Incredibly juicy and tender, and absolutely full of bold mouthwatering flavors, this beef barbacoa is the best I’ve ever tasted! With Instant Pot, slow cooker and oven instructions, you’re bound to find a cooking method that works best for you!
Recipes like my Baked Mexican Rice and Crockpot Taco Soup are great for when you want restaurant quality food, made easily at home. We love hearty Mexican-inspired meals, and this is one of my Mexican recipes you’ll definitely want in your dinner rotation!
BEEF BARBACOA RECIPE
I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for a while now, and finally got around to it.
Originally, I made a similar version in my Queso-Smothered Beef Chimichangas, which was a slow cooker recipe. But I’ve been getting into using my Instant Pot more and more, and wanted to make this version something that could be made in much less time.
After some tinkering around in the kitchen, I came up with this recipe, which is now my FAVORITE type of Mexican beef!
The meat is literally melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the flavor…. oh man the flavor, it’s out of this world. Rich and savory, with just enough spice to make your mouth wake up and say hello, but not so much that you’re sweating and diving for the nearest glass of water.
Basically, the best taco filling of all time lol. Beef barbacoa is not just amazing in tacos, but in quesadillas, taco salads, chimichangas/taquitos, or just eaten with a fork!
HOW TO MAKE BEEF BARBACOA
- Puree the chipotle sauce in a food processor. This is a combination of chipotle peppers, lime juice, spices, beef broth, garlic, etc.
- Brown beef on the “saute” mode, then remove to a plate.
- Add onion to the pot and saute until soft. Pour in the beef broth, diced green chiles, tomato paste and bay leaves.
- Add browned beef and pureed sauce to the pot.
- Pressure cook for 1 hour, then perform a quick pressure release.
- Shred beef and toss with some cooking liquid.
IS THIS A CHIPOTLE COPYCAT RECIPE
Not technically, but it hits a LOT of the same flavor notes!
COOKING TIPS FOR SHREDDED MEXICAN BEEF
- THE MEAT – this is a prime example of when to use a tougher cut of meat like a chuck roast or shoulder.  No need to buy expensive sirloin tips or anything.
- BROWNING – adds a ton of flavor, but isn’t absolutely essential.  I love to brown my beef pieces, since I love that extra deep flavor it adds… but I’ve made this several times without taking that extra step, and it still tastes delicious.
- CHIPOTLES IN ADOBO – the secret to this amazing barbacoa is in the chipotle peppers. You can find cans of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the ethnic section of most grocery stores and they are PACKED with flavor.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- SPICIER – As written, I would say this recipe is between a medium and a mild heat level. If you’d like it spicier, use HOT diced green chiles, add more chipotle peppers, and/or add a jalapeno to the chipotle sauce ingredients.
- MILDER – To make this recipe milder, use less chipotle peppers, omit the adobo sauce, and/or make sure you’re using MILD diced green chiles.
- BEER – For some extra flavor, in the chipotle sauce, use a bold Mexican beer instead of beef broth.
- OTHER MEAT – Traditionally, barbacoa is made with beef cheeks, goat or lamb. You’re more than welcome to swap the chuck roast out for one of those proteins, I just chose the beef because it’s more readily available for the vast majority of my readers.
- COOKING METHODS – this is made for the Instant Pot, but I’ve detailed how to make this in a slow cooker or in the oven if you’d prefer. Those instructions will be down in the “recipe notes” section of of the recipe card.
TOPPINGS FOR A BEEF BARBACOA TACO
The sky is the limit when it comes to a great taco, but here are a few of my favorite options.
- Fresh cilantro
- Squeeze of lime juice
- Cotija cheese (or shredded Mexican blend cheese)
- Quick pickled shallots (mix sliced shallots, juice of a lime, pinch of salt and granulated sugar – let sit in a bowl for 20 minutes)
- Avocado
- Queso
MAKING BARBACOA AHEAD OF TIME
As with most braised meats, this barbacoa beef tastes even better the next day! Those flavors sit and meld together.
