Easy Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef Recipe

From the Chipotle menu to your own dinner table, this Instant Pot Barbacoa recipe is perfect for a quick but delicious Mexican meal!

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With only five steps, this Instant Pot Barbacoa recipe is one of the most simple taco recipes but also the most tasty.

Traditionally in Mexico, lamb or goat is slow roasted for 5 to 6 hours in a pit that is topped with maguey leaves. Fortunately, using the Instant Pot can cut down the cook time to only 1 hour!

This Instant Pot beef barbacoa recipe is an all around favorite in my family and is one of my kid’s favorite taco recipes because the beef is incredibly tender and the flavor is ridiculously good. I always put out tons of garnishes like pickled red onions, a nice salsa, and lots of limes for squeezing lime juice over the top, so everyone can make their tacos exactly as they like.

It makes awesome food when having people over. It is tasty and easily prepared but also happens to be dairy and gluten-free. Not to mention the recipe makes a ton and you can keep it warm in the Instant Pot until your guests arrive!

More To Explore

Carne Picada

Chipotle Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole

Tangy Green Tomato and Beef Chili

What Is Barbacoa?

Barbacoa is a wildly popular way of slowly cooking meat in Mexico but is more popular to Americans as an item on the Chipotle menu. Traditionally, Barbacoa is pit-roasted but it can also be a slowly roasted in the oven. If you don’t have an Instant Pot and want to make this in the oven, check out my Beer-Braised Beef Barbacoa recipe.

Ingredients

• Beef chuck roast
• White onion
• 8 cloves garlic
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (check out my favorite brands)
• Beef broth
• Kosher salt
• Bay leaves
• Dried oregano
• Ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp Ground black pepper
• Warm corn tortillas
• Your favorite salsa
• Pickled red onions
• Cilantro leaves
• Sliced avocado

How To Make Instant Pot Barbacoa (Step-by-Step Instructions)

step one

Combine everything into the Instant Pot. No need to saute or sear anything (see, I told you it was easy!).

step two

Be sure to seal the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 1 hour. It will take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to heat before it begins cooking.

step three

Once the time is up, let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes, then you can do manual release by pushing the release valve to let out the lasting pressure or let it continue to naturally release until you are ready to serve.

step four

Now you can remove the beef with tongs to a large plate or baking sheet (whichever you have or prefer). Shred the beef with a fork into bite-sized pieces then return the beef to the pot with juices to keep warm.

step five

Use tongs to serve the meat in warm tortillas with pickled red onions, your favorite salsa (I like to serve these with my Salsa Morita), fresh cilantro, and avocado. You will have a lot of juices left over which I like to serve in little bowls alongside the tacos for dipping your taco in before you take a bite.

What To Serve With It

This is a dish that can be served in so many ways (part of its charm!). It makes incredible tacos, burritos, burrito bowls with plentiful spoonfuls of guacamole—the options are endless.

If you want to round it out with a side dish or two an obvious choice would be beans. Try my Sofrito Black Beans, Slow Cooker Borracho Beans, or my Best Ever Canned Black Beans.

Rice is also great for soaking up all those tasty juices. I love this Arroz Blanco recipe studded with peas and carrots or everyone always love my Coconut-Cilantro Rice.

As for a veggie option, how about Calabacitas? No one can ever turn down tender zucchini in melty cheese. Or a side of smoky and creamy rajas is always so good.

What To Do With Leftovers?

This recipe makes a ton so it is great for meal prepping, you can turn this into a couple of different meals throughout the week. Have tacos with thinly shredded lettuce one night, burritos with cheese and sour cream a couple of days later, and finish off the rest of the meat with rice and black beans.

To store the meat, let it cool completely then pack it with the cooking liquid in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days. You can also keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Instant Pot Barbacoa FAQ’s

What cut of meat is barbacoa? People in the US typically tend to make Barbacoa with chuck roast, brisket, or even beef cheeks. Look for a piece of meat that is well marbled with fat for ultimate flavor.

How much liquid should I put in the pressure cooker for meat? Usually you only need a cup or so of liquid when cooking meat in the Instant Pot. For this recipe I use 2 1/4 cups of beef broth because I like to have a lot of extra sauce for dipping my taco in.

Do you need to brown meat before pressure cooking? Nope! You can if you want but I’ve found for this particular recipe it doesn’t make that much of a difference.

More Beef Recipes You’ll Love

• Carne Deshebrada {Shredded Beef for Tacos}
• Picadillo {Seasoned Beef with Carrots and Potatoes}
• Classic Grilled Steak Fajitas
• Caldo de Res {Mexican Beef and Vegetable Soup}
• Easy Beef Barley Vegetable Soup (from our sister site, Kate’s Best Recipes)
• Beef Stir-Fry with Mushrooms (again, from Kate’s Best Recipes)
• Chile Colorado

Practically Instant Barbacoa?

This recipe gets as close as possible with virtually zero prep time and a total time of just over an hour you’ll have mouthwatering barbacoa beef. I hope you try it out and if you do, let me know how it went. Share a photo and tag me on Instagram using @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so that I can see your stuff (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating)! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

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