Slow-cooker beef barbacoa tacos
500 min · 52 g protein · 466 cals / serving
Beef braised all day with chipotle in adobo, lime, garlic, cumin and a whisper of clove until it falls apart into dark, smoky, tangy shreds. Piled into warm corn tortillas with a sharp tomato and onion salsa, crunchy cabbage and a cool lime yogurt, it tastes like a taquería and keeps 4 days in the fridge (3 months frozen) for tacos, bowls and salads.
Ingredients
Barbacoa
- 1/3 lb chuck roast, visible fat trimmed, in 3-inch chunks
- 2 1/3 lb top round top round steak, in 3-inch chunks
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 3 chipotles plus 2 tbsp of their sauce chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano, Mexican if you have it
- 1 pinch ground cloves cloves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 cup beef broth
- 2 bay leaf
Salsa
- 6 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 jalapeño, seeded, minced
Lime yogurt
- scant 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp lime juice
To serve
- 6 cups shredded cabbage
- 8 radishes, thinly sliced
- 12 small (6-inch) corn tortilla
- 1 lime, in wedges
Steps
- Season both cuts of beef all over with the salt and put them in the slow cooker.
- Blend the onion, garlic, chipotles and their sauce, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, oregano, cloves, pepper and broth until smooth, and pour it over the beef.
- Tuck in the bay leaves, cover and cook on LOW for 8–9 hours (or HIGH for 5), until the beef falls apart when pushed with a fork.
- Lift the beef onto a board, discard the bay leaves and shred it with two forks. Skim any fat off the liquid, then return the beef and toss it in about half the juices so it is glossy and wet; keep the rest for reheating.
- Make the salsa: mix the tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and jalapeño with a pinch of salt.
- Stir the lime juice and a pinch of salt into the yogurt.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet until soft and spotted. Fill each with cabbage, barbacoa, salsa, sliced radish and a spoon of lime yogurt, and serve with lime wedges.
Good to know
Pressure cooker instead?
Brown nothing, just load it the same way, adding 1/2 cup water so the pot has enough thin liquid to avoid the burn warning, and cook at HIGH pressure for 60 minutes with a 15-minute natural release. The beef shreds just as well; reduce the juices on SAUTÉ for a few minutes if they look thin.
How long does it keep?
Store the shredded beef in its juices: 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Reheat in a covered pan with a splash of the juices until steaming, or crisp it in a hot skillet for a few minutes for carnitas-style edges. Keep the salsa and yogurt separate and make the salsa fresh every couple of days.
Why two cuts?
A little chuck brings the rich, melting texture; top round is leaner and shreds into long strands once it has sat in the chipotle juices. All chuck works too, with a little more fat to skim and a richer result: about 58 instead of 74.
Per
- Calories
- 84
- Protein
- (46%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (22%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (32%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 131 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2794 kcal goes into the pot and 3478 g of ingredients comes out as about 3320 g of food: 84 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.