This extremely tender and deliciously seasoned Shredded Mexican Beef can be used in a variety of Mexican-inspired dishes. It is super versatile and so easy to make!
This post was originally published on October 23, 2011. It is being republished today with new images and a super cool video (see below) that you should totally watch!
You may have figured out by now that we kinda like Mexican food around here. For me it is the ultimate comfort food, but it goes a little deeper than that.
Way back in time, when it was just Paul and I, back before we had kids, a mortgage, college loans, and dependable cars, we almost always chose Mexican when we ate out. As a matter of fact, my marriage proposal took place in a Mexican restaurant (fancy!).
It was 1983, a time of big hair, big shoulder pads and countless other horrible fashion choices (what were we thinking ladies???). It was my 21st birthday and we were out for a casual dinner by ourselves. I had no idea it was coming until the moment the waiter set my salad plate down in front of me and I saw the small, square box sitting on the plate. Â
I was in complete shock. My mind raced with all kinds of questions. When had he arranged this? When he went to the restroom was he actually in cahoots with the waiter? Has he gone crazy? Was it the margarita that made him do it? Is everyone in this whole place staring at me right now?
The waiter (and Paul) waited in anticipation of my answer but I was frozen in the moment.
And, then I got up and ran out of there and kept on runnin’.
Okay, that didn’t happen…
Of course we know what my answer was that night and I’m happy to say that 32 years and 4 kids later we are still eating Mexican food together. Thankfully, the shoulder pads are long gone and the hair has reduced in size, but he still looks at me exactly the way he did that day. Every day.
And, I believe I may be the luckiest person in this world.
This is one of many Mexican recipes on regular rotation at our house. I absolutely love this cooking method that transforms a very inexpensive cut of meat into delicious, super versatile Shredded Mexican Beef that can be used for a variety of purposes. It also happens to be incredibly easy to make.
SHREDDED MEXICAN BEEF
This is what you’ll have after about 4 or 5 hours in the oven. See all that liquid? That’s good stuff. The beef will just fall apart and shred very easily with a fork into the luscious sauce that is created as it cooks.
This beef makes the perfect base for a variety of dishes like the tacos I did here. I’ve used it for everything from enchiladas, to burrito bowls, to nachos with a fabulous result every single time.
Muy delicioso! Make it for your new love, or your old love, your family and your friends.
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More great ideas for your Mexican-inspired meal:
Slow Cooker Mexican Beans | Noble Pig
Restaurant Style Mexican Rice | Valerie’s Kitchen
Easy Mexican Coleslaw | Foodiecrush
Fully Loaded Guacamole | Valerie’s Kitchen
Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad | Chelsea’s Messy Apron
SHREDDED MEXICAN BEEF
Shredded Mexican Beef
Ingredients
- 2-3/4 to 3 pound boneless beef chuck roast
- 1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Trim any excess fat from the edges of the roast. Place roast on a sheet of heavy duty foil large enough to enclose the meat. In a small bowl, combine the green chiles, garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix well and spread out evenly over both sides of the meat. Enclose the meat in the foil and then wrap the foil package in a second sheet of foil to ensure the cooking liquid will not leak out during the cooking time. Place in a large baking or roasting pan.
- Bake at 300 degrees for 4-1/2 to 5 hours, or until the roast just falls apart with a fork. Remove from oven, open the foil package and shred the meat. Carefully remove foil from pan and transfer the meat and cooking liquid into the pan.
- Use in a variety of Mexican-inspired dishes like tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, enchiladas, and nachos.
Crock-Pot Method:
- After wrapping the roast in foil, transfer to the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove foil and shred meat into the cooking sauce in the crock pot. Serve.
Make-Ahead Method:
- This beef is fantastic when reheated with the sauce it makes while cooking. If you want to really save time, make a day or two in advance, cover the pan with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate till needed. Reheat in microwave and serve.
- Adapted from Allrecipes
adorable story and I am REALLY into the beef cooking process. I have never done this before! How delicious! Congrats on a long and fruitful marriage!
