Let your slow cooker do the work today and try out these amazing Beef Barbacoa bowls alongside quinoa, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and lime wedges. They’re the best!
Welcome to 3 Scoops of Sugar!
I hope you all are having a great Monday. I can hardly believe it’s almost Christmas because school just started like yesterday. Anyway, I have been cooking up a storm in our kitchen lately and have been doing an insane amount of dishes to go along with all the cooking.
I think you are going to love this beef barbacoa! It’s one of those recipes you keep around for special occasions for a couple reasons: 1) The taste is out of this world! 2) It comes together so nicely in the slow cooker and what better way to prepare the main dish when several people are coming over. 3) You can serve it a number of different ways including beef barbacoa bowls, enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, or in a soup.
I’ll admit I love working in the kitchen but not everyone can say that. So for those of you looking for a great recipe that is quick to prep and stick in the slow cooker, this one’s for you!
The prep involves cutting your chuck roast (4-5lb) into about 10 chunks of meat. Then you will sear it with olive oil over medium high heat on all sides and transfer it to the slow cooker. The final step in prepping this beef barbacoa involves adding the chiles in adobo, beef broth, lime juice, cider vinegar, and seasonings to a blender until smooth and pouring the sauce over the meat. Cook the meat on low for 8-10 hours and that’s the plain and simple truth.
You can certainly choose a number of ways to serve this beef barbacoa but I personally love bowls lately. The best part of a taco, burrito, etc is usually what’s inside so why not cut down to the chase ya know!
Based on what you like/dislike you could create your own custom bowl. Or make it into more of a salad with everything over chopped lettuce. We only had spinach and kale in the fridge so beef barbacoa bowls made the most sense for us at the time. And there was no regret whatsoever!
Our bowls consisted of quinoa, black beans, avocado slices, the beef barbacoa, a lime wedge, and chopped cilantro on top with a sprinkle of coarse salt. And that’s how these beautiful beef barbacoa bowls came to be!!
My husband and I both agreed we are going to be keeping this recipe around for a very long time!
I found this recipe in the HyVee magazine awhile ago and I’m so glad I pulled it out and kept in around because I have been wanting to make beef barbacoa and it was time a recipe like this made it to my blog.
I really hope you like it just as much as we do! It’s more on the spicy side but to offset that you could always do half as many chipotle peppers.
Best Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa
Ingredients
Beef Barbacoa
- 4-5 lb Chuck Roast boneless
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 each chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 3/4 cup beef broth low sodium
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Remaining ingredients for bowls
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 each avocado pitted and sliced
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 dash coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 each lime wedges
Instructions
Prep Meat
- Trim excess fat around chuck roast. Cut meat into about 6-10 separate chunks. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add half of the meat. Sear for about 30 seconds on both sides. Transfer meat to slow cooker.
Prep Sauce
- Place chipotle peppers, broth, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, garlic, oregano, black pepper, and cloves to a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour sauce over meat. Cover meat and cook on low 8-10 hours.
Serve in Bowls
- When beef is finished, transfer meat to a cutting board and shred meat, reserve juices. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Add quinoa to bowls followed by black beans and avocado slices or guacamole. Add shredded beef to bowls along with a lime wedge, chopped cilantro, and a sprinkle of coarse salt. Serve.
Notes
More Great Beef Recipes
Best Oven Baked Round Steak
Easy Beef and Bean Quesadillas