To store, I find it best to store the beef in one container, with a little bit of the cooking liquid, and the rest of the cooking liquid in another container.
This way, when the fat in the liquid cools, you can easily scrape it off the top.
Reheat with the beef and the liquid together.
FREEZING
Cooked beef barbacoa can be frozen for up to 3 months.
STORAGE
Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 5 days.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- Instant Pot – I recently upgraded to this model and I love it!
- Slow Cooker – I’ve had this slow cooker for years and it still works perfectly.
- Dutch Oven – LeCreuset is my favorite brand, but they’re really pricey, so this Lodge version is a great alternative!
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT OTHER READERS’ COMMENTS FOR TIPS AND REVIEWS.
AND DON’T FORGET, IF YOU’VE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
CHIPOTLE SAUCE
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (individual peppers in the can - NOT the whole can)
- 2 tsp adobo sauce (from the can)
- 3 Tbsp lime juice (fresh is best)
- 1 Tbsp better than bouillon beef base (optional but recommended)
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp oregano (mexican oregano is amazing if you have it)
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup beef broth (reduced sodium is best)
BARBACOA
- 4 lb. beef chuck roast
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 4 oz can diced green chiles drained
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth (reduced sodium is preferred)
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
MAKE CHIPOTLE SAUCE
- Add all chipotle sauce ingredients to a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. Set aside.
MAKE BEEF BARBACOA
- Trim visible large sections of fat from roast, then cut roast into 6-8 large pieces. Season beef with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper.
- Add vegetable oil to Instant Pot and select "Saute". When hot, add beef and cook for a minute or so on each side, until browned. Depending on the size of your beef, you may need to do this in batches.
- Remove browned beef to a plate and add onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes, until soft.
- Add in 1 cup beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to remove any browned bits. Add in tomato paste, green chiles and bay leaves.
- Press "Cancel - or Keep Warm/Cancel". Return browned beef to the pot and pour pureed chipotle sauce over the top. Top with both halves of the lime.
- Close lid securely and make sure the valve is set to "sealing". Select "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" and adjust the +/- button until it reads 60 minutes.
- When finished cooking, carefully turn the valve to "venting" for a quick pressure release. When the steam has all escaped, and the pin has dropped, remove the lid and discard bay leaves.
- Remove beef pieces to a large bowl and shred, discarding any purely fat parts.
- Toss shredded beef with as much of the cooking liquid as you'd like.
TO THICKEN SAUCE
- In a small bowl, stir together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp water until smooth. Pour this mixture into the pot with the sauce and select "saute".
- Cook for several minutes, stirring often, until thickened to your tastes.
- Toss shredded beef with as much of the thickened sauce as you'd like.
TO CRISP THE EDGES
- Line a baking sheet with foil, and preheat broiler to high, adjusting oven rack to the upper third position.
- Spread shredded beef into an even layer, then broil several minutes. Stir. Continue broiling and stirring until crisped and charred to your liking.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- some readers have noticed a bitter taste when pressure cooking with the lime halves in the pressure cooker. I have never had a problem with it, but if you're worried, feel free to remove the lime halves before pressure cooking!
SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS
- Process sauce ingredients.
- Sear beef in a skillet on the stove.
- Add all remaining ingredients to slow cooker, top with seared beef, top with chipotle sauce.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours, until beef is tender enough to shred easily.
OVEN DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
- Process sauce ingredients.
- Sear beef in a large dutch oven on the stove.
- Add in onion, tomato paste, green chiles, and bay leaves.
- Reduce beef broth to 1/2 cup and pour in chipotle sauce.
- Cover and bake for 3 - 3 1/2 hours, until beef is tender enough to shred easily.
STOVETOP DIRECTIONS
- Process sauce ingredients.
