This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Make this Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa for your next Taco Tuesday! It is packed with flavor and SO tender. Everyone will love this dish, and it makes the best leftovers. Cook this beef slow and low to get that amazing texture that falls apart and melts in your mouth. Just like my other favorite slow cooker recipes, it’s the kind of meal that practically cooks itself while you go about your day.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Best Leftovers – You know what’s awesome about this recipe? I ate it for like 3 days straight. Yep. So many leftovers that tasted so darn good, and I just couldn’t help myself. This is one of many hearty beef recipes that are perfect for enjoying again and again.
- Great for Easy Dinners – I LOVE using the crockpot to simplify dinner. Get everything together, set it and forget it! Come back to an amazing meal basically ready to eat at dinnertime.
- Versatile Recipe – Beef Barbacoa is great in so many different recipes, from tacos to quesadillas to enchiladas to burrito bowls. It is delicious in everything!
What is Barbacoa?
In the United States, we associate barbacoa with beef, but barbacoa is traditionally made in Mexico with whole lamb or goat. It is seasoned with spices and cooked over an outdoor fire with a liquid in a pot underneath the grill grates. Then the entire fire pit is enclosed, which allows the meat to steam, soak up the flavors, and become incredibly tender.
How to Serve
Beef barbacoa recipes are great for so many different things, but my favorite is barbacoa tacos! Top with your favorite taco toppings, like queso fresco, cotija cheese, onions, cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, whatever you enjoy! For some extra fiber, add some black beans or refried beans on the taco or on the side. Mexican slaw would also be so yummy.
I’ll then use the leftovers in just about anything! It’s so good over Mexican rice or cilantro-lime cauliflower rice. It’s also perfect to serve over some romaine lettuce in a salad with avocado dressing.
Ingredients
These are the ingredients you need to make your slow cooker barbacoa beef!
- Boneless beef roast shoulder or bottom round
- Chili powder
- Ground cumin
- Chipotle pepper powder
- Ground coriander
- Salt
- Beef broth
- Tomato paste
- Garlic cloves
- Mexican beer
- Lime
- Fresh cilantro
How to Make Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef
Mix together spices and salt into a small bowl. Add tomato paste, broth, and garlic. Mix well to create a paste. Rub the entire roast with rub and place inside the slow cooker.
In another bowl, mix together lime, beer, and cilantro. Pour on top of the roast and cook for 4-6 hours on low heat. Beef should be tender and easily torn apart with two forks.
Serve hot with your favorite taco fix ins. To keep the tacos gluten free, use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas.
Variations
For the beef, you can also use a chuck roast, or any other large cut of beef. Beef cheeks are also commonly used for barbacoa.
To increase the spice level, add a bit of cayenne or some hot peppers like green chilies. Chipotles in adobo sauce are also a great addition to this barbacoa beef recipe.
If you don’t have lime, you can also use apple cider vinegar for your splash of acidity. For the spices in this recipe, you can really play around with what you love! Oregano, ground cloves, bay leaves, or black pepper would all be really tasty. You can absolutely adjust the spice blend to your taste!
You can also make this beef barbacoa recipe in an Instant pot, but I just love letting the flavors infuse all day in the crock pot!
Storage and Reheating
You can store barbacoa leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. This beef barbacoa is also the perfect freezer meal! Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat your beef on the stove or in the microwave until warmed through.
Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs boneless beef roast, shoulder or bottom round works well for this
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 2 tsp chipotle pepper powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp salt + more to taste
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup mexican beer
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Mix together spices and salt into a small bowl. Add tomato paste, broth, and garlic. Mix well to create a paste. Rub the entire roast with rub and place inside the slow cooker.
- In another bowl, mix together lime, beer, and cilantro. Pour on top of the roast and cook for 4-6 hours on low heat.
- Beef should be tender and easily torn apart.
- Serve hot with your favorite taco fix ins.
Hey! This looks amazing. What type of mexican beer do you reccomend?
A Corona or Dos Equis!
Yeah right the cooking time is a lot longer than 4-6 hours on low heat I think. I put it on high and I’m hoping it’ll be done in 5 hours. We shall see how long it takes to cook.
I made this recipe today and the only change I made was substituting cayenne pepper for the chipotle powder.since I didn’t have chipotle powder in my pantry and I didn’t want to run to the store. I thought it was delicious. My husband, who is always honest, sometimes painfully so, said it was “absolutely delicious” and instructed me to add it to my recipe collection.
Would this work for pork as well?
Sure would!!
all very nice, but I need nutritional analysis. I’ve had weight loss surgery, which I’m sure there are a huge amount of people had this procedure also, need the carbohydrate count, otherwise I pass on the recipe and the pages that don’t publish this information.
I could eat tacos every day! Especially with that shredded beef!
Me too Karly!!