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This beef barbacoa recipe is the ultimate combination of juicy and tender slow-cooked beef with the most delicious spices and seasonings. Pile it onto tortillas or stuff in burritos, quesadillas, gorditas, and more!
Barbacoa is known for its melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich flavors. With its tender and succulent beef, fragrant spices, and aromatic sauce, barbacoa is always a big crowd-pleaser at my house.
It’s fairly easy to make and makes amazing leftovers, which is perfect for eating in different dishes throughout the week.
The slow cooking process (either in a slow cooker, oven, or Instant Pot) ensures that the beef becomes incredibly tender, allowing it to fall apart easily with a fork. The meat absorbs the flavors of the sauce, resulting in a depth of taste that is simply irresistible.
What Is Barbacoa?
Barbacoa is a traditional Mexican dish that consists of slow-cooked meat, often beef, goat, or lamb, that’s seasoned with lots of spices, aromatic herbs, and chiles to create the ultimate flavorful melt-in-your-mouth meat. The meat is incredibly tender and can be easily shredded, making it the perfect filling for tacos, gorditas, burritos, salads, and more.
Recipe Tips
- Beef chuck roast: I recommend using chuck roast for the fat amount and how well it tenderizes, but you can also use rump roast.
- Garlic and onion: Staple ingredients that add more depth of flavor.
- Spices and bay leaves: I used a combination of ancho chili powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, ground cloves, and 2 bay leaves.
- Chipotle peppers: I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a slightly smoky flavor and to add some spice. You can use 2 chipotle peppers instead of 4 if you’re sensitive to heat.
- Lime juice and apple cider vinegar: These ingredients add acid and help break down and tenderize the beef even more.
- Beer: I recommend using a dark lager or a dark Mexican beer. It adds a really great flavor that compliments the chile peppers! If you don’t want to use beer, you can use beef broth or water instead.
How to Make Barbacoa
Slice the beef into large 4-inch chunks and season them generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper on all sides.
In a large skillet, heat 1 ½ tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add 3 or 4 pieces of meat and brown it on all sides. When browned, transfer to a plate and set aside. Continue working in batches until all the meat is all browned.
Add the onions and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, making sure to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.
Stir in beer, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, all the spices, and bay leaves. Remove it from the heat.
Add the seared meat into a large slow cooker and pour the liquid mixture on top. Toss everything to combine, then cover it, and cook on slow cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 5 hours).
The recipe card below includes instructions for making barbacoa in the slow cooker, oven, and Instant Pot.
Transfer the meat to a large plate or bowl to shred it with two forks. The meat should be fall-apart tender.
Add the shredded beef back into the slow cooker and let it sit for 10 minutes to soak up all the juices. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
I love using barbacoa as a filling in these dishes:
- Tacos: Barbacoa is commonly served in warm corn tortillas as a filling for tacos. Top with your favorite taco fixings, such as diced onions, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice for a burst of freshness.
- Burritos: Wrap the flavorful Barbacoa in a large tortilla with some rice, beans, and other toppings of your choice to make a delicious and satisfying burrito.
- Bowls: Create a flavorful bowl by layering Barbacoa over a bed of rice or quinoa and top it with beans, shredded lettuce, avocado, and a drizzle of salsa for a hearty lunch or dinner.
- Nachos: Barbacoa makes a fantastic topping for loaded nachos. Spread tortilla chips on a baking sheet, layer with Barbacoa, cheese, beans, and other desired toppings, and bake until melted and bubbly for a crowd-pleasing appetizer or game-day snack.
- Other uses: Serve it in gorditas, huaraches, sopes, and enchiladas!
Instant Pot and Oven Method
While I recommend using a slow cooker to get super juicy and tender barbacoa, you can also use an oven or pressure cooker!
You can find both oven and pressure cooker instructions in the recipe card below under Isabel’s Tips.
Storing and Reheating
To store, place the barbacoa in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
To reheat, heat it in a large skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until warmed. You can also reheat it in the microwave for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every minute or so, until fully warmed through.
