Why we can’t get enough of this beef barbacoa:
- Use it for tacos, bowls, nachos, enchiladas or any kind of dish. It’s super versatile!
- Makes a lot! You’ll have leftovers on hand for another meal or lunches during the week.
- We love a beef chuck roast to save a few bucks.
What readers are saying
This recipe was a crowd pleaser at my house. I love the fact that it has wholesome ingredients because I feel like most crockpot recipes are full of junk. We’ve made this twice now. Once I served it with rice and veggies. Yesterday we had it in tacos! Both times it’s been a hit. Thanks for the recipe!
Stephanie
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My tried and true tips for the best beef barbacoa
- The prep work is worth the time investment! From testing this recipe, it’s clear that cutting the beef roast into cubes and browning before cooking locks in the juices.
- We’ve tested fresh versus not, and definitely use fresh squeezed orange and lime juice for the best and brightest citrusy flavor.
- In the Instant Pot, don’t skip the step to let the pressure naturally release on its own for 20 minutes before releasing the pressure valve. This helps with the tenderness for easy shredding of the beef.
- For crispy beef barbacoa, make sure to use the extra optional step below and broil the beef on a sheet pan for a few minutes right before you serve it up. This gives it the best crispy bits and is quicker than using a skillet!
Related –> Want more? We’ve got tons of beef dinner recipes!
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!
Don’t forget to leave a quick star rating and review below, we read every comment and truly appreciate your feedback. Also, be sure to browse the rest of our easy and delicious slow cooker recipes to find some other favorites too!
Get the Recipe:
Tender, Juicy Beef Barbacoa (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot)
Simmered in citrus juices and the perfect blend of spices, this smoky and tender shredded beef barbacoa is the ultimate barbacoa recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 lbs beef chuck roast, cut into 2 inch cubes , (can also use beef brisket)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, (about 2 oranges)
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, (about 2 limes)
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 2 tsp chipotle powder, (can be spicy, adjust to taste)
- 2 tsp oregano, (fresh or dried)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tbsp ghee, (or other cooking oil)
For topping/serving:
- romaine lettuce, (or sub Siete Tortillas or other sturdy lettuce)
- cilantro
- avocado
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Cut beef into cubes and set aside. Prep onion and garlic as noted.
- Combine orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, tomato paste, cumin, chipotle powder, oregano, salt and ground cloves in a bowl or jar and mix well.
- Press the sauté button on the instant pot and add ghee. Once hot, add in the beef and brown it on all sides. Press cancel on the instant pot once the beef is browned.
- Add in the diced onion and garlic cloves and pour the juice/seasoning mixture all over everything.
- Secure the lid on the instant pot and close the pressure valve. Press the “manual” button (or “pressure cook” button) and set the time to cook for 30 minutes at high pressure. Once the time is up, let the pressure naturally release on its own for 20 minutes.
- Manually release any remaining pressure and remove the lid. Shred the beef with two forks.
- Serve beef in bowls over greens, in lettuce wedges or in tortillas with your favorite toppings.
Slow cooker instructions:
- Follow steps 1-2 above.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add ghee. Once hot, add in beef cubes to brown, just a minute or so on each side until all sides are browned. Transfer beef to the slow cooker.
- Add in the diced onion and garlic cloves and pour the juice/seasoning mixture all over everything.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Once the beef is finished, shred it in the slow cooker with two forks and mix it with all the juices. Serve as noted above.
Optional step (for crispy beef barbacoa):
- Set your oven to broil.
- After shredding the beef, use a slotted spoon to remove the beef and onions from the instant pot and place on a large sheet pan. Spoon some of the juices from the instant pot over the top of the beef in the sheet pan.
- Place in the oven to broil for 6-8 minutes, until the beef begins to develop some brown and crispy edges. Watch carefully and cook to your preference.
- Alternatively, you can simply transfer some of the beef to a skillet over medium heat and cook it until it’s crispy, stirring occasionally. This method is easiest if you are re-heating the leftovers from the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition facts are an estimate provided for those following a Ketogenic or low-carb diet and do not include topping/serving items for this recipe. See our full nutrition information disclosure here.
Calories: 368kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 10g
Did you make this recipe?Tag @realsimplegood with hashtag #realsimplegood on Instagram. We love to see what you make!
This was amazzzing. The flavor and tenderness was spot on. It definitely has a kick (which I personally loved) so adjust if needed for kiddos or those sensitive to spice. We’ll definitely make this regularly. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome!
Made this tonight. Sorry forgot to take a picture. The flavors were amazing. Super easy to make.
