Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

This smokey crockpot barbacoa is packed with chipotle, garlic, lime, and clove flavor in every bite! It’s a set-it-and-forget-it meal that’s great for meal prep, put the barbacoa in tortillas, over rice or on a sandwich!

This spicy crockpot barbacoa recipe will bring bold, smokey Mexican flavors to your dinner table. Slow-cooked, tender beef is cooked to perfection in a zesty chipotle sauce infused with red onion, fragrant garlic, and bay leaves. Once shredded, it’s amazing in tacos, burritos, or on rice bowls for a simple, hearty dinner.

Barbacoa is a traditional Mexican dish and cooking method. It’s typically made in an earth oven with hot stones and the meat is wrapped in banana leaves. The oven is also covered with banana leaves to trap the steam inside. Barbacoa can be made with beef, lamb, or goat. The meat is slow-cooked for 8-12 hours until it’s ultra tender and easily pulls apart. It’s served for breakfast with corn tortillas and is garnished with fresh cilantro and diced onions, but it can also be enjoyed for dinner.

• 4 lb. beef chuck roast, cut into large chunks
• 4 chipotle peppers (from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
• 2 tablespoon of adobo sauce from chipotle pepper can
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 whole head of garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups beef bone broth
• 3 dry bay leaves