Homemade great shredded beef nachos or burritos with almost no work. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions.
Introduction
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.
🐄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 ½ 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.
📖Crock Pot Tex-Mex Recipes
Simple Crock Pot Chicken Nachos
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Start with an approx 2 ½ 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.
📖Recipe
Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef
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
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 jalapeno - Optional, minced
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 ½ 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.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- 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.
- Decease the sodium but using low sodium broth and cutting the salt.
- Do not add too much fluid back into the shredded beef. It is much easier to add more than take it out.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 months.
- Add a minced jalapeno or change up the spices for your taste.
To 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 Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published December 26, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Dea Varner
Dr. Dan, HELP!!!!! I love all your recipes I've made so far and usually I have no problems with any of them but for some reason this roast came out tough as can be after 4 hours on low in my crockpot! I used a 2.38lb chuck roast, trimmed all the big fat off and followed the other directions to a T and when I went to shred it, it was like rubber!! Did I not cook it long enough? Too long maybe? It tastes delicious so I'll still eat it for sure but there was no way it was going to shred for me so I just sliced it as well as I could and stuck it back into the crockpot with some of the braising liquid... I feel horrible giving it only 4 stars because I feel I probably did something wrong... but like I said it IS delicious!!!!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Dea,
There are several possible reasons for the beef to be tougher. Most likely would be it didn't get to a good shredding temperature. Very much like brisket or pulled pork, we what to melt that connective tissue and fats causing the marbling. That is 185° plus. Some will say 205° but for chuck roast, it is usually not needed in my experience. I efind 4 hours in a crock pot will usually do it but you can check the internal temp next time.
Another cause is a too lean cut of beef. So be sure it has good marbling.
Lastly, the thicker the meat, the hard it is to get to a good internal temperature. So flatter is better than square.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Kristi + Al
This shredded beaf looks delicious. Perfect to prepare sandwiches. Thx for the directions.
Chris
Hey I like they new site design, it's clean, attractive and loads faster. Nicely done!
The shredded beef? Love it. So many possible uses too, dishes like that rock.
Dr Dan
Glad it worked well for you with the leaner meats. I did some a 2.5 lb. top round for 4 hours which lead to some of my comments. I may try it again with the extra time.
VaBelle1964
The recipe turned out great. Love the flavor and the spices and amounts are spot on.
I used extra lean beef (2 lbs of Top Round and 2 lbs of Eye Round), so mine stayed in about 8 hours. Came out delish.
Thanks!
Christine @cookingcrusade.com
This looks fantastic! I don't eat pork so I was looking for a yummy shredded beef recipe and I think I found it! Thank you for sharing!!
VaBelle1964
It's in my Crock-Pot right now. I'm making a double recipe as I've made a couple of your recipes before and they were spot on. I'll report back in about 5 hours ;o)
Stephanie Parker
This looks really good! I am adding it to my list of must make foods.