- Sear beef in a large dutch oven on the stove.
- Add in onion, tomato paste, green chiles, beef broth, and bay leaves.
- Pour in chipotle sauce.
- Cover and simmer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours (removing the lid the last 30 minutes of cooking), until beef is tender enough to shred easily.
- If desired, remove beef, shred, and continue simmering sauce for 10-15 minutes until thickened.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Ryan Moss says
Made for friends and they said it was the best tacos they’ve ever had.
For the corn starch slurry, I used leftover coffee from this morning, tequila, Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of soy sauce, then reduced to nearly nothing and stirred in the corn starch, powdered cocoa, and tomato paste. It created a deeply rich and complex bitter umami almost like a mole sauce that I then stirred into the juices from the instant pot. I tossed the pulled beef into that and broiled under gas flame at 550 until crispy. Served with white corn tortillas with cotija, roasted white onion, cilantro, sliced radish and a squeeze of lime. SO GOOD.
Do not skip the better than bullion.
Minette S. says
I made this tonight and everyone liked it! Knowing the spice level of chipotles in adobe, I used two peppers and it was still very spicy. Will make this again.
Krystal says
Best Ever! I will definitely save this recipe to make as often as possible. Even my picky eaters loved it, and that’s saying something. Thank you for this recipe
Javier says
This is not barbacoa. Barbacoa is beef cheek and tongue. That’s what Mexican food is. Poor people food. We take what everybody else didn’t want. Like making fajitas with ribeye. Not the same texture or flavor. You just made mecican pot roast. There is no sauce in barbacoa.
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you for the education Javier. I’m going to guess you didn’t read the post where I mention what barbacoa is traditionally made with, and that people are free to substitute for those proteins instead. Around where I live, and the vast majority of my readers, chuck roast is much easier to find.
Shauna Alam says
So true! Same here!
Diana Young says
Javier, I don’t think barbacoa is exclusively made with a certain type of body part. Barbacoa (from how I grew up) could be the whole head of a Cow or cabra (goat), slow cooked under ground usually over night. We used to make barbacoa out of the head because it tough meat to remove, while that includes the tongue you don’t have to cook the tongue. Those would be tacos de lengua which are even better than chuck beef barbacoa. Not everyone can go out and buy a tongue so a beef roast would be enough for them!
As far as the Chipotle goes, I grew up with using jalapeño whole . The flavor doesn’t come out spicy at all. And I and quartered onions, cilantro garlic and tomatoes (quartered as well). The Chipotle adds too much flavor to an already delicious meal. Maybe do a Chipotle salsa to go on it instead of cooking it in there. Finally, add a can of coke! That’s the secret. 😆
Ryan Moss says
Anyone who claims that a regional dish needs to be prepared a specific way doesn’t understand the history of food. Regional cuisine anywhere in the world has complex, messy, sometimes beautiful but often ugly roots involving any combination of migrations, trade, war, experimentation, exploitation, religion, politics, slavery, imperialism, necessity, survival, poverty, and wealth. It’s why we have pasta al pomodoro in Italy and bangers and mash in Ireland and currywurst in Germany and tempura in Japan and Jambalaya in Louisiana. All of these involve either ingredients or techniques not native to the region and evolved or developed as part of that country or region’s (sometimes fairly recent) history.
History is still writing itself and foods are alive and constantly inventing and reinventing. It’s one of the beautiful and amazing things about cooking. The key to avoid appropriation when inventing is to research, recognize, and promote the history and roots of your idea, recognizing the origins of your evolution or amalgamation of cuisines or techniques. Javier, I think Amanda was sensitive to this in acknowledging and educating her readers, but it’s also always worth continuing conversations because that is one of the other great things about food – the ability to bring us together 🙂
Bon appetite!
Jay says
This recipe works great for pork as well. I didn’t even change any ingredients or cooking times (other than using pork instead of beef). Turned out perfect! Smoky spicy perfection, it’s my new favorite for taco nights!
