Spicy Beef Barbacoa

Every now and then I get a craving for beef. I usually take it as a sign that my body is needing it and I do my best to listen to my body’s needs and nurture them as best as I can.

Well, the other day this craving hit as I was browsing through Pinterest. I stumbled upon a recipe for beef barbacoa from this site, and I knew I had to give it a shot. This particular recipe I found has you braising the beef in the oven all day, but since I was going to be at work and that wasn’t possible for me, I pulled out the trusty crock pot to get the job done.

I used some pieces of this recipe and some from this one to create my spicy beef barbacoa.

The preparation was so simple. I began by pureeing together chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, lime juice, and red wine vinegar. Once that was all pureed and blended together I set it aside.

On the stove top, I did a quick pan-sear on each side of the 1.5 lb chuck roast over high heat, using tongs to rotate the meat. Once all sides were seared, I placed the meat into the crock pot, topped it with the chipotle sauce, and then added the rest of the seasonings (recipe below) as well as a touch of chicken bone broth. I was so close to opening up a container of beef broth to use in this recipe but decided against it as I had a whole container of homemade chicken bone broth waiting for me in the fridge, plus I only needed a small amount of broth.

Next is the easiest part. I covered the crock pot, and set it on low for 8 hours. I gave it 2-3 stirs throughout the entire cooking process. After 8 hours, I removed the meat and placed it on a cutting board, removed excess fat, shredded the meat, then added back to the crock pot.

We charred up a few corn tortillas over the stove, plated the tortillas, topped them with beef barbacoa, cilantro, diced white onion, and tomatillo salsa.

Then it was go time. Spicy go time!

beef barbacoa beef barbacoa beef barbacoa beef barbacoa

These were incredible. The flavors were so vibrant and a medium amount of spicy kick really made the dish exciting. We felt like we were eating straight out of a professional food truck!

These are so simple to make but present themselves as fancy and time-consuming. This would be a great meal for entertaining, just make sure your guests can handle a little bit of heat!

Beef Barbacoa
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1½ lbs chuck roast
  • 6 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • 1 Tbsp of extra adobo sauce
  • ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 Tbsp cumin
  • 1 Tbsp oregano
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ cup chicken bone broth
  • corn tortillas
  • white onion, diced
  • cilantro, chopped
  • tomatillo salsa
Instructions
  1. On the stove top, pan sear each side of the roast over high heat.
  2. Transfer roast to crock pot.
  3. In a mini food processor, blend together chipotle peppers, sauce, vinegar, lime juice, and garlic. Pour into crock pot.
  4. Add cumin, oregano, cinnamon, bay leaves and broth to the crock pot. Cover and turn on low for 8 hours.
  5. Remove roast from pot and remove excess fat if desired. Use two forks to shred the beef, then add it back into the crock pot.
  6. Arrange tortillas on a plate, top with beef, next diced onion, cilantro, and salsa. Devour.

Recipe adaptation from these two sites: tablespoon.com and abitchinkitchen

Can you handle a little heat?!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

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