So happy you enjoyed this one! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review. We appreciate it. 🙂
Phenomenal!!! I used a sirloin tip roast and it came out so juicy. I also didn’t have chipotle powder so I used chili powder and added cayenne. My son has sensitivities to onion and garlic so I used about 2 cups of chopped leek greens and it did the trick well enough. I am so pleased with this recipe, thank you!!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🙂
Thinking about making this and using it as a meat in a Chili recipe just curious if you think that the citrus might be too much for a chili? I am planning on smoking a batch of Habanero’s also adding beans, crushed tomatoes, onions and poblano’s. Thoughts?
I don’t think it would be too citrusy. And this idea for chili sounds delicious by the way. Let us know how it turns out! 🙂
Love this Barbacoa! Easy recipe in crockpot or instapot
So happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to leave a review! 🙂
I know there are already a ton of positive comments on here but I just wanted to add mine! Last night I attempted to make beef kabobs (I don’t even know what kind of beef it is, I just remember the package said “kabobs” and it was already cubed). Well, dinner was completely inedible. So dry and tough! So today I followed this recipe (used the instant pot and cooked for 45min) and used the terrible meat from last night and it is AMAZING! Thanks for saving my beef!!
So happy this recipe helped save your beef. Thanks for coming back to leave your review, we appreciate it 🙂
I absolutely love this recipe and wondered if anyone has tried it with chicken thighs?
Thanks for the quick reply, Justin! I tried it with chicken thighs. It is really good, but I think there’s something about the beef version that is better!
Ha, I get that! Glad the chicken worked 🙂
This recipe was absolutely delicious! I used 4 lbs of meat and only 1 tsp of chipotle and also followed the recommendation to broil it for a few minutes after it slow -cooked. I agree with other comments that, while I am a very experienced cook, the prep time is not even close to 10 minutes to trim the meat, brown it, make the marinade, dice the onion and peel and smash the garlic. It is closer to 30-40 minutes but well worth the time!
We order our beef from a farmer and are always looking for recipes to change up dinner. This would be a great way to use our bigger cuts.
Absolutely! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
rich, spicy, easy, delicious… can’t say a ouch good things about this meal! even my non-whole30 family members loved it!
*can’t say enough….. i was so excited to share how good, i didn’t read my comment first 😂😂😂
That’s understandable, thanks so much for coming back to leave a rating and review 🙂
Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Our family likes spicy foods, so this was a big hit.
All of the ingredients for the sauce were placed in the blender to create a smoother texture.
Due to missing ingredients there were some substitutions:
* 2.3 lbs instead of 3.0 lbs grass-fed beef chuck roast. Having a little less meat did not seem to affect the result in any way.
*We didn’t have any oranges. Instead I added 1/2 C of frozen pinapple pieces plus 3 dates, sliced. The pinapple gave it a little “island flavor” The dates were to help bring up the sweetness since pinapple is not as sweet as oranges.
* Instead of tomato paste, some big chunks from out of an already open jar of savory spagetti sauce were added to the blender. (Using something from an open jar always wins over opening a new can.)
* Instead of chipotle powder (none in our cabinet), an equal amount of chilli powder was added.
We served over jasmine rice with shredded lettuce mixed with salsa on top.
Wonderful!
Sounds delicious CJ, glad you were able to adapt this recipe to fit what you had. Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review, we appreciate it 🙂
I tried this recipe on 4th of July celebration, everyone loved this recipe. Thanks for sharing this.
You’re very welcome, thanks for coming back to leave a rating and review 🙂
This is amazing!! I did the Instant Pot version. This is my husband’s favorite meat from Chipotle, and he liked this better (and liked that he didn’t feel ripped off on the quantity of beef in his burrito). The only substitution that I did was lessened the amount of Chipotle Powder (due to sensitivities to spicy stuff). I only used 1/2 tsp and could have easily done 1 tsp. This will definitely be made again and again in our house!
Hooray! So happy to hear it was a hit for your guys! It’s one of our personal favorites, too! Thanks for coming back to leave a rating and review. We appreciate hearing how it went! 🙂
This was absolutely delicious. I’ve been having it for lunch with whatever vegetables I have. My husband has been snacking on it at midnight as well as taking it to work. I followed the instructions and ingredients as written and used the slow cooker option. Possibly the best beef I’ve ever had! Thank you!
So happy to hear this one was such a hit! Thanks for giving our recipe a try. We appreciate you coming back to leave a rating and review, too! 🙂
Just made this today for lunch. Oh my, the best Barbacoa beef recipe I have ever made. Love the ease of the instant pot. I put it under the broiler to crisp up and that took it up another notch. This will be on regular rotation for us. Loved it
So happy to hear that, thanks for coming back to leave a rating 🙂
Timing and proportions are perfect! Made a few subs for things we had on hand but will come back to this in the future for sure.
