Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Tacos (2024)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 chipotle chile in adobo, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of most fat and cut into large chunks

1/2 cup reduced-salt chicken broth or All-Purpose Chicken Stock

2 bay leaves

Small (6-inch) corn tortillas, for serving

Salsa or pico de gallo, for serving

Cotija cheese, for serving

Beef Barbacoa and its juices will keep, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days. To reheat, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the beef in a shallow baking dish with enough of the juices to reach a depth of about 1⁄4 inch. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake until hot, about 15 minutes.

Leave a Review

Reviews (32)

• This is a great recipe Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Tacos , had fun making it over the weekend. Recreated the meal that I get from <a href="https://www.flexpromeals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer ugc">https://www.flexpromeals.com/</a> delivered. Good quality and fresh.

  • Vadim

  • 9/30/2023

• I reviewed this a little while back and liked it a lot. So much, that I made another batch for a Super Bowl party. I followed the recipe pretty closely except for one change and one mistake. First off, I rubbed the meat with salt, pepper, and Aleppo chili the evening before and left it in the fridge overnight..That was to give the dish a little extra boost. As for the mistake, I was planning on using homemade chicken broth from a container I had in the freezer. I thawed it out, removed a half cup, and put the rest back in the freezer. The half cup that I was going to put in the barbacoa went into the fridge to wait for its moment. But when that moment came, I forgot to put it in. I had browned the beef in a couple of batches and some of the juices were starting to burn in the Instant Pot, so I dumped the vinegar mix in, put the beef back in, sealed it up, and started the pressure cooking. I didn't realize until after the dish was finished that the stock was still in the fridge. Between the rub and the mistake, the results were wonderful!. The meat had a more intense flavor and the juices were more concentrated. It was fantastic and everyone loved it. I guess there was enough moisture for it to work well without that half cup of broth. So I'll be making this on a regular basis, using the rub and either leaving the broth out entirely or maybe going with a quarter cup if I'm not feeling brave.

  • Mike F.

  • Sacramento, CA

  • 2/17/2022

• Good, easy recipe! We have a smaller Instant Pot, so I had to sear the beef in small batches, which took much longer than 8 minutes. (Not sure it even added much, so I might experiment with skipping that process in the future.) However, the cooking time (30m cooking + 20m cooling) worked fine for me; definitely got soft & shredded easily. My only other adjustment was adding in some of the cooking juices + a small amount of sugar to the final shredded beef. Without those, it just seemed too bland. With them, it was a crowd pleaser! All 4 diners really enjoyed it.

  • Locketry

  • DC area

  • 3/19/2021

• This is delicious, but like others have said, the cooking time was way off. For me "Large Chunks" means pieces about 1.5 inches. So when the time was up the meat was still tough. I added another 20 minutes to the cook time and it was perfectly tender. But like I said, it was very tasty. Just have to remember that it takes longer

  • bryhill

  • Oakland, CA

  • 1/20/2021

• I thought this was fantastic! I added an extra chipotle, and a minced onion. I also cooked my meat for 45 minutes which was perfect. Overall a really easy dish to pull together with minimal fuss on my part, but lots of flavor. I did follow the suggestion of crisping up the meat in the broiler before serving - that added a fabulous texture to the tacos.

  • kunjan

  • Oregon

  • 7/17/2020

• I very much liked this one. It's interesting that so many people have had to up the cooking time. I followed the instructions exactly - 30 minutes of cooking time and around 20 m0re before opening and the meat pretty much fell apart all by itself. I do think the recipe should add that some of the juices should be added to the meat before serving. The meat by itself is a little bland but the juices really make it good. We'll likely make quesadillas with the leftovers (but nachos sound great as well).

  • mfiligenzi

  • Sacramento. CA

  • 6/29/2020

• Just alright - not the best recipe. The cloves were weird at first, but after reheating for left-overs that seemed to mellow. I think i will keep searching for a better recipe.

  • sidenator

  • Montana

  • 6/5/2020

• Cooking time was not nearly long enough to make meat tender. I was frustrated that the recipe didn't specify how "large" of chunks to cut the meat into, but even though mine seemed on the smaller side, they were not cooked nearly long enough to make meat shredable. Disappointing.

  • kburke1

  • Madison, WI

  • 5/5/2020

• Followed recipe exactly as written. It was OK, not as tender as I'd like and didn't retain all of the flavors. I will add 10 mins to pressure cook time and up the flavor and spice profile next time. Pickled onions were great added. Leftovers went to nachos (good).

  • Anonymous

  • Floriduh

  • 4/21/2020

• Very good, we will make it again

  • Anonymous

  • Reno, NV

  • 4/8/2020

• My son picked this recipe for us to try out. We all loved it and will definitely be making it again!

  • brown.roming9548

  • Central, CT

  • 4/5/2020

• This is easy and delicious. A few minor adjustments - double or triple the chipotle plus add some adobo sauce, cook for 40-50 minutes to get really tender. And after cooking, crisp in the broiler for 10-15 minutes along with some red onions. The crisping really makes a difference. I usually serve with corn salsa and have a ton of leftovers for burrito bowls during the week.

  • mariazufall

  • Atlanta

  • 2/16/2020

• Easy and delicious. Next time I will chop the beef into smaller chunks or cook it for a little longer to make it just a bit more tender.

  • Anonymous

  • Chicago, IL

  • 2/3/2020

• Amazing! Served on corn tortillas with cheese, sour cream and tomatillo salsa. Will be masking again very soon.

  • laura.murphy5440

  • Colorado

  • 9/28/2019

• These turned our great!!! I added some additional cumin, chipotle chili, oregano and Apple cider vinegar. This was a crowd pleaser, I’ve made this several times.

  • wbeardshaw300

  • Manasota Beach, FL

  • 9/3/2019

TagsTacoMexicanLatin AmericanBeef ChuckBeefMeatLimeCitrusFruitChipotleChileVegetableCotijaCheeseDairyMainDinnerNut FreeGluten FreeOne-Pot MealsWeeknight MealsBraiseInstant PotCookbooks