Barbacoa Tacos Recipe - The Girl Who Ate Everything (2024)

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posted by Christy Denneyon Jul 16, 2021 (updated Feb 9, 2024) 31 comments »

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These beef Barbacoa Tacos are cooked in the slow cooker all day so you can come home to savory and spicy tacos. I love barbacoa meat and these tacos are a crowd pleasing Mexican dinner.

BARBACOA TACOS

Back West we have a favorite Mexican place (Cafe Rio) that serves sweet barbacoa pork but I wanted a more savory version of that dish for Taco Tuesday.

Usually my tacos are all about the toppings but with these the meat is so flavorful and packed with spices that I like to let the meat’s flavor shine with very few toppings. Traditional Queso Fresca is my first choice but feta (which is more easily found) is similar in taste and texture.

This version is very similar to Chipotle’s Barbacoa.

WHAT IS BARBACOA?

Barbacoa is meat such as beef or lamb that is slowly cooked with seasonings and shredded for filling in tacos, burritos, and other Mexican dishes.

Mexican Barbacoa is traditionally an underground oven in which meat is cooked slowly. Today, we’re using a slow cooker in it’s place.

HOW TO MAKE BARBACOA

Place the chunks of roast in a 6-8 quart slow cooker.
Add all of the remaining ingredients minus the bay leaves to a blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour over meat and top with the bay leaves. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or until meat starts to fall apart.
Remove bay leaves and shred meat with two forks and then return to the juices in the slow cooker. Serve with a slotted spoon onto tortillas. Top with cilantro, queso fresca, tomatoes, and a squeeze of lime.

Blend up all of the sauce ingredients in a blender and pour over the chunks of meat. Let it cook all day until the meat starts to fall apart, about 6-8 hours.

I added two chipotle peppers for some heat with 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce. If you like it extra spicy feel free to add more. Just a little brown sugar compliments the sauce to make sure it’s not bitter.

As you can see the meat is really juicy so make sure to use a slotted spoon when serving it up. An extra squeeze of the lime on top makes all the difference in brightening up the dish.

OTHER TACO RECIPES:

Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Salsa
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Taco
Barbacoa Tacos
Salsa Verde Beef Tacos
Green Chile Turkey Tacos
Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
Korean Tacos
Grilled Chicken Tacos with Feta Cream
Texas Tacos

Barbacoa Tacos

4.17 from 12 votes

These beef Barbacoa Tacos are cooked in the slow cooker all day so you can come home to savory and spicy tacos. The flavorful meat slow cooks all day to make a shredded beef taco that has great flavor.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 6 hours hrs

Total Time: 6 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

3 lb chuck roast, fat trimmed and cut into large chunks
1/2 medium white onion, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
4 teaspoons garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, (add 1 Tablespoon of adobo sauce if you like it spicy)
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup beef broth
2 bay leaves
Toppings: fresh cilantro, queso fresca (or feta), chopped tomatoes, lime wedges, red onion
8 Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff soft flour tortillas.

Instructions

Place the chunks of roast in a 6-8 quart slow cooker.
Add all of the remaining ingredients minus the bay leaves to a blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour over meat and top with the bay leaves. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or until meat starts to fall apart.
Remove bay leaves and shred meat with two forks and then return to the juices in the slow cooker. Serve with a slotted spoon onto tortillas. Top with cilantro, queso fresca, tomatoes, and a squeeze of lime.

Cuisine: Mexican

Course: Main Course

Author: Christy Denney

All Recipes Beef Cinco De Mayo Crockpot Gluten-Free Main Dishes Mexican Old El Paso Slow Cooker

originally published on Jul 16, 2021 (last updated Feb 9, 2024)

31 comments Leave a comment »

Barbacoa Tacos Recipe - The Girl Who Ate Everything (5)

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31 comments on “Barbacoa Tacos”