This looks so good!!! We love Mexican food to…. love the story 🙂 I always use a slow cooker but I should definitely think about trying the stove.
that’s SUCH a nice story, and the food looks GREAT! thanks for sharing!
Yum!
Thanks for sharing such a heartwarming lovely story. Does the Mexican restaurant still exist? My story with my husband is surrounded by food too, as both of us love to eat good food. It’s nice that we can share the similar passion (me, food in general, and you Mexican food) throughout years of marriage. Your beef looks absolutely delicious
Thanks Nami! No, the restaurant is no longer around. It closed years ago. I wish it was!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe for shredded beef tacos. The shredded beef as you mentioned can be used for an assortment of dishes.
My husband and I had our first date at a Mexican restaurant. 15 years and 3 kids later, here we still are! It’s amazing how good food can bring people together…
Oh man does that meat ever look good. I only wish Grumpy would enjoy Mexican food with me!
Don’t tell him it’s Mexican food. Tell him it’s some exotic recipe from the Mediterranean or some such place. These days if you say the word Mexican you just might get shipped to Mexico. Just kidding. The reason for my comment is that my ancestry is from Mexico but I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico the New Mexico. Not the old one
Finally got to try this recipe today and it is AWESOME! I love , love, LOVE it! Thank you!
I’m so glad you liked it! It is hands down my favorite way to do shredded beef.
Valerie, Your shredded beef is definitely my kind of food! For Christmas Eve we made carne adovada which is similar, but usually pork marinaded and then slow cooked in red chile sauce. Like your shredded beef it can be used in so many ways. I’m going to have to try this recipe for sure!
love ur recipes and I too have a boston bull….sophie
This is the best shredded beef ever! It was perfect and so simple!
Mmm, love that you can use this beef for so many different meals!! Oh, yeah, I was an 80’s bride too (’86). Poof was in!! haha!
This looks so delicious Valerie! AND what a romantic story about your proposal 🙂 I love it!
This shredded beef is crazy good. The perfect combination of flavors, and oh so tender. I used it in tacos and nachos, and both were a huge hit. Thanks for posting!
Mike
Thanks so much for the feedback, Mike. This beef is definitely one of our favorites around here and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Happy New Year!
Great story and great food. I’ve got all the fixins’ for this. I can’t wait! Thank you Valerie.
Thanks, Brian! I made a double batch of this beef yesterday and got two big pans of shredded beef enchiladas out of it. We had a big group over for dinner and it was just perfect. I hope you enjoy it!
lovely photo and delicious recipe!
have made this 3 times already. Our family loves it!! My husband has actually requested the leftovers 3 days in a row. And your recipe is going into my family cookbook today. Kids love it in quesadillas and we love it over white/ brown rice with black beans.
This is one of my favorite recipes of all-time! As a matter of fact, all the boys are coming over for dinner tonight and this is on the menu. I’m doing shredded beef burrito bowls with corn salsa. So delicious! I’m so happy to hear the recipe is working so well for you 🙂 Thanks so much for the feedback.
Is it 300 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit? Really want to cook this.
All of my recipes show the temp in Farenheit 🙂 Be sure to come back and let me know how it works out for you 🙂
I’ve made this and it is the best recipe I’ve ever had…great for anything Mexican…Reheats wonderfully!!! I also freeze some.
Yay, Kathy! I love it SO much too – both the method and the resulting delicious and very versatile shredded beef. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment 🙂
I’ve thawed a shoulder roast already and am not trying to find a good shoulder roast recipe! Do you know if a shoulder roast would work with this recipe?
Hi Bethany. The cut I use for this recipe most frequenty is the boneless chuck shoulder pot roasts I buy at Costco. I think what you have will most likely work perfectly. The tougher cuts of meat will become tender anf flavorful with a low and slow cooking method like this. Be sure to let me know how it works out for you!
I have made this recipe so many times and it never fails me. SO delicious! I don’t like beef roasts, but this I crave. Today I added pepper and onion strips halfway through because I used it as fajitas. Incredible! Thanks for this yummy recipe 🙂
I love the fajita idea! It really is such a versatile recipe. I’m so happy to hear you are enjoying it and really appreciate the feedback 🙂
I just came across this recipe and I excited to try it, but I’m wondering if you are using a slow cooker, why do you still need to wrap the beef in foil? Is it just for the ease of cleanup?
Hi Mary. You could absolutely do it in a slow cooker with or without the foil. It’s up to you. Personally, I think the result would be better with the foil. It holds all that good stuff that’s coating the beef and the cooking liquid contained with the roast which does make cleanup easier but also has an affect on the cooking time and end result.
This recipe makes delicious beef and so easily! We had tried it for the first time this weekend, and used it for nachos. My son just about licked his plate following his 2nd helping. I bought another chuck roast at the market the following day, so that we can make more right away! Thanks for the very good idea!
How do you think this would be with a pork butt??? Thank you
How spicy does the meat end up? I want to make it but my crowd (unfortunately) has mild tastebuds.
Hi, Megan. Be sure to pick up MILD diced green chiles and a brand of basic chili powder that doesn’t add heat (like McCormick). If you use those items, the beef will not be spicy at all.
Hi! I use El Pass green chilis which are mild and the chili spice isn’t spicy as well. I think it would be fine for mild tastebuds. I love this recipe and have made it many times.
Thanks, Melanie! Glad to hear you are enjoying the recipe 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight. SO good!!! 🙂
Excellent! I’m so glad it worked out for you, Stacy 🙂
If I was to cook this in the crockpot can I do it on the high instead of slow ?
Hi Amanda. Yes, you can cook it on HIGH and it will cook much more quickly. The beef is done when it shreds easily. Enjoy!
In my crockpot now. It smells AMAZING!
This is one of my very favorite recipes, Jamie. Enjoy!
Can it be made without the green chilies and still have enough moisture? Maybe substitute bell pepper instead?w
There is quite a bit of liquid in the green chiles that creates a nice saucy consistency. I don’t think it work as well without them. If you’re concerned about the spice level be sure to buy the mild diced green chiles.
Hi I am making this tonight! I have fresh green chiles that I am thawing right now…. Will there be enough moisture with these, or should I cook down the green chilies first? I am not sure what will give the best result. I definitely do not want to dry out the meat as I am making 2 batches. Thanks!
Hi Marie. I’ve only done this with the canned variety and without draining them so yes, there is quite a bit of juice in the mixture which you can see if you watch the video. I would probably recommend adding a bit of water or beef broth to loosen it up. I’d love to hear how this turns out for you with the fresh chiles.
It was amazing!!! Everyone loved it!I am back because I am making it again tonight 🙂 Once I defrosted and chopped the fresh chiles there was a lot of juice so I did not need to add anything and the meat was not dry at all. Thank you for this amazing recipe! This is going into our regular dinner rotation!
Yay! Thanks, Marie 🙂
I just put this together and have it in my dutch oven pot (all wrapped up in 2 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil). Should I cover it when I put it in the oven or leave it uncovered?
If you’re doing this in a regular oven, there is no need to cover it.
Could you do this in an IP?
I’m sure it would work although I haven’t tried it. The recipe card includes slow cooker instructions and I assume your Instant Pot probably included information for conversions from traditional slow cooker recipes. I’d love to hear how it works out for you if you try it!
I tried your recipe in my Instant Pot last night and it turned out great! I spread the chile and seasonings mixture onto the chuck roast, added just a little water, sealed up the pot, and cooked for 50 minutes on high pressure. Used natural pressure release. No foil. It came out juicy and shredded easily. Made homemade tortillas to go with it – yum! Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay, Gina! I’m so happy you had success with this recipe in an Instant Pot. That information is so helpful to others. And… homemade tortillas? Can I come to your house for dinner? 🙂
i told this to my wife and she said she will make it tonight!!…well lets hope that she wont blow all kitchen stuff tonight Lol…