Beef Barbacoa with Green Rice
Over the years I have made a lot of Carnitas. But today I wanted to switch things up and give Beef Barbacoa a try. It’s a very popular dish at the fast casual restaurant, Chipotle. It has also become one of my slow-cooker favorites. Much like chili, carnitas and mole…there are a bunch of different ways to make this dish. I combined ideas from several different online recipes to come up with my own version.
See the dark brown exterior of the roast? Do not skip the step of searing the roast in a very hot skillet before placing in your slow cooker. Searing meat like this creates a depth of flavor from the carmelization that occurs on the exterior of the meat. It is worth the 10 minutes it takes to do this step.
My version has quite a spicy kick. Thanks to plenty of smoked jalapenos (chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce) and moderately spicy ground chili powder. For those who don’t crave the heat, you can lower the spice by using fewer chili peppers in the sauce.
I chose a very bright and mild side dish, Green Rice with Corn. It paired nicely with the bold Barbacoa flavors. Click here for the rice recipe that I found on Pinterest. I followed most of the recipe except for increasing the cilantro to one whole cup. I am very fond of Cilantro and have recently begun finely chopping the tender stems to include in all my dishes after seeing a famous Latin chef talk about doing this in all of his dishes.
This is what your 3 pound chuck roast will look like after it has simmered on low for 8 hours, most of the cooking liquid is removed and then it gets shredded so it fits perfectly inside a corn tortilla. Of course you can use flour tortillas if you prefer…but I find them to be flavorless and gluey when moist. I like the corn flavor and firmer texture of the corn version.
Like most slow cooker recipes, you end up with a super tender and very flavorful filling for tacos or as a topping for taco salads. We stuffed our white corn tortilla shells with this mouthwatering beef, silky avocado, a tiny bit of tomato, Manchego cheese, fresh cilantro and a squirt of lime.
If you and your family enjoy Mexican flavors, you will love this version of homemade barbacoa!
Beef Barbacoa - slow cooker style
Ingredients
- 3 pound beef chuck roast boneless
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 7 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems, chopped
- 3 large chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 medium serrano chili peppers
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons ground cocoa, natural unsweetened
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried mexican oregano plain oregano is okay
- 1 14 ounce can beef broth
Instructions
- Heat large heavy skillet (cast iron) if you have one over medium high heat.
- Season both sides of chuck roast with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Lay roast in very hot skillet and brown on both sides for approximately 5minutes per side (until it gets a nice color). Leave it alone...don't move the roast around until ready to flip.
- After you have seared the roast on both sides, place it in the bottom of large slow cooker.
- Meanwhile, in food processor or large blender add all of the ingredients from garlic through beef broth.
- Pulse in processor or in blender until everything is combine.
- Pour sauce over roast.
- Drop in bay leaves.
- Fit slow cooker with lid and cook on low for 8 hours of high on 4-5.
- Carefully remove roast from slow cooker.
- Remove bay leaves from sauce and pour sauce into a container. Let sit for a few minutes so fat rises to the top.
- While sauce is cooling for a bit, place roast back in slow cooker. Use 2 folks to shred the beef.
- Skim fat off the top of the sauce. Add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of sauce back into shredded barbacoa. You want it moist, but not swimming in sauce.
- Serve as a filling for tacos, a salad or a Mexican style omelet.
