Succulent, authentically seasoned, slow-simmered barbacoa beef tacos served, topped with fresh cilantro and onion.

Beef barbacoa is all about the meat; serve on a small tortilla and stick to few toppings.

One of the best things about these tacos is that they can be served without a bunch of fussy toppings.

What Kind of Meat is Barbacoa?

Barbacoa refers to a preparation of meat that is slow simmered in a spiced broth until it falls apart. It is usually prepared from beef, goat, or sheep meat. To read more about how to do a traditional barbacoa pit in the ground, click here.

What does Barbacoa Taste Like?

Barbacoa is so much more flavorful than just regular shredded meat tacos. It has layers of flavors from the dried chilies, broth and the slow simmering that is so important for barbacoa.

How to Make it

Preparing the meat to go in the oven requires a few specific steps. Once everything is in the oven, you get to walk away and let it do it's thing for several hours.

Prepare the Dried Chilies

Using dried chilies is essential. You'll find these in the Mexican food aisle at the grocery store. You can research dried chili flavors by clicking here, but I recommend Ancho and Guajillo chilies.

bag and jars of dried ancho and guajillo chili peppers

A variety of dried chilies can be found in the Mexican food aisle or bulk section of the grocery store.

Ancho chilies will give a deep, almost chocolaty flavor that is key for an adobo, and Guajillo chilies are a staple in most any Mexican spiced sauce.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies. This can be done easily, without a knife by just tearing the stem off the top and splitting open the side of the pepper with your thumb. There, you can just shake out the seeds and discard them with the stems.

holding a dried chili pod that's been opened up to shake out seeds and remove stem

Tear the stem off and slit the pod open with thumb to shake out the seeds.

Once the stems and seeds have been removed, the chilies can be simmered in chicken stock with onion, garlic and spices to soften. After about 10 minutes, puree the contents of the pot until smooth. This is called an adobo. (Adobo can mean a variety of things, click here for a helpful article to clear things up.)

dried chilies, onion and garlic simmered in a pot of chicken stock

Simmer the dried chilies, onion, garlic and chicken stock until chilies are soft. Then puree to make adobo.

Cooking the Meat

Salt and pepper all sides of the meat, and sear on high heat in a skillet to form a nice crust. It's helpful to just use the dutch oven that you plan to simmer the meat in. Use two forks or tongs to turn the meat onto each side (including ends) to achieve a full sear all over the outside. You don't need to cook the meat through, this is just to create flavor through the "crust" that forms as the meat browns.

Once seared, pour the pureed chili mixture (adobo) over the meat. Add additional liquid such as beer, stock, or water to loosen up the consistency. Add bay leaves, cover loosely and cook low and slow until the meat falls apart.

seared beef covered with adobo sauce and beer

Add an additional liquid such as beer, stock or water to the meat and sauce.

Cover loosely with foil or with a lid that has been set slightly off center. Cook at 275 degrees for 5-7 hours until meat is falling apart. Baste, or spoon juices in the pan over the meat every hour or two.

"Chunk" Apart the Meat

Once the meat can be easily pulled off with a fork with almost no effort or force, remove it from the oven. In the same pan that it's in, use two forks or dull knives to break meat apart into pieces. This doesn't need to be "shredded" so much as "chunked". You could even do this with a metal spatula.

How is Barbacoa Served?

This amazing, life changing meat doesn't need much but a taco shell, some cilantro and onion. A lime wedge, if you've got one. But the star of the show is definitely the meat and you don't want to cover that up with a ton of toppings.

six tacos de barbacoa topped with cilantro and onion with lime wedges on rustic wood

Let the meat be at the forefront by serving the tacos with only cilantro, onion and a lime wedge.

For more slow cooked goodness, try my BBQ Beef Sandwiches, and delicious Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw.

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