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This recipe will become a go-to family meal because it’s easy to make and everyone loves to eat!
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos
By cooking a classic beef roast cut in the slow cooker, you can get tender and flavorful beef to fill tacos. The meat comes out so tender that you can shred it easily with two forks right before serving!
These beef tacos are seasoned with simple ingredients like an onion, garlic, lime, and jalapeño pepper for that authentic Mexican taco that checks all the boxes.
This is the type of recipe you can come home to on a busy Tuesday night, after kid pickups or after work, and enjoy a taco night meal with your family.
Since these shredded beef tacos are such a hit with my family, I included them inside the Taco Tuesday Cookbook on page 104!
Ingredients
This recipe includes serrano and jalapeño peppers to give the meat a kick of heat and extra flavor. You can include both or just one of the two peppers, the recipe is very flexible like that. You’ll need:
- Chuck beef roast: or shoulder roast or round roast will out tender and juicy.
- Taco seasoning: adds TONS of delicious flavors.
- Aromatics: grated garlic cloves and diced onion for adding flavor and aroma.
- Serrano pepper: has a little more heat than jalapeños. Omit them if you’re serving these tacos to kids.
- Jalapeño: also for heat and extra flavor. You can skip them too.
- Water: for combining with the lime juice and the tomato.
- Lime juice: adds flavor and helps to tenderize the meat.
- Tomato paste: adds concentrate tomato flavor.
- Corn or flour tortillas: your favorite store-bought or homemade tortillas.
- Shredded cheese: Cheddar is a classic, but other cheeses also work!
- Avocados: a healthy topping that makes any taco better!
- Pico de gallo: to drizzle over the tacos. Make your own or use store-bought.
You’ll find the measurements in the recipe card below.
What Cut of Beef is Best for Shredding
Chuck roast is considered the best cut of beef for shredding because of the marbling, the fat within the muscle, of this cut melts away into the juices when it’s cooked on low heat over time. This will yield tender, juicy, and flavorful meat that’s perfect for beef tacos and other recipes with shredded beef.
You can also shred a shoulder roast or round roast after hours of cooking in a slow cooker.
The Taco Tuesday Cookbook
These recipes will make every taco night the most exciting meal of your week! Eat great tacos, at home.
Grab your copy today!
How to Make Shredded Beef Tacos
Like all slow cooker recipes, this Shredded Beef Tacos involves minimal effort for a delicious meal. Set the roast in the crockpot dish, top with the veggies, peppers, and seasonings and cook for the perfect, tender, fall-apart roast.
- Season
Place the roast in the slow cooker and sprinkle the taco seasoning all over. Add the garlic, onion, and peppers. - Add more flavor
In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, lime juice, and tomato paste. Pour the mixture over the beef and vegetables. - Cook
Cover and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. In the last hour, transfer the roast to a cutting board and shred the beef with two forks. Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker, cover, and continue cooking for the last hour. - Serve
To serve, top each tortilla with some of the beef and vegetable mixture. Add shredded cheese, avocado slices, and pico de Gallo.
These tacos are perfect for any weeknight or for a Cinco de Mayo taco celebration.
Watch how easy it is to make these beef tacos:
What to Put On the Tacos
The beef in these slow cooker tacos is so tender and flavorful that I keep the topping simple in the recipe with just adding fresh Pico de Gallo. Other beef taco toppings you and add:
- Crumbled or shredded cheese
- Fresh salsa
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Avocado
- Lettuce
- Roasted peppers and onions
- Black olives
Serve these beef tacos with a Batanga cocktail, or keep it light with a skinny strawberry margarita.
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
For the beef:
- 2 pound chuck beef roast
- 2 tablespoon Taco seasoning
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 serrano pepper, seeded if desired and finely diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded if desired and finely diced
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup lime juice, about 2 limes
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
For serving:
- 12 corn or flour tortillas, store-bought or homemade, warmed
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
- Pico de gallo
Instructions
Season:
- Place the roast in the slow cooker and sprinkle the taco seasoning all over. Add the garlic, onion, and peppers.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, lime juice, and tomato paste. Pour the mixture over the beef and vegetables.
Cook the beef:
- Cover and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. In the last hour, transfer the roast to a cutting board and shred the beef with two forks. Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker, cover, and continue cooking for the last hour.
Serve:
- To serve, top each tortilla with some of the beef and vegetable mixture. Add shredded cheese, avocado slices, and pico de gallo.
Harriet Young says
Yum, yum, yum! So delicious and it’s great that you can make them so easily in the slow cooker.
kushi says
These beef tacos look amazingly delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Fay says
Awesome flavor. Very tender beef!
Dina and Bruce says
This was so good! The meat was so tender! Family loved this dish!