Tender Shredded Beef Tacos
- PREP 20min
- COOK 3hrs
- TOTAL 3hrs 20min
The secret to the best shredded beef is to cook it low and slow. We use our oven for this, but you can just as easily use a slow cooker. Check the notes section in the recipe below for our tips. I love serving this in tortillas for shredded beef tacos, but you can skip the tortillas and serve with rice, in burritos, or over salad.
You Will Need
4 to 5 pounds boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as grape seed or canola
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder, see homemade chili powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
Flour tortillas or corn tortillas, warmed
Taco toppings such as guacamole, avocado, salsa, onion, cilantro, and lime
Directions
Heat the oven to 275° Fahrenheit.
Pat the beef dry, and then season both sides with salt.
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the seasoned beef and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.
Scatter garlic cloves, tomato paste, chili powder, coriander, cumin, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks around the beef.
Pour enough water so it comes up about three-quarters of the way up the side of the beef.
Stir, then cover the pot with its lid and cook until the meat is fall-apart tender, 2 ½ to 3 hours.
Transfer the meat to a bowl, let it cool, then shred it with a fork.
Strain the cooking liquid and skim off most of the fat at the surface. Return the strained liquid to the pot and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced by about half. Taste the liquid and adjust with more salt as needed. Pour over the shredded beef. Serve with tortillas and taco toppings.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- To make this in the slow cooker, follow the steps through searing the beef then add the beef, tomato paste, spices, and water to a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for about 4 hours or on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Then shred the meat and follow our instructions for the cooking liquid shared above.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. We have omitted salt since you will need to add to your tastes. We assumed 10 servings and did not include tortillas or toppings.
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