Okay, I’m sure we are all aware of the deliciousness that is Barbacoa. If you have never had barbacoa, man, you haven’t lived. It is easily the top 3 favorite dishes that I have made for my family. In fact, a friend recently said I should open up a “white girl taqueria” because it was THAT good.
Our favorite way to eat Barbacoa is stuffed into a bell pepper and then topped with coleslaw. Follow it up with a drizzle of some cilantro lime dressing. Guaranteed you will have an out of body experience with these bad boys. If making stuffed peppers just isn’t your thing, you can make tacos out of them using some tortillas. I’m not yo’ mama, so eat this however you’d like!
If you have a bunch of time and want to level up with the barbacoa, I suggest smoking it on your smoker. (instructions for that later). The outside of the meat gets a nice bark to it and blends so well once shredded. I did it for my birthday for the first time a couple years back, and like I said, if I have the time to smoke it, I will go that route. Don’t worry, its not hard, you just have to be around for a couple steps, unlike the slow cooker way where you can leave it!
This Barbacoa calls for either chiptole powder (if you are doing a whole30) or chipotles in adobo sauce. It adds more of a smokiness rather than heat, but if you are scared of the heat halve what the recipe calls for. You can always add it at the end after you have shredded the meat.
This dish goes really really well with my ROASTED CORN SALAD on a summer day. Okay, okay, lets be real….it goes well any day!
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chuck roast, cut into large chunks, fat removed (keep whole if smoking)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 7 oz can of mild chopped green chilies
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 to 2 tbsp chipotle powder or 2 chipotles in adobo sauce
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp of cumin
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 3 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- bell peppers, halved or tortillas
- OPTIONAL: coleslaw, fresh cilantro
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 2 tbsp mayonaise
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp avocado or extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cut chuck roast into large chunks and place into your slow cooker.
- Add in your diced onion, garlic, green chilis, seasonings,chipotle in adobo sauce, lime juice, water, apple cider vinegar, and bay leaves.
- Place lid on and let cook on low for 6 hours.
- Once the time is up, shred your meat using two forks. This should be easy to do, if not, let cook for another 30 minutes.
- Lastly, add barbacoa to a tortilla or inside a bell pepper, top with the cilantro lime dressing and enjoy!
- Turn your smoker to 265 degrees F.
- Once the smoker gets to temp, place entire chuck roast in the center of the smoker and close lid.
- Let cook for 3 hours or until internal temperature reachers 165 degrees F.
- Start spritzing the meat after the first hour with equal parts apple cider vinegar and water. Do this every 45 minutes.
- Remove the chuck roast once it hits that internal temperature of 165 degrees F and place into an aluminum pan or casserole dish.
- Add the green chilis, diced onion, garlic, seasonings, chipotle in adobo sauce, lime juice, water, apple cider vinegar and bay leaves to the pan with the meat and cover with aluminum foil.
- Place back onto the smoker and let it cook until internal temperature reaches 204 degrees F. This should take another 4 hours or so.
- Remove from smoker, shred the meat and enjoy in a tortilla or bell pepper!
- Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth!
Whole30: yes
Paleo: yes
Do you have any suggestions for what to do with the leftovers?
Hi Marissa!
It goes great with anything really as a leftover. I like to put them in bell peppers, like a stuffed pepper. I’ll put my kids leftovers and make tacos out of it. Over salad is good too. I’ve frozen the leftovers before too. If you eat rice or corn, it’s great with a cilantro lime rice. Hope this gives you a few ideas!
Wish I could share a pic if our brkfst thus am. I used left over barbacoa and roasted peppers under scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese and salsa and baked for about 25 min. It was scrumptious! I love this meat recipe!
oh my!!! Your breakfast sounds heavenly. I’m gonna have to try that next time I make it!!
How many people will this feed? I am hosting a whole30 dinner for 4 people. Is this enough food?
Hi Chelsea! Definitely enough for 4 people. Especially if you get closer to a 4 lb roast 🙂
Hi Chelsea, sorry for the delay in commenting….this would feed 4 easily! I have 7 in my family and we sometimes have leftovers. sometimes 😉
Made this dish the other night and really enjoyed it. Will definitely make a much bigger batch next time. As I’m in Australia, just wondering what size the small jar of green chillies is? I didn’t have any so I improvised and I’m not sure the heat was quite right
the size is 4 oz. Sometimes I also use chipotles in adobo sauce (if you can find that) to crank up the heat.
Thanks! I have seen the chipotles in adobo sauce here at our local supermarket so I’ll try them.
Hi! If I use the chipotles in adobo sauce will it still be whole30 approved? Any specific brand you use that will keep it whole30? Thanks! Also I don’t own a crock pot. Can I make it in the oven? Thanks!
I haven’t found chipotles in adobo sauce that is whole30 approved yet (that’s why I use chipotle powder), but when I’m not on a whole30 I prefer them in the adobo sauce. Either way its still delicious!! 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Jen – we love this recipe. Have you ever done it in the pressure cooker? If so which settings do you use? Thanks!
I haven’t done it in the pressure cooker, but I would cube the meat into large chunks, put on saute mode 1st and get the edges brown. Then add all ingredients, and set to meat/stew for 35 minutes. After the 35 min, let is release the pressure naturally which should take about 15 minutes. Shred with a fork, If it’s not easy to shred, put in for another 10 min.
Do you suggest adding any liquids to the IP in addition to the ingredients? Or will it be fine with just the meat and other ingredients?
I usually always add in a least a cup of water or you can do broth.
Made the meat tonight, we ate it on tacos (jicama shells for me). Will definitely make it again.
Oh, this was good! We made barbacoa bowls out of this. Organic peppers are crazy expensive, so we cooked up just one with an onion and served it all over cauliflower rice and lettuce. The cilantro lime cream sauce was the perfect accompaniment! Thanks for the supper inspiration! <3
Love that you made bowls out of it!!!