Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef — 🎉🌮🙌🏻 Learn how to make authentic-tasting barbacoa beef in your Instant Pot OR slow cooker! Either way is EASY, and the meat tastes just like from your favorite Mexican restaurant! Everyone LOVES how juicy and tender it is! Use the barbacoa beef in tacos, quesadillas, sandwiches, and more!
Table of Contents
What is Barbacoa Beef?
If you’ve never eaten barbacoa before, it’s essentially slow cooked beef that’s been flavored with a mixture of herbs, spices, and chiles. I used a trimmed boneless beef chuck roast in this Instant Pot recipe.
Barbacoa beef made in an Instant Pot is ready in about 1 hour.
In traditional preparations of barbacoa, multiple different parts of the beef head were used, as well as sheep or goat, but we’re not going down those roads with this recipe.
Slap it in some warmed corn tortillas, top with a squirt of lime juice, cilantro, and red onions, and you have tacos to-die-for.
The whole family is going to love these tacos and you don’t have to dig a hole and let the meat cook for 12 hours, which is traditionally how barbacoa was made. Just use your Instant Pot!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Barbacoa
To make this beef barbacoa in your Instant Pot, you’ll need:
- Beef stock
- White onion
- Garlic
- Canned green chiles
- Chipotles in adobo sauce
- Lime juice
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dried herbs and spices
- Olive oil
- Boneless beef chuck
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef
This is an overview how to make this glorious beef barbacoa. Make sure to see the recipe card below for more details.
- Blend together the onion, garlic, chipotle peppers in adobe, adobo sauce, green chiles, lime juice, cumin, and Mexican oregano.
- Dice a chuck roast into chunks, throw it into your Instant Pot and sear it.
- One the meat is seared, top with the 13-ingredient sauce, and let it cook.
- Shred it and dig in. Tacos are the way we love it most!
Barbacoa FAQs
This Instant Pot barbacoa is so juicy, tender, and full of flavor. It’s not spicy per se, but rather it’s flavorful. If you want to up the heat level, use more chipotles in adobo and/or more adobo sauce.
I suggest buying a boneless beef chuck roast.
If you can’t find it, regular oregano is okay.
Some recipes use dried chiles, but it’s another step and process to soften them and using canned chipotles in adobo is so easy and delivers plenty of flavor. So, yes, you can use dried chiles if you have some you’re trying to use up, but otherwise I suggest following the recipe as written!
You don’t have to stop with just tacos when enjoying this Instant Pot barbacoa. Use the Mexican beef in burritos, quesadillas, on tostadas, in salads, or make sandwiches or tortas with it.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
In the Freezer: This recipe will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 1-2 months. Barbacoa beef freezes incredibly well. Just be sure to sure freeze it with some of the juices from the meat so it doesn’t dry out.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease and reheat my leftovers for about 30 seconds on high, or as needed.
What to Serve With Beef Barbacoa
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Instant Pot OR Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker 6 or 7-quart
Ingredients
- ¾ cup beef stock, Mexican beer (Sol, Pacifico, Negro Modelo, etc.), or water
- 1 small/medium white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 to 5 cloves garlic
- one 4-ounce can diced green chiles
- 4 chipotles in adobo sauce, or reduce/increase to taste based on preferred heat level
- 1 to 2 tablespoons adobo sauce, or reduce/increase to taste based on preferred heat level
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 heaping tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 heaping tablespoon dried Mexican oregano, regular oregano may be substituted
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, fat trimmed, and diced into 2-inch chunks
- 3 or 4 bay leaves
- corn tortillas, lime juice, cilantro, red onions, avocado, cotija cheese, etc.; for serving
Instructions
- To the canister of a high speed blender or food processor, add the first 13 ingredients (through cloves), and process on high speed to combine until smooth; set aside.
Instant Pot Directions:
- Add the oil, beef, and sear on all sides until nicely crusted using the Saute function; flip intermittently; press Cancel to turn off the heat.
- Add the 13-ingredient puree to the beef that’s in your Instant Pot, add the bay leaves, stir to combine, close lid securely and set vent to Sealing.
- Press Manual, then press Pressure until the light on High Pressure illuminates. Adjust the +/- buttons until time reads 60 minutes and cook.
- After 60 minutes, carefully turn the vent to Venting for quick release, wait until all of the steam has released, and the valve has dropped.
- Remove the lid, discard bay leaves, shred the meat with 2 forks, and I recommend allowing it to sit in the juices for about 15 minutes before serving so it soaks up even more flavor.
Slow Cooker Directions:
- If using a slow cooker (I recommend a 6-quart size, give or take) and it has a searing function, use it here by adding the oil, beef, and sear on all sides until nicely crusted; flip intermittently. If it does not have a searing function, sear the beef in a large skillet or Dutch and then transfer it back into your slow cooker.
- Add the 13-ingredient puree to the beef that’s in your Slow Cooker, add the bay leaves, stir to combine, close lid, and cook for about 4 to 5 hours on High or about 7 to 8 hours on Low.
- Remove the lid, discard bay leaves, shred the meat with 2 forks, and I recommend allowing it to sit in the juices for about 15 minutes before serving so it soaks up even more flavor.
- Serve on warmed tortillas, or make burritos, quesadillas, tostados, sandwiches, tortas, etc.
Notes
- Beef will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Steak Quesadillas – 🌮🥩🧀 Stuffed to the max with juicy strips of steak, peppers and onions, and plenty of melted cheese, these EASY quesadillas are a family FAVORITE!
Can this recipe be done in an 8 quart instant pot?
I have the 6 quart option https://amzn.to/3PyRmJm but I am sure it will be fine in an 8 quart. Not sure if you will need to make any modifications to cooking time – probably very little if you do, but I have not tested it.
Thanks for sharing this Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef, super excited to try this one with us . Surely gonna try this one
Thanks for sharing this Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef, super excited to try this one with us . Surely gonna try this one
Thanks for sharing this Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef, super excited to try this one with us . Surely gonna try this one
Was a BIG HIT at our annual Mother’s Day lunch. Making it again for my husband’s bday plus I’ve been asked for the recipe as well by family :-)
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times, and continue to just love it every single time. I use moose, and it is oh so very tasty! Thank you, thank you.
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times, and continue to just love it every single time. I use moose, and it is oh so very tasty! Thank you, thank you.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad to hear you’ve made it multiple times and continue to love it!