Dana’s Delicious Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa

Fall-apart tender, flavorful barbacoa beef made super easy in a slow cooker! This recipe is a spot-on Chipotle copycat!

A few years back, Dana made a homemade version of Chipotle’s Barbacoa, and I’ve been hooked ever since! It’s packed with bold Mexican spices, a touch of tanginess, and just the right kick of heat. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite Mexican-inspired dishes to make. I slow-cooked it for 8 hours on low (since the recipe called for “all day”), and the beef turned out meltingly tender — it practically shredded itself!

I like to have this with tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, taco salad, burritos — just to name a few.

Thanks, Dana, for sharing this recipe with me! ❤️

This recipe has been adapted from geniuskitchen.com.

Serve 12

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Ingredients

• 1/3C apple cider vinegar

• 3 tbsp lime juice

• 3~4 chipotle chiles in adobo (including the sauce)

• 3~4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

• 4 tsp cumin

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp back pepper

• 1 tsp Kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• about 4 lbs chuck roast

• 3/4C beef broth

• 3 Bay leaves

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Instructions

1. For the adobo sauce: Combine the vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt, and cloves in a blender. Blend on high speed until completely smooth.

   

2. Trim most of the fat from the chuck roast, then cut it into chunks. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Sear the roast on all sides until nicely browned, working in batches of 5~8 pieces at a time, depending on the size of your pan.

   

3. Place the seared roast pieces into a slow cooker. Pour the adobo sauce and chicken broth over the meat, then add the bay leaves. (Pro tip: I like to pour the broth into the blender first, give it a little swirl to catch any remaining sauce, and then pour that into the slow cooker too — no flavor left behind!)

   

4. Cook on low for about 8 hours, until the meat is fall-apart tender. Remove the meat from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, give it a stir, and switch the heat to warm until ready to serve.

   

   

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