Barbacoa Beef

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THE easiest and most delicious barbacoa beef recipe! This slow cooker barbacoa beef is perfectly seasoned and cooked low and slow all day until it is juicy, tender and packed full of flavor!

barbacoa beef

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef Recipe

I am not even kidding when I tell you that I could honestly eat this meal every single day. Oh my word, it’s so good. This is the best throw-in-the-slow-cooker meal and come home to a perfectly cooked dinner. This barbacoa beef recipe is kinda giving Cafe Rio vibes, but the homemade and much less expensive version. And, it also serves a lot of people. So, there’s that too. I serve this all-different ways; on a tortilla, in a bowl, as an enchilada, all the ways and it’s so good each and every time! I’ll also share what I serve this with, and you are going to be scoring all sorts of 10’s with your crew at home.


The Cowboys’ Rating: 9.5/10

Every time I make a new recipe, I have my family rate the recipe out of 10. By the time, these recipes make the blog, they’ve been tried and tested by some of my hardest tiny critics!

What Ingredients Are in Barbacoa Beef?

  • Beef Roast – Choosing a roast can be tricky. I know! There are so many different cuts out there. And how do you know which one is the best choice? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. For this recipe, I use a chuck roast or a sirloin tip roast. Both of these roasts have great flavor and shred beautifully which is what I’m going for.
  • Beef Broth – You do not want the roast to be dry. Trust me, I’ve learned that over the years of cooking! You also don’t want it to be bland. So, I like to add beef broth to my beef recipes. Adding in beef broth adds in moisture and also flavor.
  • Lime Juice – I like to add lime juice for a few reasons. Lime juice is acidic and is great at breaking down meat fibers while cooking. It also has a tangy, fresh flavor that I love for the barbacoa beef.
  • Apple Cider Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar is also acidic and helps to tenderize the meat. So, I add in apple cider vinegar for both flavor and as a way to make the beef more tender.
  • Onion Powder – I love a lot of flavors, so my go to flavor to add are onion and garlic. I have some very picky people who despise onions, so I use a lot of onion powder as a substitution.
  • Minced Garlic – Bringing in some big flavor over here with minced garlic. I think that the minced garlic really compliments all the other flavors in the barbacoa beef as well.
  • Oregano– Adding oregano brings in more a bold flavor that I enjoy. I don’t want this to be bland, so adding oregano brings in another level of flavor.
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Tools You’ll Need

How to Make Barbacoa Beef

  1. In a slow cooker, combine beef broth, lime juice and apple cider vinegar. Stir.
  2. In a small bowl, combine all the seasonings together to make a rub.
  3. Generously rub the seasonings mix all over the roast until well coated.
  4. Place the roast in the slow cooker.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  6. When done, remove roast from slow cooker and shred beef.
  7. Reserve 1/2-1 cup of the juice from the slow cooker and pour over top of the shredded beef.
  8. Assemble the barbacoa beef.
  9. Place beef in a bowl and top with desired toppings such as: black beans, corn, shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, salsa and cilantro ranch.
  10. Enjoy!
barbacoa beef

Gluten Free Barbacoa Beef

Guess what? This recipe is gluten free! It’s so yummy. Just make sure that the ingredients that you are using are indeed gluten free.

What to Serve with Barbacoa Beef

This recipe is so versatile! You can serve this barbacoa beef as a rice bowl, as a taco, or even make it an enchilada! Here I served it as a rice bowl, so I used my Spanish Rice recipe and then topped it with lettuce, salsa, avocados, corn, black beans and a drizzle of cilantro ranch. You can find that yummy recipe here. With all this, it is an amazing rice bowl bursting with flavor.

How to Store Barbacoa Beef

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This is an amazing leftover. I dare say it tastes better the next day!

Barbacoa Beef

THE easiest and most delicious barbacoa beef recipe! This slow cooker barbacoa beef is perfectly seasoned and cooked low and slow all day until it is juicy, tender and packed full of flavor!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Serving Size 10

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 3-4 lb beef chuck roast or sirloin tip roast
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper

Toppings

  • corn
  • black beans
  • Spanish rice
  • avocados
  • salsa
  • shredded cheese
  • cilantro ranch

Instructions

  • In a slow cooker, combine beef broth, lime juice and apple cider vinegar. Stir.
  • In a small bowl, combine all the seasonings together to make a rub.
  • Generously rub the seasonings mix all over the roast until well coated.
  • Place the roast in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  • When done, remove roast from slow cooker and shred beef.
  • Reserve 1/2-1 cup of the juice from the slow cooker and pour over top of the shredded beef.
  • Assemble the barbacoa beef.
  • Place beef in a bowl and top desired topping such as: black beans, corn, shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, salsa and cilantro ranch.
  • Enjoy!

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