We are so happy it was a hit! Thanks for sharing on Instagram and for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review. We really appreciate your support! 🙂
It doesn’t matter how many pounds of meat the cooking time for the instapot still the same 30 minutes?
Correct. You are cutting the meat into cubes so it will cook in the same time but might take longer to pressurize with more meat.
Absolutely delicious. The orange juice is the secret ingredient. Best Barbacoa Beef recipe I’ve come across!
Thank you Samantha, we appreciate the kind review!
For the instant pot version are you adding additional liquid other than the meat and seasoning mixture?
No, the seasoning mixture has 1 cup of liquid in it which is sufficient. Enjoy!
So I made this recipe today and well…..😩. I don’t know if maybe I added too much cumin/cloves but my whole family felt like they were eating pie. I’m so sad that I didn’t like this recipe. 🥴
Sorry to hear that Anna. Did you follow the measurements in the recipe for the cloves? 1/2 tsp isn’t much for 3 lbs of beef but you can always cut it down further to suit your taste.
This recipe is amazing! Just made it and paired it with pineapple salsa, guac, roasted red peppers, and plain almond milk yogurt (as a dairy free sour cream), and tortilla chips. It’s the bomb. So good – broiling the shredded beef brought it to another level. Will be adding to our regular recipe rotation. Thank you Justin and Erica!
You’re welcome and your serving options sound delicious!
Has anyone ever tried making this using a Dutch oven and transferring it to the oven to slow cook? Wondering how they did that if so.
Real barbacoa is made from cow tongue. Not pot roast.
The name’s literal translation is: meat from the HEAD of a cow.
Yes, we saw your last comment stating the same thing :). We will keep our recipe as is and feel free to make your barbacoa any which way you please.
REAL BARBACOA IS MADE WITH CUTS OF BEEF MOST AMERICANS ARE AFRAID TO EAT.IT”S MADE FROMA COW’S LIPS;TONGUE,AND CHEEKS.
THE NAME’S LITERAL TRANSLATION IS: MEAT FROM THE HEAD OF A COW.
Good to know and thank you for being the barbacoa police :).
Why yell?😆
It should state somewhere that this is super spicy!!! It was so hot I could barely eat it. I was really disappointed.
That’s weird, we haven’t received that feedback before and didn’t find this to have much spice. We even use a pretty spicy chipotle powder, but maybe yours had an extra kick? Sorry to hear that the recipe was too spicy, I’ve added a note to the recipe card based on your feedback.
I found if you shredded the meat in the sauce and don’t drain any sauce off mine to be really spicey. I solved that by draining the meat from the sauce and offering the sauce on side for those that like the kick.
Tried this in our slow cooker yesterday. Both my husband and I thought it was absolutely fantastic! I’m planning to make a double batch next in hopes that it freezes well for dinners this fall. Thank you for an amazing addition to my repertoire.
You’re very welcome Amy! It does freeze well, be sure to freeze all those tasty juices too :).
My husband and I love this beef recipe and I make it often! But I do have to say that the prep time is NOT 10 minutes! I am an experienced cook and it still takes me about half an hour to get this ready.
Glad you like the recipe Janet! The prep time is noted to only cover steps 1-2, with the cooking time covering the rest.
This was wonderful! I bought a brisket that I thought I’d use in a stir fry — and then realized that brisket probably wasn’t the right cut for stir fry … so I started looking for something else. This recipe was easy and delicious! After I shredded the meat, I looked at all the pan juices left in my pressure cooker and decided to use them somehow — so I mixed them with some mayo and we used it as a ‘sauce’ on the beef & rice. I used some as ‘dressing’ on my southwest cobb salad yesterday at lunch and it was fabulous! Thanks for the recipe. My 19-yo son was wandering in the kitchen last night and asked, “Mom, was there any of that barbacoa left? …” 🙂
So glad you guys enjoyed the recipe and I love the idea of making a sauce out of the juices. Sounds delicious!
Family favorite
So delicious!! Will definitely be making again!!
This is now our go-to for tacos! So flavorful!
SO good!
My one question is about the oranges – I used 3 and still had to sub in some lime juice to get 3/4 cup. Am I juicing them wrong or do you have huge oranges?
I usually don’t do crock pot recipes that ask you to brown the meat, but I made an exception and am glad I did! It was still very easy, I prepped the rest while browning – used venison in place of the beef – thanks for a great recipe!
Maybe we just have huge oranges? I really squeeze them and massage them to get all the juice out, maybe that’s why. Either way, glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Fantastic recipe. Mine was very citrusy which isn’t necessarily bad – maybe my Florida limes and oranges were just extra juicy! My fiance and I love spice and usually we have to liven up most recipes but I followed yours perfectly (a rarity for me) and I’m glad I did because the ratios and spices were great.
