Mexican Shredded Beef Wraps

Chuck roast was made for the slowcooker.

It’s probably one of the things I make most in my crockpot. I’ve done it Mississippi-style, regular pot roast-style, and loaded with mushrooms. Chuck roast is my go-to when it comes to pot roast or slow-cooked beef.

I wanted to make some barbacoa-style meat for lettuce wraps this week and settled on my old favorite stand-by. Chuck roast has just the right amount of fat/marbling to keep the meat tender without having too many huge chunks of fat and gristle ending up in your food. This cut of meat also doesn’t shrink much in the slow cooker; I’ve used other “roast” cuts that ended up shrinking to half the size!

I dug this recipe out of one of my recipe boxes. It’s a simple dump-and-go crockpot recipe, with just a little bit of added time to dice up the garlic and jalapeno. I thought the sauce part was interesting: tomato sauce, lime juice, and a handful of spices. I didn’t want the meat to end up too tomatoe-y, and was originally afraid it would with the tomato sauce.

Oh, how I was wrong.

The lime juice, spices, jalapeno and garlic really add to and enhance the flavor of the sauce. It doesn’t end up tasting like straight tomato sauce, either. I could almost drink the juices from this shredded beef, it’s that good.

I wrapped the beef up in some red leaf lettuce and served it with pico de gallo, sour cream, and cheese. This beef is so versatile, though. You can wrap it up in tortillas for tacos, use it inside some enchiladas or quesadillas, or simply eat it in a taco salad. This is a good Mexican-style beef recipe to keep in your aresnal for anytime you need some barbacoa-style meat for a recipe.

Mexican Shredded Beef Wraps

Servings: 6-8
Time: 6-8 hrs
Difficulty: Easy
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Spicy & tangy Mexican barbacoa-style beef, perfect for tacos, wraps, and salads.

Ingredients

2-3 lb. boneless chuck roast
1 jalapeno, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1 TBS. chili powder
1/2 TBS. chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Lettuce leaves, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese & avocado, for topping

Directions

Place jalapeno and garlic in bottom of slow cooker. Season beef with salt and pepper on all sides and place in slow cooker.
In a small bowl, mix together tomato sauce, lime juice, chili powders, cumin & cayenne.
Pour sauce over roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Shred beef with a fork and stir with juices. Serve on lettuce leaves with toppings, or roll into tortillas.

Step-By-Step Instructions