Barbacoa beef is spicy, tangy full of flavor! This shredded beef gets its melt-in-your-mouth flavor by braising it in the Instant Pot with a blended sauce of pureed chipotle adobo, lime, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano. Barbacoa beef is perfect for tacos, burritos, nachos, or rice bowls!
What is Barbacoa?
Ok, so I’m sure you are familiar with the term “Barbacoa”. It’s become a household name thanks to the popular Mexican food chain “Chipotle”, which uses Barbacoa as one of your choices as a protein for your customized burrito, rice bowl or salad of choice. Us Americans have come to know Barbacoa as beef that has been slow cooked until tender and shredded.
But the traditional origins of Barbacoa is actually quite different. First of all, Barbacoa has many regional variations, so it’s’ hard to pinpoint just one true Barbacoa recipe. But, traditionally the dish is made with beef, lamb, goat, and organ meats! And of course, an authentic Barbacoa is not made in an Instant Pot! It’s cooked in a brick-lined pit. Do you have one of those? Yeah, neither do I!
However, despite differentials in the method of cooking or type of meat used, what we do still have in common with our Americanized Barbacoa and an Authentic Barbacoa is that the final result is yields a tender, juicy, and shreddable meat.
Can Barbacoa Only Be Made in the Instant Pot?
There are a couple ways to make beef Barbacoa. You can make it in the oven, on the grill, in the slow cooker or instant pot. This recipe calls for one of my favorite handy helpers: The Instant Pot AKA a pressure cooker.
What Type of Beef Do You Use for Barbacoa?
- Beef Brisket
- Beef Chuck Roast
- Beef Shoulder
- Top or Bottom Roast
What to Serve with Beef Barbacoa:
- Serve barbacoa on a lettuce cup with cilantro, onions, and avocado!
- Pile the tender barbacoa over rice quinoa or cauliflower rice!
- Top a baked sweet potato with shredded barbacoa!
- Use a filling for tacos or burritos!
- Bake over tortilla chips for shredded beef nachos!
- Roll in a tortilla with beans and cover with enchilada sauce for barbaoca enchiladas!
How To Make Beef Barbacoa in Instant Pot?
- Place garlic, onion, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, oregano, chipotles, cloves, water/stock, apple cider, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and and puree until smooth.
- Trim all the fat off meat, cut into about 3-inch pieces. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Press “saute” on Instant Pot and when hot add the oil. Brown the meat on all sides. Do this in batches. Turn Saute off.
- Return all seared meat to Instant Pot with sauce from blender and bay leaves, cover and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes
- Natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release.
- Set oven to “broil”
- Remove the meat and Shred with two forks or with chef’s knife by cutting against the grain.
- Place shredded meat on baking sheet. Spoon 1/2 cup of sauce over top and broil for 5 minutes to make meat slightly crispy. This step is not necessary and may be omitted. I just love when shredded beef has a little extra crunch to it!
- Remove from oven and use Barbacoa beef as desired.
For more recipes like this try: CHIPOTLE ORANGE CHICKEN TACOS WITH MANGO-LIME SLAW or INSTANT POT BLACK BEANS or THE VERY BEST BRISKET- INSTANT POT RECIPE
Barbacoa Beef- Instant Pot Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs brisket bottom round roast, or chuck roast
- 1 tsp oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 onion
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 3 chipotles in adobo
- 1 tbsp cumin
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup water or stock
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- black pepper
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
- Place garlic, onion, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, oregano, chipotles, cloves, water/stock, apple cider, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and and puree until smooth.
- Trim excess fat, leave some, off meat and cut into about 3-inch pieces. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Press “saute” on Instant Pot and when hot add the oil. Brown the meat on all sides. Do this in batches. Turn Saute off.
- Return all seared meat to Instant Pot with sauce from blender and bay leaves, cover and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes
- Natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release.
- Set oven to "broil"
- Remove the meat and Shred with two forks or with chef’s knife by cutting against the grain.
- Place shredded meat on baking sheet. Spoon 1/2 cup of sauce over top and broil for 5 minutes to make meat slightly crispy. This step is not necessary. May be omitted.
- Remove from oven and use Barbacoa beef as desired.
Nutrition
Came out perfect! I have used this recipe three times now and it has been a success every time. I used brisket mostly and chicken once, still came out extremely tasty
I’m so happy to hear!! This is a go-to for us as well!!
The instructions say to add cilantro to the blender but cilantro is not in the ingredient list. How much cilantro is it?
Hi Ashley! You’re absolutely right, my mistake. I will edit. Just a handful will do. I’d say 1/4 cup chopped, or there about.