Instant Pot Barbacoa

Instant Pot barbacoa recipe with beef can be a Ninja Foodi recipe too. Fork tender shredded beef with TONS of flavor you’ll love. Grab a variety of peppers, chiles and a bit of broth to make this melt-in-your-mouth fall apart chuck roast tonight.

Pressure Cooker Barbacoa Recipe

Yes we have made pulled beef before as well as many other pressure cooker beef recipes here. This is by far the most popular one that guests rave over when we have a get together though. Served over chips with cheese nachos style or in tortillas for tacos it is always a huge hit and never lasts long.

The biggest difference between all of them is the sauce. From using a bottle of barbecue sauce and that is it, in our Instant Pot bbq beef, or more complex like this one. They all make my mouth water.

Cook Time

You are going to want to set aside about 1 hour to make this. Even though we cut up the thick cut of meat into smaller chunks it still takes a while to break down the connective tissues so it can get as tender as possible and soak up the sauce (similar to Birria Taco Sauce) for bold flavors in every bite.

We’re going to start with, well beef of course. We buy meat in bulk from local farmers in our area but you can do the same online as well. Let me tell you it’s cheaper, better, and saves tons of trips to the grocery store.

in Ninja Foodi

With this pot you are going to use the lid that is not attached and the pressure cook button. When it comes to cooking beef in an Instant Pot you just need to remember a few things;

1. You don’t need to sear pcs at the beginning but that does help to keep juices in. Also it gives the outsides a bit of texture.
2. Always remember to deglaze pressure cooker after the saute function with a little of your broth. That means to scrape stuck on meat pcs. off so the burn notice doesn’t appear later.

I don’t even think about it now because I use it so often and is just second nature but if you are new I like to mention these tips. Once you do it a few times you’ll do it automatically too. They are important to remember though.

As with any of our other creations you can use your Ninja Foodi, Crockpot Express, Mealthy or any other brand pot to make any of these. They all basically work the same as long as they are electric and have the high pressure function.

Make for for Cinco de Mayo or just during the week because it’s super easy and turns out great every time. This is what you’re going to need to have on hand:

Ingredients

• Beef – we used chuck roast cut of beef
• Salt and pepper are the basic seasonings
• Olive oil needed to sear the beef at the beginning
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gives you that heat you want
• Green chiles are milder, use canned or dice fresh
• Bay leaves are optional but a good add in
• Beef broth for the liquid and better than water
• Apple cider vinegar will give you that zing
• Tomato paste allows the sauce to thicken

What is the Best Meat for Beef Barbacoa?

The cheek is the most authentic, I don’t use that. Chuck roast was used for this, cut into large chunks so it gets incredibly tender. I do tend to trim it a bit too but that isn’t totally necessary, just can’t hold myself back when I see a bit chunk of fat. lol Other cuts of meat that would work just fine would be a roast or arm roast which has a stronger beefy flavor but does the trick. 😉

And a bunch of different herbs and seasonings to bring the flavors to the next level. I just use forks to shred the meat but you could use a hand mixer in a bowl once meat is removed from sauce. Then put it all back together.

I would not personally double the recipe unless you have an 8 or 10 quart pot. You could use poultry instead but would need to be boneless skinless. Use the same sauce but just a 20 minute cook time.

You can use whole garlic cloves and mince yourself or just get jarred. I have a big one on hand at all times since I add it to just about everything. It’s a cheap way to add a ton of flavor, it’s good for you too so there’s that.

Remember to add another 30 minutes to the total cook time for it to pressurize and naturally release steam when done. It still is way quicker than any other cooking method out there for sure.

The nice thing about making it homemade yourself is you can really adjust the heat level to your liking. Love super spicy foods, you can really amp this up or just keep it semi mild like this one is.

If you have only slow cooked larger pieces of meat like this to get them really tender, you’ll love this method. It is faster, and gives you the same results. Yes I do love slow cooker carnitas that are similar, and recently made slow cooker beef barbacoa if you want to throw it in in the morning.

1. Give it about an hour and a half to reach perfection and serve on top of a bed of Ninja Foodi rice to make burrito bowls. I mean there are so many ways to serve this up really. You can also:
2. Turn them into Instant Pot tacos with shredded cabbage and/or coleslaw all the fixings on top and enjoy.
3. Serve with steamed vegetables for a keto low carb one pot meal if that is what you’re looking for.
4. Put some on top of a fresh green salad for lunch.
5. Make a pot of black beans and serve it up!

If you love serving it other ways let us know. I am always open to new ideas so dinnertime doesn’t get monotonous.

You’re going to need to set aside around an hour and a half start to finish here. Here is kinda’ a quick step by step below but we have a printable recipe card for you below as well. First set pot to saute and add olive oil.

How to Cook Instant Pot Barbacoa

1. Cut beef and rub with seasonings on all sides. Sear on all sides, then turn pot off.
2. Remove and add some broth to deglaze to remove all stuck on pieces.
3. Put beef back inwith rest of broth, onions and chiles.
4. Combine all the ingredients for your sauce in a blender.
5. Pour into your pot with bay leaves on top if you choose to add them.
6. Close lid and seal steam valve. Set to high pressure followed by a 15 minute natural pressure release followed by a quick release when that is done. When cooking thick proteins this is important to get them as tender as possible.

Remove the lid, remove bay leaves and squeezed lime skins and shred beef in pot or on a cutting board, put back into sauce and stir to coat. Serve in small air fryer tortillas with avocado and a squeeze of lime on top. And this is what the end result looks like y’all! Then you can serve it up as you wish.

I know, YUM right? If you’re having a bunch of people over this is a great one. During the holidays, for a Super Bowl party with small rolls to make sliders, or just to treat your family. However you wish, you’ll be obsessed too.

There is nutritional information listed below for the ingredients we used. Of course every cut of meat, and different weights, will calculate a bit differently. This is a good gage though if you are concerned with protein, calories etc…

How to save leftovers

If you have leftovers you’ll want to get it to room temperature before packing it into containers. Remove as much air as possible and coat in sauce so it stays moist.

You can seal freezer bags with it inside as well. Reheat beef in a pan on the stovetop or in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring in between times. Stir often so the proteins stay moist and don’t dry out, that would be a tragedy. You could make some air fryer flautas with this rolled up into the middle some night or throw some in an air fryer if you wanted it crispy and warm.