These easy Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos are cooked to perfection in the crockpot for tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat! Each taco is filled with juicy balsamic flavor and topped with fresh cilantro, onion and avocado for the ultimate bite every time.
Looking for more barbacoa recipes? Try out my Easy Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa or my Chipotle Beef Barbacoa Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.
Slow Cooker Barbacoa Tacos
If you follow me on Instagram then you probably saw me make this recipe last week on IG Stories! And on a side note, I am doing live cooking demos with my recipes at least 2-3 times a week on IG Stories. So if you want to see me make it and my cute little kiddos make sure you are following me on Instagram. You can even catch up on the recipes you’ve missed by watching my Cooking Demo Story Highlights!
Ok, moving on. These Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos are hands down my husbands favorite recipe. The flavor I infuse into this meat is totally brag worthy! The smells that will fill your house while these are cooking is insane! It will take all the self control you can muster to not eat these before they are done!
What is Barbacoa?
Barbacoa is a way to cook meat that started in the Caribbean, with barbecue type flavors. Generally, it refers to meats that are cooked long and slow and lead to tender fall apart meat.
How to Make Slow Cooker Barbacoa
- Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel.
- Generously rub spice mixture onto both sides of the short ribs.
- Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add avocado oil to the pan and sear each side of short ribs for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the seared short ribs to the Crock Pot along with tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, dried apricots, garlic cloves, and red onion.
- Cover and let cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours. (or on low for 6-8 hours)
- Remove short ribs and shred the meat. Place the meat back into the Crockpot with the sauce and serve.
How to Serve Short Rib Tacos
Once the Short Rib meat is tender set aside. Serve Barbacoa Short Ribs on:
- corn or flour tortillas
- jicama taco shells
- sweet potatoes
We love to top ours with fresh cilantro, diced onion and avocado. You want the meat to shine so topping them simply is key!
These Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Ribs Tacos are EVERYTHING! This dish has layer upon layer of flavor!
First the short ribs are rubbed down with a bold spice rub and seared on a skillet to lock all the flavors in. Then they are placed in the crockpot along with onions, garlic, dried apicots, balsamic and tomato sauce. Ya’ll! I seriously cannot say enough how amazing the sauce is in these! You will want to bathe in it!
This recipe is paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and 100% freakin delicious! Plus you can’t beat throwing everything in the Crock Pot, coming home to a house that smells ah-mazing, and food that is addicting!
Bon Appetit sweet friends!
Other Slow Cooker Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Barbacoa
- Beer Braised Slow Cooker Brisket Sliders
- Crockpot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
- Easy Crockpot Chicken Curry
- Crockpot Turkey Spinach Stuffed Shells
Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 20 tacos 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Crockpot/Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
These easy Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos are cooked to perfection in the crockpot for tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat! Each taco is filled with juicy balsamic flavor and topped with fresh cilantro, onion and avocado for the ultimate bite every time.
Ingredients
Spice Blend:
- 2 tablespoon of course sea salt
- 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon of dried sage
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon of onion powder
- 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
Short Rib Tacos:
- 2–3 lbs. of beef short ribs, boneless
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
- ½ cup of balsamic vinegar
- 5 whole dried apricots
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 20 jicama tacos
- 2 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1/2 cup diced fresh cilantro
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add course sea salt, dried rosemary, dried sage, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, and ancho chili powder. Stir to mix.
- Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel.
- Generously rub the spice mixture onto both sides of the short ribs.
- Heat a large skillet to medium high heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Add the short ribs to the pan, sear each side for 2-3 minutes until they have slight browning.
- Add the seared short ribs directly to the Crock Pot.
- Next add tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, dried apricots, garlic cloves, and red onion to the Crock Pot.
- Cover and let cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours. (or on low for 6-8 hours)
- Remove short ribs from the crock pot and shred the ribs using two forks. Place the meat back into the Crock Pot with the sauce. Stir the meat around.
- Serve short ribs on a jicama taco and top with fresh avocado, cilantro, red onion slices, and a wedge of lime.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3/4 cup of meat
- Calories: 168
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 52 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 49 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 43 mg
Filed Under:
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