Mexican Style Shredded Beef
This Mexican Style Shredded Beef literally falls apart with a fork, as it should! It is slowly cooked in a super flavorful mixture of smokey and spicy peppers, herbs and spices. Set it and forget it in a crockpot or speed up the cooking time by popping it in the oven. Both cooking methods will result in a dish the whole family will enjoy. Serve it up in taco shells or tortillas layered with Sweet Corn Salsa or as an entree with a side of rice and beans.
Blender Magic
Although there are quite a few ingredients in the sauce for this Mexican Style Shredded Beef, there isn’t much prep time to pull it together. All of the ingredients, from the poblano peppers to the dark chocolate go into the blender at once. In a minute or so, the blender creates a beautiful puree for the beef to soak up.
And yes! I did write “dark chocolate.” The chocolate may sound strange, but it is a staple ingredient in Mexican Moles to add depth of flavor and richness to the sauce. It offers the same to this dish, however this is not a Mole recipe. Moles take many hours and sometimes days to prepare all of the ingredients. I was definitely influenced by Moles while developing the recipe though!
Crockpot or Dutch Oven
Some days I need a “set it and forget it” option and other days I know I will be in the kitchen and want things cooked more quickly. Fortunately you have both options for cooking this Mexican Style Shredded Beef. Simply pour about ⅓ of the pepper puree into the bottom of the crockpot or Dutch oven, place the meat into the dish then cover the meat with the remaining puree. Cover the dish or crockpot tightly and allow to cook until fork tender. That’s it!
Serve It Up!
When the beef is fork tender (approximately 3 hours in the oven, 6 hours in the crockpot), transfer the meat to a serving dish and use 2 forks to shred the meat. Spoon more of the sauce on top of the meat to keep it moist and flavorful. Drizzle with fresh lime juice, sprinkle chopped fresh cilantro and crumbled queso fresco on top and you are ready to dig in!
I love to make tacos by layering the Mexican Style Shredded Beef with Sweet Corn Salsa in a soft corn tortilla. Fully Loaded Guacamole and Fresh Avocado Salsa would be great for layering tacos as well. A side of Black Beans and Rice would be great too if serving the shredded beef as an entree.
Extra Sauce
There will be several cups of pan sauce left after the beef is cooked. This can be used as a sauce for other meats, rice, roasted potatoes or veggies. You could also use it as a substitute for enchilada sauce in my Chicken Enchiladas.
More Gluten Free Deliciousness to Explore
Dirty Snowballs (Similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies)
Mexican Style Shredded Beef
Ingredients
- 2 lb chuck steak
- 2 large poblano peppers (seeded & roughly cut into chunks)
- 1 large sweet onion (roots & dry skin removed, cut into large chunks)
- 2 corn tortillas (cut into strips)
- 2 large chipotle chilis in adobo (*more or less to impact heat level)
- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes (I use the fire roasted variety)
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 8 large cloves peeled fresh garlic
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp beef bouillon
- 2 oz dark chocolate (chips, chopped, any form will work)
- 2 limes (for topping)
- small handful fresh cilantro (for topping)
- ½ cup queso fresco or cotija cheese (for topping)
- 16+ taco shells or corn tortillas (*optional)
- 1 recipe Sweet Corn Salsa (*optional)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients, from the poblano peppers to the dark chocolate into a blender. Blend until it becomes a smooth puree.
- Pour about ⅓ of the mixture into the bottom of the crockpot or baking dish. Place the whole chuck steak into the crockpot/dish. Pour the remaining pepper puree on top of the meat, making sure not to leave any of the steak exposed.
- Set the crockpot to high and allow it to cook for 6 hours or until the meat easily falls apart with a fork. If cooking in the oven, bake in a dutch oven or similar with a tight lid. Bake for approximately 3 hours at 325 degrees.
- Remove the meat from the dish and shred with a fork. Generously spoon some of the pan sauce over the shredded beef. Drizzle the meat with juice from half of a lime, sprinkle chopped cilantro and queso fresco over the top to garnish.
- Reserve the remaining pan sauce for dipping tacos, making Enchiladas or to serve as a sauce with other meats, rice, beans or veggies.
- The Shredded Mexican Style Beef is great served in taco shells or tortillas with Sweet Corn Salsa and extra crumbled cheese. Or serve as an entree with a side of rice and beans.