More Mexican Recipes
Barbacoa Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds boneless beef chuck roast
- kosher salt (enough to generously coat meat)
- freshly ground black pepper (enough to generously coat meat)
- 2 ½ tablespoons oil, divided
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup beer (broth or water also work)
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 lime, juiced
- 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder (or regular chili powder)
- 1 tablespoon regular chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- for serving: chopped cilantro, diced onions, warm tortillas, and lime wedges
Instructions
- Cut the beef chuck roast into large 4-inch chunks, removing any large pieces of fat. Generously season all sides of the meat with salt and black pepper.
- Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of oil in a large skillet (cast-iron works great for this) over medium-high heat. Add in 3 or 4 pieces of meat and brown it on all sides, flipping every minute. When browned, transfer to a plate and set aside. Continue working in batches until all the meat is browned.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the onions. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, making sure to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the beer (or broth or water), apple cider vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, ancho chili powder, chili powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, ground cloves, and bay leaves. Stir together to combine and remove it from the heat.
- Add the seared meat into a large slow cooker and pour the liquid mixture on top. Toss everything to combine. (Instructions for how to make this in the oven or the Instant Pot are in the Tips section below.)
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 5 hours).
- Transfer the meat to a large plate or bowl and shred it with two forks. The meat should be fall-apart tender.
- Add the shredded beef back into the slow cooker and let it sit for 10 minutes to soak up all the juices. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
- Serve in tacos, gorditas, sopes, huaraches, or with a side of refried beans and Mexican rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love browsing this site. I need to hone my Mexican food cooking. Thanks Isabel
can u use this recipe for other meats? like pork butt? It looks delicious!
Hello! Yes, you can!
Fantastic!! Only change I made was substituting the vinegar with the juice of 1 lime
Wonderful recipe! We all enjoyed it and ate way too much. I will be making this again and again!
I made this tonight for an easy delicious meal in my Instant pot. I was too lazy to brown it. I threw the whole thing in the pot and seasoned as directed. My roast was just under 3lbs. I ended up cooking it on high pressure an additional 20 minutes and it shredded perfectly. Next time, ill have sour cream on hand. The flavors were delish! I served it with seasoned baby yellow skinned potatoes in my air fryer. Easy. Quick. Delish. AND SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
Hello! I’m from the Netherlands so I have to translate this recipe – when you say ‘heat a large skillet’ does that mean you don’t use oil or butter to do so?
I haven’t tried this yet, but I will be making it soon! How could you go wrong with such simple ingredients? I live in New Mexico and in my city there aren’t very many restaurants I’m impressed with. We like to make homemade Mexican and this will be sure to please. Thank you for the recipe.:)
Thank you so much, Lisa! I hope you love it!
Hi! I want to try this recipe using my instapot but I have a question. It says to just add a 1/4 cup of water. Is that really all you need? It seems it would need a lot more. I’m new at using it so I wanted to make sure I’m doing it right. It sounds delicious so I’m excited to make it. Thank you!
Hi Patty! Good question. Though it might seem like a small amount, 1/4 cup of water is all you need in the Instant Pot for this recipe. Hope you enjoy! (I’ll retest this recipe to make sure 1/4 cup is enough, but it worked for me when I tested it before.)
I was wondering about this as well, and if 1/4 cup is enough liquid in the instant pot. Looking forward to making this recipe!
Hi Kelly! Yes it should be okay! If you’re concerned you can even try 1/2 cup of water or beef stock.
Tried this recipe yesterday and it was soooo good! My boyfriend and I had to stop ourselves from eating the whole batch at once. We ate it as tacos with some habanero salsa and pickled onions. So much better than most tacos available in our area. Will definitely be making again!
I’m so happy to hear that you and your boyfriend loved it!
Hi Isabel,
I made your barbacoa tonight and the family loved it! I made it in the instantpot and it was wonderful! I want to make your chicken posole recipe. I’m unable to find the chiles required for your version. Can you suggest some other chiles? I live in Washington state in a small farming community.
Thank you,
Debra Whitney
Hi Debra! It would depend on what types of chiles you have access to. Were you referring to the slow cooker chicken pose, or the chicken posole verde? We would be happy to help!