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This beef tinga features fall-apart tender shredded beef cooked in a smoky and spiced chipotle sauce with minimal effort. This easy recipe uses the slow cooker or Instant Pot for an incredibly flavorful and easy weeknight meal that can be served in tacos, burrito bowls, tostadas, nachos, and more!
I love a good, easy recipe, and this beef tinga is perfect for weeknight dinners with minimal effort.
With just a quick sear, a blended sauce, and some slow cooker or Instant Pot magic (they’re seriously two of my favorite kitchen appliances ever), this meal is ready with hardly any prep.
I especially love making this for my family because it’s so simple and leaves us with plenty of leftovers. This recipe makes eight servings and can be used to make tacos, burrito bowls, nachos, or tostadas.
What is Beef Tinga?
Beef tinga is slow-cooked shredded beef in a smokey and spicy sauce with plenty of onion, tomatoes, and chipotle peppers.
You may be more familiar with chicken tinga, a lighter and more traditional Mexican dish. However, it is equally delicious with beef!
Ingredients in Beef Tinga
- Beef chuck roast: This cut of beef is great for slow cooking and gets very soft and tender. You can also use rump roast.
- Kosher salt and coarse ground pepper: Generously seasoning the beef chunks with salt and pepper is key to making sure you get the most flavor, so don’t skimp!
- Fire roasted tomatoes: I used canned tomatoes for convenience, but you can use 2 fresh Roma tomatoes and roast them yourself if you prefer.
- Chipotle peppers: I used 3 chipotle peppers with a generous spoonful of adobo sauce for lots of smoky flavor and spice. To make this even more spicy, add 1-2 extra chipotle peppers. If you’re not a big fan of spice, only use 2 chipotles but add an extra tablespoon of the adobo sauce so you don’t lose the flavor.
- White onion: Plenty of white onion is also a staple ingredient in the tinga sauce. If you don’t have white onion, you can also use yellow.
- Garlic and oregano: Both of these ingredients add great extra flavor to the tinga sauce.
How to Make Beef Tinga
Season the beef by generously sprinkling kosher salt and black pepper on all sides, then sear it in a large skillet over medium-high heat on all sides until browned. Transfer the seared beef into the slow cooker.
Make the tinga sauce by placing fire roasted tomatoes, chipotle peppers, white onion, garlic cloves, oregano, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Mix the tinga sauce into the slow cooker with the beef and gently stir to combine and evenly coat the beef.
Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8-10 hours, then shred the beef by transferring the cooked beef into a bowl with a slotted spoon and shredding with two forks.
Transfer the shredded beef back into the slow cooker and give it a good stir to combine the shredded beef with the tinga sauce.
Serve with warm corn tortillas, queso fresco, diced red onion, and chopped cilantro.
Recipe Tips
- Sear the meat. Take the time to sear the beef before adding it to the slow cooker or Instant Pot. This step adds depth of flavor and helps to lock in juices.
- Adjust the spice level. Customize the heat by adjusting the amount of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Start with a smaller amount and add more to taste.
- Blend the sauce well. Ensure your sauce is well-blended to create a smooth, cohesive flavor. You don’t want any chunks of tomato in there.
Instant Pot Method
To make beef tinga in the Instant Pot, use the ‘Saute’ function to sear the meat, then add in the blended chile sauce. Close the lid and pressure cook on high for 60 minutes using the manual setting. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before manually releasing any remaining pressure.
Ways to Serve Beef Tinga
Beef tinga can be used in many different ways. You can use these basic recipes to create your own delicious Mexican meal using beef tinga:
- Homemade tostada shells topped with beef tinga, refried beans, shredded lettuce, tomato, and cotija cheese.
- Corn tortillas or flour tortillas for beef tinga tacos.
- Homemade tortilla chips and plenty of shredded cheese for beef tinga nachos.
- Flautas with beef tinga filling topped with guacamole and Mexican crema.
- Torta (Mexican sandwich) with beef tinga for the ultimate sandwich.
- Burrito bowls with Mexican rice or cilantro lime rice, beef tinga, and pico de gallo.
