Mexican restaurant and I like being able to make it at home and control the ingredients that are in the recipe.

Another nice thing about this recipe is that you can add more or less of the spices, lime juice and the chipotle chilis based on the amount of flavor you want.

I should also note that if you don’t have Mexican oregano on hand you can use regular oregano, but I will say that Mexican oregano adds a lot of really great spice to meals so it is worth buying some.

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Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

Yield: 6-8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes

 Juicy, tender and flavor packed Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa makes the perfect pairing for rice bowls, filling for tacos or quesadillas or a topping for a salad. Beef is cooking in warm, rich sauce made using chipotle chilis, diced chilis, cumin, Mexican oregano, cinnamon, cloves and lime juice creating delicious shredded beef. 

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Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pounds beef chuck roast
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 3 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce
• 2 - 6 ounce cans of diced chiles
• 2 limes juiced {or about 1/4 cup lime juice}
• 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoons Mexican Oregano {or regular oregano}
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 cup beef broth { water}

Garnish:

• Fresh cilantro
• Chopped red onion

Instructions

Place the beef in the slow cooker along with the onion, bay leaves and garlic. In a medium bowl combine together the chipotle chilis, diced chilis, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt, cloves and beef broth and mix well. 

Pour the chipotle chili mixture over the beef. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours, or until the beef is tender and fall apart. 

Once the beef is done cooking use two forks to shred the beef and return back to the slow cooker. Stir the beef to combine with the juices. Cover and let the slow cooker sit {turned off} for 15 minutes to let the juices soak in. 

Garnish the beef with fresh cilantro and chopped red onion. Serve the beef over rice for rice bowls, as a filling for tacos or quesadillas or even a salad. 

Notes

Refrigerate the beef for up to 5 days in an airtight container or freeze for later.