Glad you enjoyed the recipes and spice mixture, this is one of our favorites too!
I made this for the second time- the first time was for a potluck in 2020 before the pandemic hit, and it was a hit! I don’t know why I waited so long to make this again, the whole family loved it! We’ll definitely be putting it in our Taco Tuesday rotation! 🌮❤️
This was very good but way too strong of a cloves flavor for my taste. If I make it again I will cut that ingredient in half at least.
Why does my beef not come out tender in instant pot ?
You could try cooking it for a longer time, say 45 minutes to 1 hour. It’s not as quick but can have a more tender result.
Made this in the crockpot and had it with paleo wraps, guacamole and lettuce. Full of flavor! Will make again.
That sounds great! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Made this last night with a caribou roast and it turned out amazing!! Did the instant pot version and will be making again I. The future!!!
A caribou roast sounds delicious 🙂
Do you think a chuck steak would work ok?
Yes, we’ve used a chuck roast for this recipe and it turned out great.
This recipe was a crowd pleaser at my house. I love the fact that it has wholesome ingredients because I feel like most crockpot recipes are full of junk. We’ve made this twice now. Once I served it with rice and veggies. Yesterday we had it in tacos! Both times it’s been a hit. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome, thanks for the great review!
Do you have any suggestions for how you would cook this if you wanted to braise it in the oven?
We’ve only tried this in the crockpot or instant pot. However, if braising is your preferred method you could try it with the sauce in the recipe.
Great recipe. Made it as rice bowls & tacos. It made 7 meals.
Glad you liked the recipe!
Made this as a rice bowl. Used instant pot. The most time consuming part was cutting up & trimming that 3 lb chuck roast. So yummy! Leftovers will be tacos. This is going to be a standard
It takes a little time to cut up the beef but the end result is well worth it! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and will be making it again 🙂
Can you recommend a certain kind of cheese and additional toppings that would go well with this?
Really any kind of cheese you like and toppings like cilantro, chopped onions, tomatoes, avocado, etc. would be great!
This is SOOO good! We’ve made it several times and every time we’re like..,YUM!! we had some left over, so tonight, while hubby ate his Friday night pizza, I put the rest on some Siete Foods chips with a little cheese, tomato, green onion and guacamole, and OMG, best nachos! Hubby was stealing my nachos and leaving his pizza to get cold. Ha! Now he wants to make the recipe for just nachos. 😉
Hahaha! We love it! We’ve made nachos like that too, and it’s quite tasty! You’re making us hungry! 🙂
What is the amount per serving in grams?
Hi there – you’d just have to convert lbs to grams based on the recipe size.
What is the serving size?
We didn’t measure in cups or grams, but if you divide the total out into 8 equal portions that’s the approximate serving size.
Can you shorten the time by cooking this on high in the crock pot? And if so , how long?
We only recommend cooking this on low in the crockpot for the best results and tender meat.
I’m planning on making this for dinner tomorrow and will use left overs for Tuesday dinner. ? Do you recommend one way over the other to cook this? Crock pot or pressure cooker?
If you have the time I prefer the crockpot because the “low and slow” heat results in very tender meat. The Instant Pot works well too, you can’t go wrong either way.
I made this yesterday and it was FAB! ??
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Made this recipe yesterday. Hands down the BEST recipe I have come across. The dish was packed full of flavor with the right amount of heat. I added some cilantro and avocado when I served it. Thank you for posting such a great and flavorful recipe – we will be adding it to our regular rotation!
That’s so great to hear! We are happy that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Amazing recipe! As always your recipe has our friends and family eating the healthy version of the food they love without knowing! Thank you so much!!!
Hooray! That’s the best! We love showing our friends and family that healthy is just as tasty, too! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and share! 🙂
Fantastic!! I absolutely love your barbacoa. I don’t know anything about Paleo or Whole 30 Plus or whatever you said it was but I was just looking for a recipe for barbacoa that I didn’t have to have chipotle peppers in adobo because I am out and couldn’t go to the grocery when I started cooking. I made a couple of small changes to your recipe like I added a little bit of both orange and lime zest because I always put it in when I make a mojo marinade which is basically what the orange and lime juices are the beginnings of. I have a 13-year-old granddaughter who is a very very picky eater and she surprised me because she loves it!! So that is a major plus. Next time I make it I am going to cut back on the amount of cloves probably by half. It definitely needs to be in the mix of spices but right now it is a little too pronounced for my tastes but all in all my family loves it especially my granddaughter. Thank you for posting it. I am curious now about paleo and whole 30 also so I have some reading to do.
So glad you and your granddaughter loved it! We hope you find some other recipe you like on our site 🙂