Instant Pot Barbacoa Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best cut of meat to use for barbacoa? ›

In the US, people typically make barbacoa with chuck roast, brisket and beef cheeks. However, any cut of beef that has a lot of connective tissue and takes a long time to cook until tender works well.

Our Barbacoa mainly comes from the shoulder, because those cuts have enough fat to keep the meat moist during our long braising method, making the end result seriously juicy and tender.

Tips and Notes for Perfect Instant Pot Steak

The key to tender beef in a pressure cooker is not just the cooking time but also the natural release of pressure instead of quick release. This allows the meat fibers to relax and retain moisture, making them tender and juicy.

If it's still tough, you will need to cook it longer. The pressure cooking process breaks down tough meat, making it tender. Put the lid back on, seal the pressure cooker, and cook at high pressure for another 10 to 20 minutes.

While beef cheeks produce the best result for this dish, you'll find most recipes call for beef chuck as a more accessible alternative. This cut of beef is not as well marbled, so it is not quite as juicy.

“Barbacoa, made from the meat of a cow's head, is cheap yet rich in flavor.” Customarily served at weekend breakfasts, the cheek, or cachete, is loaded with collagen, and slow-roasting enhances its savory flavor and silky texture.

Barbacoa can be made on an open fire, on the stove, or in a slow cooker. However, the traditional method mimics an oven made from the earth, banana leaves, and agave plants, heated with hot coals. Birria, on the other hand, sits very much in the vein of a stew.

Both are delicious and popular menu items that are flavorful. They're also both very tender, thanks to their long cooking time, which breaks down the collagen in the meat. If you like beef, then barbacoa is the way to go. However, if you prefer pork, then carnitas is the better option.

The health value of barbacoa depends on various factors, including the ingredients used, portion sizes and individual dietary needs and preferences. To make the healthiest barbacoa, consider using lean cuts of meat, such as the 100% grass-fed beef from Acabonac Farms.

To prevent a chewy beef steak, you need to avoid using too much high-pressure heat. Of course, start with pressure cooking your roast (that's why you're using the Instant Pot anyway), but keep that high-pressured phase to a few minutes only.

Does meat need to be submerged in Instant Pot? ›

If you didn't completely submerge the meat in broth, it would come out dry. If you completely submerged the meat in liquid, it would pull some of the flavor out of the meat. The sealed Instant Pot environment keeps all the liquid AND flavor in the meat, even without submerging the meat.

Chuck roast, brisket and short ribs are the best cut because they contain a lot of connective tissue. During both slow & pressure cooking, that connective tissue breaks down and turns into gelatin giving the beef a rich, meaty flavour and a tender, juicy texture.

Unfortunately, once you overcook a piece of meat in the pressure cooker, there's no going back. You'll be left with a pile of dry, crunchy, tasteless fibers and no amount of additional pressure cooking is going to put that moisture back into the meat. Earlier, I explained how ingredient size affects the cooking time.

If your roast is tough in the Instant Pot, it likely needs to be cooked longer. Chuck roast will become more tender the longer it cooks, so extra time may be needed. However, you can overcook beef in the Instant Pot, so keep an eye on it if you add extra time.

One of the common problems we hear readers struggle with is their pot roast came out tough or dry. This can be due to several reasons. Undercooked / Overcooked Pot Roast: The cooking time and temperature are key to cooking tender, juicy, and flavorful pot roast. If your meat is dry, it usually means it's overcooked.

Barbacoa is an authentic Mexican dish that is made with goat, beef or lamb. This easy barbacoa recipe is made with an inexpensive chuck roast and cooked low and slow in a slow cooker.

Slow cooking tougher cuts of meat, such as beef brisket, gives you a meltingly tender texture. For tacos, serve the saucy barbacoa in tortillas with green and red onion, cilantro leaves, jalapeño slices, and fresh lime wedges.

If beef cheeks is unavailable, use beef chuck or your favorite beef for shredded beef. Oven-baked Barbacoa recipe can be found here.