Barbacoa Beef (Slow Cooker, Paleo, Keto, Whole30, AIP)
This slow cooker barbacoa is an easy and delicious protein to add to burrito bowls, or make into tacos! The barbacoa is paleo, whole30 compliant, and can be adapted to be AIP.
What is Barbacoa?
Maybe you’ve seen barbacoa on the menu at a restaurant, in line building a burrito bowl at Chipotle, or have made it in your own home before, but it’s seriously amazing! Barbacoa is a Mexican dish that’s made from slow-cooked meat (you’ll most often see it done with beef) that’s tender and shredded to perfection. It’s made with herbs like oregano, bay leaf, and fresh cilantro, as well as beef broth, lime juice, and cumin and chilies. You can easily make this AIP by leaving out the nightshades and the cumin.
This beef barbacoa is a perfect protein for batch cooking! You can easily make on the weekend and serve in a variety of different ways like tacos, burrito bowls, or over nachos. You can easily adapt this simple protein to make it paleo, AIP, whole30, and keto depending on how you serve it. And the best part? It’s simply made in the slow cooker!
How to make Barbacoa in the Slow Cooker
- Slice the chuck roast into 6-8 large chunks. If desired, sear in a pan.
- Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir well to coat the roast.
- Set the slow cooker to high for 4 hours, or low for 6-8 hours.
- Once the meat easily shreds, the barbacoa is done and ready to serve!
Ingredients for Barbacoa Beef
Chuck Roast
You’ll slice the chuck roast into 6-8 slices.
Beef broth & lime juice
Fresh garlic, onion, bay leaves & oregano
Cumin & chipotle
You can easily make this nightshade free and AIP and omit these ingredients. If you want to keep it AIP and add more spice, you can try adding some horseradish!
Fresh cilantro
Barbacoa tastes amazing with topped with fresh cilantro!
How to Serve the Barbacoa
- Make burrito bowls! Seriously, this barbacoa would be so good on a chipotle style burrito bowl. This is an easy way to make it paleo, whole30, and keto when it’s served over cauliflower rice.
- Make tacos. You can use a lettuce wrap to keep it low carb and whole30. Or, you can use siete tortillas for a grain-free option, or make homemade cassava tortillas for an AIP option.
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PrintBarbacoa Beef (Slow Cooker, Paleo, Whole30, AIP)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours and 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This slow cooker barbacoa is an easy and delicious protein to add to burrito bowls, or make into tacos! The barbacoa is paleo, whole30 compliant, and can be adapted to be AIP.
Ingredients
- 3 lb beef chuck roast
- 1 small onion, diced
- 5–6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (omit for AIP)
- 2 tsp cumin (omit for AIP)
- 2 tsp chipotle powder (omit for AIP – see notes)
- 3 bay leaves
- 3/4 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
For serving
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- Fresh lime wedges
- Diced avocado
- Diced red onion
Instructions
- Slice the chuck roast into 6-8 large chunks and set at the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add the garlic, onion, and seasonings and mix well to evenly coat the chuck roast.
- Pour in the broth, lime juice, and apple cider vinegar.
- Cover the slow cooker and set to high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours until the chuck roast easily shreds with a fork.
- Remove the bay leaves from the slow cooker and shred the barbacoa.
- Add fresh cilantro and other toppings serve over burrito bowls with cauliflower rice for a low carb and whole30 option, or in taco shells like Siete tortillas for a grain free option, or homemade cassava tortillas for an AIP option.
Notes
To add nightshade free spice for AIP, add 1-2 tsp of horseradish powder.
- Category: Proteins
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 237
- Fat: 8.7g
- Carbohydrates: 3.9g
- Protein: 34.1g
Keywords: barbacoa
AIP
Low Carb
Paleo
Whole30
Have you tried making it in the instant pot? I know my pot has the option to slow cook but I rather just do the pressure cooker & faster. Any advice ? Recipe sounds delicious
I haven’t tried it, but I would sear it first and then cook it on high pressure for an hour 🙂
Thank you ☺️
Can you make this in Instant Pot?
I haven’t tried it, but I would sear it first and then cook it on high pressure for an hour 🙂
Have made this recipe multiple times! Freeze in small portions for Budda bowls. I use a pressure pot and cook for about 70 mins. This is spectacular!!! I use a two pack of eye of round roast from Costco. Economical, super lean and delicious!!
★★★★★
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Just made this tonight for dinner…Delicious!
I made it in the instant pot. Sprayed the pot and seared the meat 5 min. on each side..Mixed spices together and rubbed on both sides…added garlic, onions, bay leaves, broth, lime juice and vinegar. Covered & cooked for 1 hour. Natural release for 45min. Scooped out meat and shredded…returned meat to pot and sautéed until the broth boiled down to almost nothing. Served with cauliflower rice and topped off with red onions and cilantro. (Had it with Tortilla Chips too).
SO FREAKING GOOD!!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing, Michelle! Sounds amazing!
Did you use the pressure cook setting for one hour to cook it? And then what setting did you turn it to for the natural release? I just got an instant pot and this will be my first recipe using it! Thank you!
Hi! I can’t find horseradish powder anywhere in local or chain stores in Atlanta. Where do you purchase yours? A quick google search to find it also said it’s difficult to find AIP horseradish powder. Is that true? I’ve seen it listed in several of your recipes and would like to try it! Amazon has a few options but I’m unsure if they’re good quality.
I get it on Amazon 🙂 You can always use fresh horseradish too and just adjust to taste.
I make this all the time now. I do it in my Instant Pot as the other posters suggested. I like it because my husband is a picky eater, and with this we can each make what we want with it. That means for him, tacos or nachos, and for me, a cauliflower rice bowl with avocado, cilantro, olives and salsa.
★★★★★