Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa | Slender Kitchen

One of my favorite things is beef barbacoa. It is a slow cooked Mexican beef dish that simmers in chiles, onions, garlic, and oregano and comes out tender and delicious, perfect for any taco, burrito, or meal on it’s own served over rice. My favorite way to eat it is with simple oven baked crispy taco shells. Warm a corn tortilla in the microwave, spray it with a little bit of cooking spray, and drape over the oven racks creating your own healthy, crispy taco shells. Serve with a little bit of cilantro, onion, and your favorite salsa if you want more heat. This recipe is based off of the beef barbacoa on Skinnytaste. This would also be delicious with pork or chicken. Point value is for the beef only.

Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa
Servings: 4.5
Serving Size: 4 oz
Nutritional Info: 165.3 calories, 4.9 g of fat, 2.9 g of carbohydrates, .9 g of fiber 25.1 g of protein * 4 P+

Ingredients
1.5 lbs beef eye of round or bottom round roast, all fat trimmed
5 cloves garlic
1/4 medium yellow onion
Juice of 1 lime
2 chiptoles in adobo sauce
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground oregano
salt and pepper
1 cup chicken or beef broth, fat free

Instructions
1. Blend the chipotles, chicken broth, cumin, oregano, onion, garlic, and lime juice in a blender to create the sauce.

2. Cut the beef into 2-3 large pieces, trimmed of the fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add to the crockpot. Pour the sauce over the beef.

3. Cook for 6 hours. Shred with a fork and cook an additional 10-20 minutes to let the flavors combine. Enjoy!

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17 Response to Crock Pot Beef Barbacoa

Ruth on June 3, 2011

Just confirming that the sauce is added to the crockpot with the meat when cooked. It sounds like a stupid question and I know that it is more likely than not that this is the case. But, it is not clear from the above and the last statement about shredding the meat and cooking for an additional 10-20 minutes gives me pause to consider whether that means the sauce was first combined with the meat after it is shredded.

Thanks!
- admin on June 3, 2011
  
  Yes – the sauce is added with the meat in the crockpot at the beginning. Going to update the recipe now to make it more clear. Sorry for the confusion
Judi on June 4, 2011

Just wanted to let you know that I made this for dinner today. It was soooooo good. Thank you sharing this recipe.
janet on January 30, 2012

What exactly is 1/s tablespoon cumin– I assume that’s a typo error. How much cumin should be added?
- Kristen on January 30, 2012
  
  Thanks for pointing that out. It is 1/2 tbsp of cumin. Hope you enjoy!
Dan on April 14, 2012

Should the crock pot be on low or high? Also, for the 2 chipotles, in my area they come in small cans with numerous peppers in the sauce. Should I pull out 2 of the peppers and put them in the blender or use 2 cans? Each can is 7oz.

Thanks a ton! I’ve already bookmarked a half dozen other recipes here to try out.
- Kristen on April 14, 2012
  
  Just pull out 2 chipotles from the can. If you use two cans it will be extremely spicy! Hope you enjoy it.
Ana R. on May 4, 2012

Do I cook it on High for 6 hrs?
- Kristen on May 4, 2012
  
  I would cook on the medium setting. Hope you enjoy it!
LAURIE on May 7, 2012

what type/size of torilla did you use in that picture and what did you do to it to make it look so yummy, crunchy and brown?
- LAURIE on May 7, 2012
  
  I see the recipe, just need size you used, looks perfect1 thanks
  - Kristen on May 8, 2012
    
    I used a smaller sized tortilla that was 1 point for 2 tortillas, but any size would work.
- Kristen on May 8, 2012
  
  To make it crispy I either bake them in the oven or warm them over the gas stove burner. Here is the link to how to bake them: http://www.slenderkitchen.com/oven-baked-taco-shells/
Brittany on March 26, 2013

I made a “whoops” last night and bought 2 lbs of pork roast instead of beef for this recipe. Do you know how long pork would take to to cook in the crock pot? high or low? I was hoping to have it done in 4-6 hours since I am going to throw it in the crock pot on my lunch break. Thanks!
- Kristen on March 27, 2013
  
  It should take around the same time. I would say 6-8 hours on low in the crockpot would work.
meauxjeaux on May 10, 2013

made this for the second time last night for a girls’ night. huge hit. enjoyed some leftovers today. delish!
Michelle on May 11, 2013

I love this tip about making your own hard tacos out of tortillas baked in the oven! My son always wants crunchy and I always get soft so now we can both have our way and stay healthy!