This simple old fashioned tender, melt in your mouth pot roast, morphs into some mighty fine slow cooked beef for tacos. Crockpot roast beef tacos are beautifully flavored with Mexican seasonings and finished with a crunch of cabbage. And what about that flavor? It definitely shows up for the party. Super easy weeknight taco recipe.
How about grabbing that crockpot for some easy, hassle free, feed a crowd roast beef tacos? What kind of beef is best for shredding? As we know, the humble pot roast (chuck roast) benefits dramatically either slow roasted in the oven, or steeping in a slow cooker all day. Tender texture and pure beefy flavor.
Once that beef is slow cooked, it practically shreds itself. But please use your super-clean hands or two forks to make quick work for shredded beef for tacos.
So let’s put that pot roast to work for some slow cooker shredded beef tacos. It truly doesn’t get any easier than this recipe. Let’s take a look.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Beef Tacos
- Chuck Roast. Good old fashioned pot roast is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef that starts out ornery and tough, but when slow roasted, it becomes meltingly tender. It becomes a perfect canvas for these crockpot beef tacos, as the long slow cook, mingled with Mexican spices turns out incredibly flavorful.
- Olive Oil. Since we’re using the olive oil to sear the chuck roast before we slow cook it, there’s no need to use an expensive brand that you’d use for a delicate vinaigrette. I keep a big bottle of Costco Extra Virgin Olive oil on hand for these types of jobs.
- Onion and Garlic: Friends don’t let friends eat Mexican food without onion and garlic. Fine dice the garlic and simply slice an onion to flavor these roast beef tacos. Easy!
- Canned Tomatoes: Canned tomatoes are a miracle product for the home cook. Especially during those Winter months when the stores only offer sad flavorless hot house tomatoes. Choose canned tomatoes that are chopped or diced and fire roasted is a plus.
- New Mexico Chile Powder: Red Chile powder from New Mexico is a pure treat. Beautiful in color and flavor and just right spicy. I keep a supply of Chimayo Chile Powder and Hatch Red Chile Powder on hand, but if you can’t find any, Ancho Chile powder is a great substitute. Don’t use Chili (with an “i”) powder, that’s a blend of spices and is used to flavor Beef Chili.
- Cayenne Pepper: A moderately hot chile powder to add just another layer of flavor to this slow cooked beef for tacos.
- Ground Cumin: Cumin is a popular spice for Asian and Middle East curries, and is also commonly used in Mexican Food. It has a warm earthy flavor and in my humble opinion makes about anything taste better.
- Bay Leaves: Add such a distinctive flavor for roast beef. Pungent and herbal, it adds a lovely depth of flavor to this dish. Just don’t forget to remove them after cooking. They’re sharp and remain sharp even after an all day cook in the crockpot.
Crockpot Beef For Tacos, a lifesaver weeknight meal
This crockpot roast beef taco recipe was a life saver this week. So very easy and with plenty of leftovers for a couple of quick dinners.
Simple with seasoning and big on flavor, the meat went into the crock pot before I went to work and I arrived home to an aromatic party that filled every nook and cranny of our house.
I used a good ‘ol chuck roast, and as with any slow cooked meat, it was fall apart, melt in your mouth wonderful. This recipe is popular in this house because we’re fans of ancho chili powder. And simply adding cumin, cayenne and bay leaves, I knew the flavors would be to our liking.
Once this meat is cooled and the beef shredded, just serve with your favorite taco toppings.
- A crunch of shredded cabbage.
- A slice of avocado.
- Salsa. We served this with my homemade Roasted Tomatillo Salsa. Or a tomato based salsa like this Essential Mexican Restaurant Style Salsa would be fabulous.
- Cotija Cheese: A Mexican crumbling cheese with a wonderfully tangy salty flavor works well for these roast beef tacos.
HOW TO WARM AND SOFTEN CORN TORTILLAS
You could take the time to fry and shape your own corn tortillas into tacos. But to keep things weeknight easy just heated up soft white corn tacos.
Warming corn tortillas in the microwave:
- Drizzle about three tablespoons of water over a clean kitchen towel.
- Wrap your corn tortillas in the towel.
- Slide the package into a gallon sized plastic bag. Don’t seal the bag.
- Microwave the tortillas at 50% power for four minutes.
- This creates a steamy packet. Let sit 2 -3 minutes inside package before using.
You an also wrap store bought corn tortillas in foil and pop them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Or you can purchase this incredible microwave tortilla warmer that works like magic. I have two because they work well for serving tacos to a crowd. You can heat corn tortillas in one and flour in the other – then get that taco party started.
Flour tortillas are easily warmed in the microwave to make them soft, steamy and pliable. No need to use the corn tortilla bag method, just place them on a plate and heat until warm.
Recipe for Slow Cooked Beef Tacos
Give these slow-cooker beef tacos a try. So easy and so big on flavor. And if you do, please come back and let me know how you liked it and give the recipe a star rating.
And if you have a favorite crockpot beef recipe tacos recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Shredded Beef Taco Recipes
- Chile Rubbed Braised Beef Tacos This is an exciting flavored shredded beef taco recipe that makes the best beef street tacos ever.
- Chipotle Shredded Beef Tacos Oven roasted tri-tip flavored with Chipotles in Adobo Sauce. A smoky and rich beef filling for tacos.
- Mexican Shredded Beef Machaca Authentic Mexican slow simmered beef for tacos and burritos.
- Slow Cooker Party Ground Beef Tacos: Or if you’re in the mood for ground beef slow cooker tacos, take a look at this recipe from Betty Crocker. I love this idea of taking everyone’s favor layered taco dip and using it for a topping for tacos.
And if you’re a fan of Mexican food, don’t miss my Mexican-Southwest Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes. Including the most popular taco recipe on my site for Fried Beef Tacos.
Crockpot beef tacos are beautifully flavored with Southwestern seasonings and finished with a crunch of cabbage.
- 2 pounds Chuck Roast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large onion sliced
- 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon New Mexico or Ancho Chile Powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 3 bay leaves
- 24 corn tortillas
- Kosher salt
- 3 cups finely shredded white cabbage
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Season all sides of the beef with a fair amount of salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, or if your crock pot has a stove top insert, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over moderately high heat. Add the pot roast and brown. Get a nice brown crust on each side of the beef.
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Place the beef in the crockpot. Sprinkle the garlic and onion over the beef.
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Add the crushed tomatoes, 1 cup of water and add spices.
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Cook in crock pot on low for 6 – 8 hours. Let meat cool in the liquid. Shred meat and set aside.
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Warm corn tortillas by dampening a clean kitchen towel with water. Place the corn tortillas on the wet towel and fold the towel over the tortillas. Place the package in a gallon zip lock bag, but do not seal.
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Place them in the microwave and cook for two minutes at 50% power. Let them steam in the bag for 4 minutes before removing.
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Toppings for tacos: Shredded Cabbage, Avocado, guacamole, Sour Cream, sliced radishes, cilantro, salsa.
Essential Restaurant Style Salsa, or Roasted Tomatillo Salsa work well for this recipe.
Slow Cooked Beef For Tacos … It’s What’s for an Easy Dinner.
