Beef Barbacoa - Mexican Pulled Beef for Tacos and everything!

Beef Barbacoa - Mexican Pulled Beef for Tacos and everything!

from recipetineats.com
Main
505 min
10 servings
372 kcal / serving

Recipe video above. Ultra-juicy Mexican pulled beef, tossed in a chipotle-spiced sauce! With a unique subtly spiced, tangy flavour, use this Beef Barbacoa for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, taquitos – the possibilities are endless. This is a slow cooker version that's simple to put together. Which means ... effortless. YES!

Ingredients

  • 2 kg4 lb beef cheeks (, or chuck beef(see note 1))
  • 1 tspsalt (, kosher/cooking)
  • 1 tspblack pepper
  • 2 tbspvegetable oil (, for searing)
  • 4bay leaves
  • 4chipotle chiles in adobo sauce ((note 2))
  • ¾ cupdark ale (beer), or low sodium beef broth/stock ( (note 3))
  • ½ cupapple cider vinegar
  • 4 tbsplime juice
  • 6garlic cloves
  • 4 tspground cumin
  • 2 tsporegano
  • ½ tspground cloves

Directions

  1. 1

    Cut beef: Cut large cheeks in half so you have around 12 - 15 pieces cheeks. If using chuck, cut into 12 or so pieces.

  2. 2

    Season: Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  3. 3

    Brown beef: Heat oil in a large pot or skillet over high heat. Sear beef in batches, browning aggressively all over. Place beef in slow cooker.

  4. 4

    Blitz sauce: Place Barbacoa Sauce ingredients in a blender, food processor or similar (I use a Nutribullet). Blend until smooth – it shouldn't take long.

  5. 5

    Slow cooker (see Note 4 for alt. cooking methods): Pour sauce over cheeks in slow cooker. Add bay leaves. Arrange cheeks so they are submerged as much as possible. Don't worry, they will release juice as they cook and raise the liquid level.

  6. 6

    Slow-cook for 8 hours on low. The beef should be effortless to shred when done.

  7. 7

    Shred: Remove cheeks from slow cooker into a pan. Shred using 2 forks.

  8. 8

    Sauce: Pour over 3 or 4 ladles of the sauce, then toss.

  9. 9

    Serve: Use in tacos with taco fixings of choice! Pictured with Mexican Red Rice, Pickled Red Cabbage for Tacos (in this Fish Tacos recipe) and Lime Crema (Note 5).

  10. 10

    Lime creams 1/2 cup sour cream 2Tbsp lime juice 1/2 tsp lemon zest 1/8 tsp grated garlic Salt

  11. 11

    Note freeze Adobo pepper flat in plastic bag easy to break off when needed.