This recipe for beef barbacoa taco sliders with avocado lime dressing cooks up slow and tender, and forms the flavor base for some of the best taco sliders I’ve eaten. I use a flavor assist: a delicious slow-cook sauce from Frontera Foods. Toss in a few extras for great flavor and texture. Drizzle with my creamy avocado-lime guac dressing. Taco nirvana.
Even though tacos seem so easy to put together, we still love to go out for really good ones. It’s all about great protein options, fresh toppings and zingy sauces.
In Denver that often means Dos Santos on 17th, where sliders are served on wooden slabs with multiple toppings and sauces. I’ve been trying for something like their beef tacos and we think these are pretty darn close!
A Tasty Sauce
However, I’ve gotten a little help with the sauce after trying various canned and fresh chiles with fire-roasted tomatoes – these ingredients seem a given. Hurrah for Frontera’s sauce — an excellent mix of seasonings that contains what I’d otherwise add.
But — and this will surprise very few of you — since I can’t stand just to use something as is, I found that additional cumin, oregano, garlic and onions make this meal pop.
Cooking Tips
I’ve tried making this recipe in the Instant Pot from start to finish. It would be so convenient! But I thought the meat came out a little chewy and there was too much liquid rendered into the sauce during the pressure-cooking.
So now I use the best features of the IP by browning the onions and searing the meat on saute, then switching to slow cook. The texture and flavor of the meat are THE BEST when finished in the slow-cooker.
You can leave the meat in chunks or shred it with forks for pulled beef.
Enjoy, and please leave a comment!
Beth
Other recipes with Mexican flavors
Veracruz Style Steelhead or Salmon
Easy Layered Green-Chili Chicken Enchiladas
2 Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning Recipes
Kitchen items used in this recipe
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This recipe for barbacoa beef cooks up slow and tender, and forms the flavor base for some of the best taco sliders I’ve eaten. I use a flavor assist with a delicious slow-cook sauce from Frontera Foods and add a few extras for great flavor and texture. Drizzle with creamy avocado-lime guac dressing. Taco nirvana.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 small to medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 lbs beef brisket or stew meat, preferably grass fed, cut into 1½ to 2-inch chunks
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 package Frontera Foods Red Chile Beef Barbacoa Slow Cook Sauce (or canned
- ¼ cup water
- 1 package slider corn tortillas (we like Mi Rancho organic)
- fresh lime slices, for garnish
- Other toppings: thinly sliced radishes, green cabbage, red onion, feta cheese (or non-dairy equivalent), and creamy avocado-lime guac dressing
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the Instant Pot on the sauté setting.
- Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and stir briefly, about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the beef and sear until browned on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Turn off sauté setting.
- Stir in the cumin and oregano, then the slow cook sauce and water. Cover the Instant Pot and set on slow cook for 7-8 hours (grass-fed beef often needs to cook longer than corn-fed).
- If the sauce is thin, remove the beef from the pot and heat the sauce to reduce it. Use two forks to pull the chunks into shreds for your tacos. Return the meat to the pot and coat with sauce.
To assemble sliders:
- Warm tortillas on a griddle or in the microwave for a few seconds and place on plate or tray.
- Drizzle creamy avocado lime guac dressing onto the tortilla.
- Place 2-3 tablespoonfuls of the cooked beef mixture in the center.
- Top sliders with thin-sliced radishes, shredded green cabbage, feta cheese and/or red onion and more drizzles of the dressing.
Keywords: beef barbacoa, slider tacos, Mexican cuisine, Frontera Foods sauce, grass fed beef, cabbage, feta cheese, gluten-free
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