Try your hand at these homemade corn tortillas, crusted with Monterrey jack cheese and filled with shredded barbacoa beef. Every bite is crispy, cheesy and moist.
Time-saving tips: Scoop the cooked beef into a bowl shred it with an electric mixer instead of using your hands. You can also choose to use store bought corn tortillas in place of homemade.
Beef Barbacoa with Homemade Corn Tortillas
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Barbacoa
- 4 lbs chuck roast
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 tbsp Chosen Foods Avocado Oil
- 1 medium white onion, diced small
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup Chosen Foods Guajillo Pasilla Chili Simmer Sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 spring oregano (or 1 tsp dry oregano)
- ½ tsp cumin
- 2-3 thyme springs
- 1 cup shredder Monterey jack cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Corn Tortillas
- 2 cups dry corn masa
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½-2 cups water
Instructions
- Cut the chuck roast into 2-3” cubes. Sprinkle them with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and set aside.
- Set your instant pot to sauté and add the avocado oil. Allow it to heat up for a few seconds. Sear the chuck pieces on all sides in batches—3 or 4 pieces at a time. Reserve the seared pieces in a bowl.
- Once you've seared all the beef, add ⅔ of the diced onion (reserving the other ⅓ to serve) and ½ cup of water to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Scrape the bottom carefully with a wooden spoon to add all that flavor to the cooking liquid.
- Return the meat to the pressure cooker. Add crushed tomatoes, simmer sauce, garlic powder, bay leaf, oregano, cumin, and thyme.
- Secure the lid and close the pressure valve. Pressure cook on high for 1 hour with a natural release of 15 minutes.
- While the barbacoa is cooking, make the tortillas. Add the corn masa to a bowl. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt and mix with your fingers. Make a volcano shape inside the bowl and add the water to the middle. Mix until you get a playdough-like consistency. If needed, add more water in small amounts.
- Form the dough into masa balls about 1” in diameter. Place each ball on the plastic wrap lined tortilla press one at a time and press flat. If you don't have one, use a heavy pan and a cutting board with plastic wrap.
- Preheat the griddle on medium-high heat. Cook each flattened tortilla for 1 minute, then flip and cook for 30-40 seconds. Flip again and cook for another minute. The tortilla may bubble up. Remove from the griddle and keep warm.
- Carefully remove the lid of the pressure cooker, scoop out the beef and shred it (by hand or electric mixer). Add some of the cooking liquid back into the shredded beef for more flavor.
- To assemble the tacos, add a pile of shredded cheese directly to a hot pan, then press a tortilla over it and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes. Flip the tortilla and crispy cheese crust. Add 2 tablespoons of the barbacoa beef, a pinch of diced onion, and cilantro. Enjoy!