Last Updated on April 15, 2022 by Karen
Cooked in the Instant Pot with chipotle peppers, spices, and beer until the meat becomes tender, this Instant Pot beef barbacoa recipe is the perfect filling for burritos, enchilada, tacos, and more! It’s quick and easy – perfect for weeknight meal!
There are few kitchen appliances I can never do without, and ever since I’ve discovered the lifesaver that is the Instant Pot, it ranks high up on the list. The pressure cooker is a big help when it comes to putting healthy, homemade dinner on the table when you don’t have the time to spend all day stirring over a pot in the kitchen!
James and I both have been working longer hours lately so we’ve been relying on quick and easy recipes made in the Instant Pot. As many of you know, I am big on meal prepping and freezer-friendly meals. The Instant Pot makes this so easy to do! Over the weekend, I usually spend some time cooking up batches of taco filling, pasta sauce, and soups so I’d always have a meal on hand! Lately, I’ve even converted a couple of my favorite stovetop recipes like chicken tikka masala and beef bolognese to the pressure cooking method – I’m happy to say that they all turned out well, so I’ll be sure to share these recipes soon.
This Instant Pot beef barbacoa recipe has been my recent favorite and it is a true winner!
As you probably know…in order to make that intensely flavorful, slow-simmered, fork-tender meat filling, it usually requires advance planning like marinating the meat overnight, or allowing the meat to simmer in a slow cooker for the entire day.
Yesterday, I wanted to make beef barbacoa tacos for dinner and after some experimentation with the Instant Pot, I think I’ve got the right recipe for a weeknight beef barbacoa taco dinner. Beef chuck is seared and then cooked in the Instant Pot in a smoky, spicy combination of chipotle peppers in adobo and hatch chiles. In under an hour, you’ve got a pot of flavorful, perfectly tender, and succulent beef that tastes like it’s been cooking all day!
Simple and versatile recipes like this Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa is exactly what I need when I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen.
This dish is 100% freezer friendly, so even if it’s just for the two of us, I always like to make the full recipe and freeze half of it for later. For dinner last night, I used the filling for tacos, but you can also use it in burrito bowls, enchiladas, sandwiches, or quesadillas. There are so many possibilities!
Slow Cooker Beer-Braised Beef Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce or more to taste
- 2 plum tomatoes quartered
- 1 medium white onion quartered
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 4- oz can diced green hatch chiles
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 lbs beef chuck fat trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 2/3 cup Mexican beer I used Corona
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- Olive oil for cooking
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Corn tortillas for serving
- Toppings such as queso fresco sliced avocado, cilantro, and fresh lime for ser
Instructions
- Add chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomatoes, onion, garlic, hatch chiles, chili powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and salt in a blender and puree until smooth.
- Using the saute setting on the Instant Pot, heat olive oil and sear the meat until it is browned on all sides. Turn off the heat.
- Add in the sauce mixture, bay leaves, beer, and orange juice. Secure lid on Instant Pot, turn to "Manual" mode on “High Pressure” setting, and set timer for 45 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally until all of the steam has released and the valve has dropped.
- Remove the lid and discard the bay leaves. Remove beef and shred the meat with forks. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Return shredded meat to the sauce. Serve with tortillas and your choice of toppings.
