You are gonna fall in love with this super delicious, melt in your mouth, shredded beef recipe! Perfect for feeding a crowd, or your next taco party!
Hello shredded barbacoa beef, I’m in love with you!
As you know, tacos are an every week, if not 3-4 times a week meal around my house, and you can NEVER have enough taco filling recipes in my opinion!
I actually originally made this recipe for my friend’s 30th birthday party a few months ago. Kezia, (The Whole Food Diary) requested to have a taco bar party and wanted me to cater it! How cool is that! Of course I was sooo excited, cuz, well, tacos, DUH! Oh, and you should totally check out her Instagram for yummy amazingness too!
She wanted 2 types of proteins and some veggie fillings. I knew I was gonna make a shredded chicken since everyone loves chicken, and then we decided on a shredded beef since we can get some really good 100% grass fed beef locally. The party was gonna be for about 20 people so I needed a decent amount of protein, plus leftovers are always a plus.
My two favorite proteins when I get a Chipotle burrito bowl are their carnitas (btw, have you tried my Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas?) and the shredded barbacoa beef. Thus, my attempt to create a similar recipe for the taco party was set into motion.
I looked up tons of recipes on the interwebs and they all had some variation of amounts of warm and earthy/smoky spices like cumin, chili powder, oregano, and cloves. Obviously tons of onions and garlic were a must. Tomato paste for a deep concentrated flavor plus fire roasted diced tomatoes and beef bone broth for the liquid. I love adding bone broth to as many recipes as possibly for that added gut healing benefit and tons of amazing nutrients.
I’ve done this recipe several times in my Instant Pot/pressure cooker, and several times on the stove top. Next will be in the slow cooker, but I was super happy with my two versions already so I’ll give those to you and you can decide which you like best!
Can I tell you how effing PUMPED I was to hear back that all the guests from Kezia’s taco birthday party loved the shredded barbacoa beef. If I remember correctly, one guy reported they were “the best tacos he’s had in his life!” Holy eff. That puts the biggest smile on my face. For reals!
P.S. Don’t let the long ingredient list fool you. Most of these ingredients you probably already have on hand in your pantry!
PrintShredded Barbacoa Beef
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 3 lbs beef roast (I used a grassfed chuck roast), cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp oregano, dried
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 14 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp chipotle en adobo
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup beef bone broth
- 1 bay leaf, dried
Instructions
Stove Top Method:
1. In a large bowl, mix together all spices (sea salt through chili powder), then add cubed beef and stir to coat.
2. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven/stock pot over medium heat, then add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are soft and translucent.
3. Next add apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, chipotle en adobo, and bay leaf. Give everything a good stir and cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add fire roasted tomatoes and beef broth.
4. In a separate skillet, heat olive oil then add seasoned beef and brown in batches, stirring a few times.
5. Add browned beef back into large stock pot, cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for about 1 hour.
6. Check to see if beef will shred with a fork. If not, continue cooking uncovered for up to 30 minutes longer.
7. Once beef is fork tender and can easily shred, remove to a baking sheet to let cool a bit before shredding.
8. Meanwhile, turn heat up to medium high and let liquid boil for about 20-30 minutes until reduced by 1/2.
9. Add shredded beef back in and stir to coat.
10. Serve in tacos, burritos, enchiladas or whatever your heart desires!
Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Method:
1. In a large bowl, mix together all spices (sea salt through chili powder), then add cubed beef and stir to coat.
2. Set Instant Pot to sauté and add olive oil, onions, and garlic. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until onions are soft and translucent.
3. Add seasoned beef, stirring a few times.
4. Next add apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, chipotle en adobo, fire roasted tomatoes, beef broth, and bay leaf. Give everything a good stir.
5. Close lid on Instant Pot. Make sure to turn nozzle to pressure, and press Stew/Meat button. It should have 35 minutes on timer which is what you want.
6. You can allow pressure to release on it’s own, or not. I’ve done it both ways and it has turned out amazing either way.
7. You can serve as is which is more soup like, or shred the beef with two forks, or remove the beef with a slotted spoon and reduce cooking liquid on sauté function until it has thickened and then return beef. Anyway you’d like. My favorite way is reducing the liquid by at least 1/2. This way concentrates the flavors even more and is perfect for taco/burrito filling!
Amy Ramsey says
Hey Natasha! Is that the cilantro chimichurri on top of the barbacoa in the picture? It loowanted to make sure. Thanks!
Hey Amy!! It’s actually some guacamole with cilantro on top, but the chimichurri would be amazing on it too!!!
Amy says
Oh ok. I did a mild boom boom sauce with this recipe and it was AMAZING! THANKS for a new favorite!
I might be missing it, but I can’t find where to add the ACV?? Haha, I hope it’s not right in front of my face!
AHHH, nope I left it out! Add it with the tomato paste!! Thank you for noticing.. updating now!