Jump to:📋 What do we need? 🍽️ What to serve these tacos with 🍲 More recipes in wraps! Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef 💬 Reviews
I love how juicy and tender the beef in this recipe is. Just a little bit spicy and a little bit tangy too. I can put far too many of these tacos away in one sitting!Of course this isn’t a traditional recipe. Traditional barbacoa - which is believed to have originated in Barbados, but is more commonly known now as Mexican cuisine - uses meat (lamb or goat usually), that is slow roasted for several hours in a pit that is topped with maguey (agave) leaves.
This is a slow-cooker method - very different from pit cooking! But we’re still using those Mexican molé flavours with cumin, coriander, garlic and adobo for a rich and delicious flavour.
It’s one of those recipes where you just do a little up front work, then leave it cooking in the slow cooker - filling the house with those rich aromas!
Great for a family feast, or when you have guests - you can serve up the beef in the slow cooker and put all of your toppings out on the table to so everyone can dig in and help themselves.
The beef - I’m going with braising/stewing beef (often known as chuck steak, which comes from the forequarter) as it’s an inexpensive cut and needs long, slow cooking to break down and become tender - rather than chewy. That’s exactly what we’re doing with this recipe, so this cut is perfect. If you like, you can replace with ∫ (cut it into chunks first, so the flavour is evenly distributed). Dried oregano - go with Mexican oregano (<–like this one - not an affiliate link), rather than Italian oregano. They have distinctly different flavours - Italian oregano is quite mild with mint undertones from the origanum family. Mexican oregano is stronger with liquorice-lemon notes - it actually comes from an entirely different plant - in the verbana family.Go with soft tacos, rather than larger tortillas. I like Luchito taco wraps (not an affiliate link) - I’ve seen them in Sainsburys and Ocado. M&S also do their own version, which are pretty good.
Be sure to drizzle over any sauce left in the bottom of the slow cooker for ultra juicy meat 😋 Stay updated with new recipes!Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m also on YouTube (new videos every week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes stories & beautiful food photos). Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