- Pair with some Pickled Jalapeños for some acidic, crunchy heat on a delicious taco.
Storing and Reheating
To store, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, place in the microwave and heat in 30-second intervals until warmed. To reheat on the stove, place in a skillet over medium heat and cook until warmed.
More Mexican Recipes
Beef Tinga
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into large 4-inch chunks
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 15 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 3 chipotles in adobo sauce, plus 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce
- 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
For serving
- Warm corn or flour tortillas
- Queso fresco or cotija cheese
- Diced red onion
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
Slow Cooker Method
- Generously season the beef with 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper on all sides.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the beef chunks on all sides until browned. Transfer it to a slow cooker.
- Blend the tomatoes, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, onion, garlic, dried oregano, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt in a large blender until smooth.
- Pour the tinga sauce into the slow cooker and gently stir to coat the beef. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.
- Transfer the beef to a bowl, shred it with two forks, then add it back into the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Serve with warm corn tortillas or flour tortillas, queso fresco, diced onion, and chopped cilantro.
Instant Pot Method
- Generously season the beef with 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper on all sides.
- Heat the olive oil in the Instant Pot using the Sauté function. Working in batches, sear the beef chunks on all sides until browned. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- Blend the tomatoes, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, onion, garlic, dried oregano, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt in a large blender until smooth.
- Pour the tinga sauce into the Instant Pot, close the lid, and pressure cook on high for 60 minutes. When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before manually releasing any remaining pressure.
- Transfer the beef to a bowl, shred it with two forks, then add it back into the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Serve with warm corn tortillas or flour tortillas, queso fresco, diced onion, and chopped cilantro.
Notes
- Sear the meat. Take the time to sear the beef before adding it to the slow cooker or Instant Pot. This step adds depth of flavor and helps to lock in juices.
- Adjust the spice level. Customize the heat by adjusting the amount of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Start with a smaller amount and add more to taste.
- Blend the sauce well. Ensure your sauce is well-blended to create a smooth, cohesive flavor. You don’t want any chunks of tomato in there.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated with new photos, more helpful tips, and a better overall recipe.
Photography by Erin Jensen of The Wooden Skillet.
Absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly, browning on the stove, and then using my Insta pot. I served it on crisp tostadas with a layers of sour cream, Tinga, Cotija, pickled red onions, and cilantro. I’ve made it three times in the last 10 days.
I made this in the instant pot the day before. I took it out and separated the meat from sauce and stored in the fridge overnight. I then was able to easily remove some of the beef fat from sauce the next day that had solidified at the top. I shredded the beef and put back into a heavy pot and slowly re-heated it on low for about an hour. This helped thicken the sauce. It was very tasty and was a hit at my holiday party.
These look amazing! Do you think this recipe would freeze well? Thanks!
Yes! This shredded beef tinga freezes extremely well. It can be frozen in an air tight container for up to 3 months. 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.
Hi Isabel:) If I am making half the recipe, would I need to shorten the cook time?
Thanks!
Hi Stephanie,
I would shorten the cook time by maybe 30 minutes or so, but the meat still takes a while to get tender and fall apart.
Perfect for a busy, weeknight….especially with kids in sports! Absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing.
These were delicious. Just wondering, would the recipe stay the same if for some variety I substituted chicken or pork?
Hi Jamie! There’s actually a recipe for chicken tinga on the website if you wanted to check that out!
Just found your website and love it x
Can’t wait to get home and try your recipes ,in the uk Mexican food is something of a black art ,there are only a handful of good restaurants here and there so having this will be very useful .
Regards
Andy
Aw, thank you so much, Andy. I really appreciate it 🙂 I think it’s about time we get some good Mexican food over there!
These look great! I’m in the middle of a taco recipe creation project on my blog, and I’m almost getting tired of tacos (almost), but I would definitely take a few of these! 🙂
Thanks, Kim! I understand where you’re coming from. It can be easy to get tired of a certain food. But that’s where experimentation and creativity comes in. I hope these tacos inspire you 🙂