The Instant Pot Barbacoa recipe delivers on all fronts: fork-tender beef in a warm and savory red chile sauce. The succulent barbacoa is perfect alone with some rice and beans or to fill a flour tortilla for a burrito or use as a beef filling for tacos.
MEMORIES OF BARBACOA AT HOME
I grew up eating Barbacoa made in a slow cooker here in the U.S. Unfortunately, my mom had no time to dig a hole in the ground and cook the barbacoa the traditional way still done today in Mexico. On larger, special occasions – weddings, big football games, anniversaries, etc., my mom would bring out the large dutch oven to make the shredded beef.
It was the leftovers that I remember best. She’d use the beef barbacoa to make special quesadillas where she’d fill a large flour tortilla with Monterey Jack Cheese and the shredded beef and place in the toaster oven to get a little crispy. Or, she’d mix it with scrambled eggs, onions, and green peppers in the morning for Machaca.
HISTORY OF BARBACOA PREPARATION FROM MEXICO
Traditionally, Barbacoa is prepared with sheep, goat, or beef and cooked underground. A brick-lined oven is dug into the earth. Wood is placed at the bottom and burned until the whole oven is red hot.
A large pot is prepared with a little liquid (usually water and/or pulque with vegetables and aromatic herbs) and a grille in the bottom so that the meat does not touch the bottom of the pot. The meat is wrapped in avocado, plantain, or maguey leaves and placed inside the pot.
INSTANT POT BARBACOA RECIPE
The Instant Pot Barbacoa is moist and tender shredded beef in a light red chile sauce.
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs beef roast
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tbsp. Mexican dried oregano
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
Red Chile Sauce
- 8 dried New Mexico or Guajillo chile peppers (remove stems)
- 3 dried Pasilla peppers (remove stems)
- 3 dried chile de arbol (remove stems)
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 clove
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Instructions
- TO COOK THE BEEF IN THE INSTANT POT
- Place the beef roast in the pressure cooker.
- Add the broth and the rest of the seasonings.
- Close the pressure cooker and hit the "pressure cook" button
- Set the timer for 45 minutes
- TO PREPARE THE RED CHILE SAUCE
- While the meat is cooking in the pressure cooker, in a medium-large stock pot, place the chile peppers, onion, and garlic and cover with water
- Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat. Allow the peppers to soften for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the peppers, onion, and garlic from the stockpot and add to a blender.
- Add the apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, and clove.
- Blend on high to puree the mixture, adding water from the stockpot if needed to thin out the sauce.
- Push the red chile sauce through a sieve into a large bowl.
- Add vegetable oil to a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the red chile sauce to cook for about five minutes.
- MIXING THE BEEF WITH THE RED SAUCE
- Carefully open your pressure cooker and remove the meat to a cutting board.
- With two forks, shred the beef.
- Add the beef to the frying pan with the red chile sauce.
- Mix the sauce and beef together well. Salt to taste.
- The beef barbacoa is ready to serve!
Notes
Garnish your Barbacoa with sliced red onions, cilantro, slices of avocado, and minced serrano peppers.