Melissa Fisk says
Delicious!! Made this for dinner last week and the whole family loved it. We used leftovers for quesadillas and breakfast burritos! Will definitely keep this recipe on rotation.
Patty says
Absolutely wonder combination of ingredients! Great reviews by my family and guests!
I slow cooked it much longer to reduce the liquid and intensify flavors😊
Kevin says
Great recipe, my entire family, including all 5 children loved it. Instead of the suggested cooking methods, I smoked the roast at 225F until it formed a nice bark, then added it to the pan with the sauce and other ingredients that was sitting underneath the roast while smoking. I covered the pan with foil and increased temperature to 325F until the roast was pull apart tender. The smokiness added a whole other dimension of flavor that complimented this recipe well. Thanks for sharing.
Shari says
This was tasty and my family loved it! I used Modelo Especial in the sauce and it was perfect. Set the meat in the center of my lazy Susan server and surrounded it with toppings. I also made the pickled Shallots and they were the perfect touch. Too bad I didn’t take a pic!
Tara says
Curious how many hours did you smoke for approx and what size was your roast? Thinking of doing the same….
Thanks!
Kevin says
About a 6 lb roast that I smoked for 3 hours. Could have gone longer but didn’t have time. However that was long enough to get a good bark and smokiness.
Shelly says
Do I set my instant pot to High or Low pressure?
The Chunky Chef says
High pressure is the default, which is what this is cooked on 🙂
Marcia says
Made this tonight! Excellent recipe!! Wish I would have doubled it! I don’t use my instapot that much so I was happy to see this recipe
Jessica S says
The sauce is so flavorful and delicious, great recipe! I accidentally bought pork instead of beef but still fantastic. The meat was perfectly tender. Thanks for a great IP recipe!
Mike says
Made this today in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. First time ever making this. I used the Instant Pot method, and it came out great! I omitted the half limes from the beef cooking process due to other comments.
It came out great. Served it with sliced avocado, cilantro, pico and green salsa. I think green salsa is really the best complement in soft shell tacos with this recipe.
The fact that it resulted leftover beef (only 3 in my family) is a big plus because lunches and snacks are going to be much better for a day or two.
As a side note, I only could find at max a 3lb chuck, but kept the other ingredients the same and it worked very well.
Richard Seaton, Jr says
this recipe is outstanding. I added extra lime juice and used applewood smoked ancho chili powder to amp up the flavor a bit. Really good recipe. Thank you Amanda.
Britt Adams says
I have made the instant pot version numerous times now and it is absolutely fantastic. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Eric says
This was absolutely perfect! Definitely, will repeat this beef barbacoa recipe!
Korenia says
I found your recipe on Pinterest and gave it a try. It was delicious!! My son who doesn’t like leftovers, can’t wait to have more of it tomorrow. Excited to explore and try some of your other creations.
Bri says
If you’re making this with a 2.5lb roast do you still keep the same cooking time for the instant pot?!
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not made this recipe other than as written, so I can’t say for certain. I would guess the cook time would be a little less, but can’t speak to the exact time. Hope you enjoy!
Pamela says
Absolutely delicious. My husband and son loved it so much that I saved the sauce and made another batch the next day. I chose to omit the green chilis because I wanted it to be milder, but we added jalapeños as a choice for toppings.
Amanda says
Hi there!
What would you recommend subbing for the apple cider vinegar? We have an apple allergy (of all things) in our family.
The Chunky Chef says
You could use white vinegar 🙂
Joanne says
Made this for my family and the grandkids liked it and it is not easy to find something all 3 like.
Carolyn Chambers says
Better than Chipotle! I didn’t have allspice, so I just threw in a TINY bit of nutmeg and cinnamon. i didn’t see the notes at the end of the recipe about thickening the sauce or crisping the meat under the broiler until later after we ate dinner. Will try doing that next time.