Theresa — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 @ 02:18:42 EDT Reply
I mafe this yesterday and my family love it. I didnt use roast. I made with pork! It was delicious l.
- Christy Denney — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 @ 23:44:12 EDT Reply
  Great! I bet pork was delicious!
Rasa Navarro — Sun, 16 May 2021 @ 13:34:27 EDT Reply
I make this at least one a month now for a year or so. Super good and my 11 yr old loves it! However this time, My husband forgot to get me a white onion. Can I use a red onion or maybe dried minced onion?
- Christy Denney — Mon, 17 May 2021 @ 02:43:15 EDT Reply
  Of course. Red will work and dried onion is an option as well.
Gregorie Lule — Sat, 01 May 2021 @ 09:51:22 EDT Reply
I would like to make this in my 8 quart instant pot. How can I adapt it. Any suggestions?
- Christy Denney — Tue, 04 May 2021 @ 00:31:18 EDT Reply
  You can make it in an 8 quart. Shouldn’t change anything.
Mike — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 @ 18:25:26 EDT Reply
Super easy to make, and very tasty! I never would have thought of pureeing the ingredients in a blender, but it makes a wonderful broth/sauce to cook the beef in! I cut up a 3 lb beef chuck roast into about 3-inch chunks, so they would submerse in the sauce, and only had to cook in the slow-cooker for about 4 hours. The beef just about falls apart by itself!
Tacos were good the first day, and burritos with the leftovers and some beans & cheese the 2nd day.
- Christy Denney — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 @ 00:38:11 EDT Reply
  Awesome to hear!
alison v. lindley — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 @ 20:30:55 EST Reply
Hello!
I am making these tomorrow for a luncheon. I’d like to make the sauce tonight and marinade the chuck roast over night. Then throw it all in the slow cooker with the bay leaves tomorrow at 6am and I’m serving this for lunch at noon. Is this okay? Will it get too marinated by the lime juice?
Haven’t cooked this yet, but I’m following recipe exactly, so I’m assuming it can only be amazing!!
Thank you so much!
Alison Lindley
- Christy Denney — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 @ 20:12:34 EST Reply
  Not at all. You can totally marinate it longer. I’m sorry if you didn’t get this in time. If you ever have a pressing question email me at [emailprotected]
Andri — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 @ 01:03:08 EDT Reply
Hi, if i don’t have a slow cooker what is the alternative? bake in the oven for again 6-8 hours?
- Christy Denney — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 @ 22:59:53 EDT Reply
  You could definitely do that but it probably would take about 4-6 hours.
Tarin Lindsey — Fri, 15 May 2015 @ 11:40:17 EDT Reply
This is a perfect healthy recipe. Your Barbacoa Tacos recipe looks very delicious especially with fresh toppings, it attracts me. My father will surely love this awesome recipe, good for our birthday party next week. I am excited to make this for my family. Can’t wait to taste it and share this to my friends. Thanks for this amazing recipe.This is what I need this summer. Awesome!
Dawn — Sun, 03 May 2015 @ 14:06:44 EDT Reply
My hubby does not like Chipotle (GASP) any rec. for a substitution?
Recipe sounds awesome and cannot wait to try it!
- Christy Denney — Tue, 05 May 2015 @ 15:16:01 EDT Reply
  Hmm. It just gives it spice so any heat you like. Tabasco sauce? salsa?
Annie — Fri, 01 May 2015 @ 13:18:53 EDT Reply
This recipe looks great! How spicy is the meat? Just wondering if I should tone it down for my kiddos.
- Annie — Tue, 05 May 2015 @ 01:55:43 EDT Reply
  Darn. I was really excited about this recipe, but it didn’t turn out like I hoped. Are the amounts of vinegar and lime juice correct in the recipe? The meat was so sour that I couldn’t use it in tacos. It reminded me more of a vinegar style BBQ meat, so we ate it on rolls instead. Did I do something wrong or is that how it is supposed to be? Hoping I can figure this out as I need a good shredded beef recipe.
  - Christy Denney — Tue, 05 May 2015 @ 15:07:10 EDT Reply
    Oh no! I’m sorry you felt that way. Yes, the amounts are correct. I didn’t feel like it was sour at all.
    - Annie — Wed, 06 May 2015 @ 10:34:56 EDT Reply
      Thanks for letting me know. Maybe I did something wrong.
- Christy Denney — Tue, 05 May 2015 @ 15:20:21 EDT Reply
  Pretty spicy. Maybe only do 1 chipotle pepper or no sauce.
  - Shanna Vomvas — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 @ 21:03:49 EST Reply
    Do you have a nutritional breakdown for this? Calories, protein etc. Thank you.
Kristy — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 @ 21:20:11 EDT Reply
Awesome photos! We’d love it if you’d submit some to JalapenoMania.com!
Amy Basso @ Amyapron.net — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 @ 18:47:13 EDT Reply
I love slow cooker recipes! These look amazing!
Chels R. — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 @ 15:21:01 EDT Reply
I want to make these right now!!!
Mary — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 @ 11:54:26 EDT Reply
We tried this last night and it was very tender and had a great flavor. I only used 3T of Cumin because I’m not a huge fan. Our teen son even liked it too. 🙂
We will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing.
- Christy Denney — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 @ 22:56:59 EDT Reply
  Yay! Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
Malinda @countrysidecravings — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 @ 15:30:39 EDT Reply
These look really good! I have never heard of barbacoa tacos before. I am always up for trying new mexican dishes!!
- Christy Denney — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 @ 23:01:55 EDT Reply
  Thank you Melinda!
- Beth — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 @ 19:51:54 EDT Reply
  Curious question, would this freeze well after it is all prepped, before putting it in the crock pot? Always looking for meals that we can pre prep (on the weekends) and freeze, then pull out, ready to go into the crock pot for an easy and quick weekday meal. I don’t see anything that I don’t think wouldn’t freeze well. Thoughts?
Kelly Nelson — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 @ 09:17:49 EDT Reply
I am definitely making these this week!
Shawnna — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 @ 09:08:01 EDT Reply
yummy for my tummy!!