Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef

Homemade great shredded beef nachos or burritos with almost no work. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions.

Editor's Note: Originally Published December 26, 2012.  Update with expanded information and options along with refreshed photos.

This crock pot Mexican shredded beef will deliver some of the best Mexican you can find. A moist and flavorful shredded Mexican beef that is perfect for nachos, tacos, burritos or enchiladas.

Start with a small chuck roast in a small crock pot. Add some broth, spices and cook until fall-apart tender.

My Rating

A solid 4. Use this for a little fancier Mexican spread.

Pro Tips: Recipe Notes for Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef

The Beef

A cheaper cut like a chuck roast that is well-marbled is a good place to start. You could use a leaner piece of meat, and the last step of adding some braising fluid back in will help a lot but not quite the same.

Your beef roast needs to be nicely trimmed, so you don’t have to pick out uneatable things. And it has to have good marbling to be tender.

A nicely marbled top round roast or an eye of round would be nice. But I prefer a chuck roast which will always be fall-apart tender.

Modifications

This is a "do it as you want" recipe. Add jalapeno or change the spices, double it, do it in a bigger crock pot or cook it in a Dutch oven.

This is "cooking for two" so I used a 2 1/2 pound roast in a 3.5 qt slow cooker. That makes about eight servings. This recipe can be doubled into a larger crock pot easily.

Other Crock Pot Tex-Mex Recipes

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans

Simple Crock Pot Chicken Nachos

Start with an approx 2 1/2 pound roast.

Cut into quarters. This will give more surface area to be flavored and help to place in the crock pot. If there are big chunks of fat, remove them.

In a smaller crock pot (this is 3.5 qt) add one can beef broth, chili powder, cumin, 1 small onion chopped, tomato paste, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Submerge the meat in the liquid. Add a little more broth or water if you need to cover the meat.

Cook on low for 4 hours. Remove the meat from the pot. Shred and remove any fat. Remove the braising liquid from the crock pot and set aside.

Place shredded beef back in the crock pot and add about 1 cup of braising fluid back to the beef.

Set the slow cooker on warm until needed for serving.

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4.67 from 6 votes

Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef

Homemade great shredded beef tacos, nachos or burritos with almost no work. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time4 hrs

Total Time4 hrs 5 mins

Author: Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

Servings/Adjust Amount: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 pounds beef roast - chuck preferred
• 14 oz beef broth
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 onion - small chopped
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 jalapeno - Optional, minced

US Customary - Convert to Metric

Instructions

• Start with a 2-3 pound beef roast. Cut into quarters. This will give more surface area to be flavored and help to place in the crock pot. If there are big chunks of fat, remove them.
• In a smaller crock pot (i used 3.5 qt) add 1-14 oz can beef broth, 2 tablespoon chili powder, 2 teaspoon cumin, 1 small onion chopped, 3 oz tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Submerge the meat in the liquid.
• Cook on low for 4 hours. Remove the meat from the pot. Shred and remove any fat. Remove the braising liquid from the crock pot and set aside.
• Place shredded beef back in the crock pot and add about 1 cup of braising fluid back to the beef. Be a little light on the liquid and add more if needed.
• Set the slow cooker on warm until needed for serving.

Recipe Notes

Pro Tips

1. A nicely marbled top round roast or an eye of round would be nice. But I prefer a chuck roast which will always be fall-apart tender.
2. Decease the sodium but using low sodium broth and cutting the salt.
3. Do not add too much fluid back into the shredded beef. It is much easier to add more than take it out.
4. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 months.
5. Add a minced jalapeno or change up the spices for your taste.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

 

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ADJUST THE RECIPE SIZE:

You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.  

Nutrition

Serving: 4 ozs | Calories: 231 kcal | Carbohydrates: 5 g | Protein: 24 g | Fat: 13 g | Saturated Fat: 6 g | Cholesterol: 78 mg | Sodium: 592 mg | Potassium: 656 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 2 g | Vitamin A: 795 IU | Vitamin C: 5 mg | Calcium: 38 mg | Iron: 3 mg

 

Nutrition is generally for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.

 

All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.