Instant Pot Barbacoa

♥ What We Love About This Recipe:

• Versatile: This shredded Mexican beef can be served with a variety of sides, or as filling for tacos, burritos, casseroles, and so much more! It’ll go well with pretty much any Mexican inspired side dish, like our Mexican rice and easy refried beans.
• Texture & Flavor: This shredded beef is perfectly tender, juicy, and full of flavor! Chuck roast has good, flavorful fat and when it’s pressure cooked with the salsa verde and other ingredients it gets even more flavorful!

Ingredient Notes:

Chuck Roast – The perfect cut of meat for this savory beef barbacoa recipe! Chuck has great flavor and just the right amount of fat and after pressure cooking it is easy to shred!

Salsa Verde – Try my homemade salsa verde recipe! This tomatillo salsa is a simple way to add flavor.

Garlic & Onion – Some minced garlic and diced sweet onion will get mixed in with the salsa verde and other ingredients.

Chipotle Peppers – Canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are another way to add flavor and a hit of spicy heat. If you’re worried about this being too spicy you can omit the chipotle peppers or use less.

Seasoning – There’s plenty of flavor to be found in the other ingredients here so you don’t need much in the way of seasoning. Just some cumin, salt, and black pepper.

Beef Broth – Use a good quality beef broth if you can to get the most flavorful results.

Cilantro – Some freshly chopped cilantro is just the thing for garnishing this Mexican beef recipe.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Beef Barbacoa in the Instant Pot:

Add the salsa verde, onion, chipotle peppers, and seasoning to either a food processor or a blender and process until the mixture is smooth.

Cut the chuck roast into chunks and sear it in a little oil in the Instant Pot. Just a quick sear, you aren’t cooking them through!

Combine: When the chuck roast is seared pour the processed salsa verde mixture into the Instant Pot along with the beef broth.

Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes with a natural release. Shred the meat using a couple of forks and serve it up!

My Favorite Instant Pot!

I absolutely love my Instant Pot! It’s great for recipes like this broccoli cheddar soup, or to cook perfect rice, cook chicken to shred (the best!), and so much more.

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Slow Cooker Barbacoa:

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, this beef barbacoa is great in a slow cooker, too! Of course, a slow cooker takes a bit more time, but it’s just as easy and flavorful.

Every slow cooker is different and some cook faster than others. In mine, I can cook this on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-9 hours to get meat that easily shreds. Yours might take a bit longer and that’s okay. Just keep cooking it until it shreds. It’s about impossible to overcook roast in the slow cooker!

Serving Suggestions:

Burrito Bowl: Add our cilantro lime rice, a hearty scoop of beef barbacoa, and your favorite toppings, like restaurant style salsa, Instant Pot pinto beans, and a scoop of esquites to a bowl with some homemade queso.

Tacos: Corn or flour tortillas are perfect filled with barbacoa and topped with a dollop of guacamole, a handful of crisp lettuce, and some diced onion!

Quesadilla: Butter a hot skillet and place a large flour tortilla in the skillet. Top one half with plenty of cheese and barbacoa. Feel free to sprinkle on any additional toppings, like diced onion, cilantro, or pico de gallo. Cut into triangles and dip in our cilantro lime dressing or creamy chipotle sauce.

Serve my sopapilla cheesecake bars for dessert!