This Easy Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef is great to serve in tacos, over salads, over rice in burrito bowls and in even in sandwiches. Tender, juicy, pull apart beef from a roast or from stew meat, cooked in your Instant Pot to perfection. Total time only 90 minutes and most of that includes the hands off cooking time! Freeze it into portions for quick meals later.
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What is the best cut of beef for shredded beef tacos?
You can use chuck, rump/bottom round roast or cross rib roast for this shredded beef. I’ve even used, “Beef for Stew,” already cubed from Costco and it turns out great. These cuts are best slow cooked or pressure cooked and are from the shoulder of the animal. They contain marbling and connective tissue, which soften during cooking. By using an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker, the meat is easy to pull apart into moist, tender shredded pieces.
What is another name for cross rib roast?
Cross Rib Roast is a term more commonly used in the West Coast of the U.S. Our family buys 1/4 cow every year and this is a common cut in our box. In Canada it is known as “Boneless Cross Rib Roast.” It is cut from the chuck section or shoulder. Other regions may call it: Chuck Shoulder Roast, Boneless Chuck Pot Roast or Arm Pot Roast.
How to make this recipe healthier
For health reasons, I do tend to cut off the fattiest parts of the roast before cooking. After cooking I also drain the juices into a fat separator (paid link) and then once the fat is separated, I pour a little juice back into the pot. Serve this dish with black beans and other vegetables to make it a full and complete meal.
Adapting the spices to your tastes
Our family loves spicy dishes so we use the 2 tablespoons of the Homemade Chipotle Seasoning and 2 of the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (paid link). But you may want to use just 1 tablespoon of the seasoning and only 1 of the peppers. Play around with it and see what your family likes best!
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How to make Easy Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef in Pictures:
Time needed: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Here’s how to make Easy Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef in Pictures:
- Trim off the fat and cut the beef into cubes.
- Press, “Sauté,” on the Instant Pot and brown the meat in batches. Remove from pot.
- Combine the onions, jalapeños and garlic in the Magimix food processor (paid link).
- Add onion mixture to Instant Pot and brown.
- Add the beef back in and combine the remaining ingredients including the delicious homemade chipotle seasoning.
- Set valve to sealing and set pressure to high. Pressure cook for 60 minutes. Release pressure immediately when finished. If you let it sit too long with the lid and pressure on, you’ll get a “stewed,” taste.
- Remove meat from pot. Shred beef with 2 forks.
- Strain juices in a fat separator (paid link). You’ll want to save the sauce on the top of strainer. Hold the separator over your Instant Pot and push the red button. The defatted beef juice will strain out of the bottom of the separator and into the Instant Pot. Just make sure you don’t go too far and add the fat back in. There is a distinct line of fat that you can see if you look closely.
- Return beef and about 1/2 of meat juice (without fat) to Instant Pot. Add lime juice and cilantro and serve over rice or salad, in tacos, in burrito bowls and more! Enjoy!
Easy Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef for Tacos, Salads and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs. beef cross rib roast chuck roast,stew meat, sliced in 1 inch cubes
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 large red/white onion
- 1/2-1 jalapeño
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 c. homemade beef stock or canned beef stock
- 1-2 T. homemade chipotle seasoning
- 1 T. chili powder
- 1 t. cumin
- 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce use 1 pepper and 1 T. sauce and plop rest on parchment and freeze for another time-see notes at bottom
- 1 can green chiles
- 1-2 limes
- 1/4 c. cilantro
Instructions
- Cut off as much fat from the roast as possible. Cut meat into cubes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn on Instant Pot to, "Sauté".
- When hot, brown meat in batches on all sides. Remove meat.
- In a food processor, combine onions, jalapeño and garlic. Process until finely chopped.
- Add onion mixture to Instant Pot and sauté for a few minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients (except cilantro and lime)- browned beef, beef broth, seasonings, chipotle pepper and 1 T. adobo sauce chile, and green chiles.
- Add lid to Instant Pot. Set to sealing. Pressure cook for 60 minutes. Release seal (using a hot pad) when timer is finished.
- Shred beef with two forks. Pour juices into a fat separator. Return beef and 1/2 of meat juice (without the fat) to Instant Pot. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice.
Notes
Nutrition
Try serving Easy Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef with any or all of these other great recipes!
Add a dollop of my delicious Jalapeño Cream!
Try serving it with a side of my Homemade Tomatillo Green Salsa!
Fresh homemade flour tortillas are always the best! These are only 3 points each for the medium sized ones.
