Barbacoa Tacos

By: Gabe Kleiber

Barbacoa Tacos

Marinade ingredients:
Juice from 3 oranges and 2 Limes 1/4 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
a lot of freshly ground black pepper several pinches of kosher salt
2 Tbsp of Mexican oregano
1 Tbsp Dried Thyme
1 Tbsp of Cumin
1/3 Cup of White Vinegar

Barbacoa ingredients:
1 large tomato, cut into chunks
1/4 large onion, quartered
3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (canned) 1 cup water
1 cup beef broth
1 lime, juiced
more salt and pepper

For the tacos: Corn tortillas, cilantro, chopped diced onion, your favorite salsa, and limes for squeezing.

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag. Add the beef and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.

2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a blender, or small food processor, add fresh tomato, quartered onion, chipotle chiles, water, beef broth, and lime juice. Puree until smooth. Set aside.

3. Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, remove the roast from the marinade and shake off excess liquid. Sear the roast for a few minutes on each side until a deep brown crust forms. Remove from heat.

4. Add the barbacoa puree on top of the beef roast and place in the preheated oven. Roast for approximately three hours, or until the beef is very tender and shreds easily.

5. Shred the beef.

6. Make tacos! Serve the beef in corn tortillas with all the toppings, including fresh-squeezed lime.

It is pleasantly spicy, but the meat still retains a lot of the marinade flavor. Because of this, the onions aren’t as present flavor wise, but still provide a great crunch; a very different texture compared to the rest of the dish.

The cilantro adds color and freshness, which I enjoy. I like lime on it too, but use it conservatively because it can overpower some of the more subtle flavors in the dish.

No complaints with anything to do with the food itself. It isn’t very time consuming, but there is a lot of waiting time in between cooking.

Overall, I would recommend making this recipe and give it a 7.9/10.

Note: Though this recipe has been modified, and made my own, you can find the original recipe here: