Recipe Index

Ingredients

• 4 lb beef cheeks ( or chuck beef(see Note 1))
• 1 tsp salt ( kosher/cooking)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil ( for searing)
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce ((Note 2))
• 3/4 cup dark ale (beer), or low sodium beef broth/stock ( (Note 3))
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 tbsp lime juice
• 6 garlic cloves
• 4 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Method

1. Halve any large beef cheeks or cut the chuck into roughly a dozen pieces, then season all the beef with the salt and black pepper.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot or skillet over high heat and sear the beef in batches until aggressively browned on every side, moving each batch into the slow cooker as it finishes.
3. Blend the chipotle chiles in adobo with the dark ale, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, garlic cloves, ground cumin, oregano and ground cloves until the barbacoa sauce is smooth.
4. Pour the blended sauce over the beef in the slow cooker, tuck in the bay leaves, and arrange the pieces so as much of the meat as possible sits under the liquid.
5. Cook the barbacoa on low for 8 hours, by which time the beef should pull apart with almost no resistance.
6. Lift the beef into a pan, shred it thoroughly with two forks, and toss the pulled meat with three or four ladles of its cooking sauce so every strand is moistened.

Prep: 10 min · Cook: 495 min

Nutrition (per serving, where published)

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient data