Tacos de Barbacoa layers tender, slow-cooked beef, tangy pickled red onions, and sharp white cheddar cheese on top of a soft corn tortilla. These tacos are packed with flavor and incredibly easy to make. They are a crowd-pleaser, and perfect for your next taco night.
I love a good taco, and living in Texas, there is no shortage of incredible tacos around. Even with all the wonderful taco stands near by, Barbacoa Beef Tacos are in frequent rotation in our household!
While this recipe is not authentic barbacoa, it's an easy way for a home cook to prepare this classic Mexican dish.
Whether you're hosting Taco Tuesday or simply craving a taste of Mexico, Tacos de Barbacoa is a surefire way to elevate your next taco experience. So, gather your ingredients, embrace the slow-cooking magic, and bring the fiesta to your table.
If you are a fan of Mexican cuisine, check out my Barbacoa Quesadillas, Shimp Tacos With Mango Salsa, or my Gluten-Free Enchiladas. If you are curious you can also read about the difference between Barbacoa and Carnitas.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- Versatility: Tacos de Barbacoa offers a canvas for creativity. The variety of toppings, from classic cilantro and pickled red onions to personalized salsas and guacamole, provides endless opportunities to customize the tacos which should make the whole family happy.
- Great Way To Use Up Leftovers: When you make Barbacoa, you are bound to have leftovers. Beef Barbacoa Tacos are great when you need to clean out the fridge.
- Quick And Easy: Once you have made the Barbacoa, assembling the tacos takes no time at all! It’s perfect for a quick lunch during a busy day.
Ingredients
- Barbacoa: Barbacoa is the star of the show. Prepare your beef barbacoa in advance using a slow cooker or Dutch oven, and just remove it from the fridge when you are ready to assemble the quesadillas.
- Avacado Oil: Avacado Oil, is perfect as it does not have flavor, and helps the tortillas crisp up nicely.
- Corn Tortillas: Corn tortillas pair perfectly with barbacoa. Just make sure you find a good quality tortilla that uses non-GMO corn.
- White Cheddar Cheese: If possible look for raw cheddar cheese from grass-fed cows. Raw cheddar is typically easier to digest and is also packed with nutrients. If you don't have white cheddar cheese you can also use any of these white cheddar cheese substitutes or queso fresco.
- Pickled Red Onions: The pickled onions add a little bit of acid that helps cut through the heaviness of this taco.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Prepare your barbacoa, by following my beef barbacoa recipe.
2. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, and lightly spray it with avocado oil.
3. Place 2 - 3 corn tortillas on the skillet and heat each side for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until soft and pliable.
4. Add the warm barbacoa to the center of your corn tortilla.
5. Top the taco with sharp white cheddar cheese and pickled red onions.
Repeat until you have made all of your tacos.
Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and additional toppings you enjoy.
Substitutions and variations
- Diary-Free: You can easily make these tacos dairy-free by omitting the cheese entirely, or substituting it with your favorite dairy-free cheese.
- No Corn, No Problem: To keep these tacos grain-free, you can swap out the corn tortillas for your favorite grain-free tortilla. My favorite is Siete Almond Flour Tortillas, which you can pick up at Costco! Just be sure to avoid using a flour tortilla if you want to keep this recipe gluten-free.
- Barbacoa Breakfast Taco: Try adding a fried egg to your taco, for a delicious breakfast.
- Barbacoa Taco Salad: If handheld tacos are too messy, turn this into a taco salad, or barbacoa burrito bowl.
- Mango Avocado: Combine the creamy goodness of avocado slices with the sweetness of ripe mango chunks. The creamy and buttery avocado balances the sweet and juicy mango, creating a harmonious blend of flavors that contrasts with the savory barbacoa.
- Extra Smoky: Infuse your quesadilla with even more delicious flavor by spreading a layer of amazing barbacoa sauce on your tortilla before adding the cheese and shredded barbacoa. This variation brings a subtle heat and a depth of flavor that pairs wonderfully with the meat.
What to serve with barbacoa tacos
Toppings: Mix and match your favorite toppings.
- Sour Cream
- Guacamole
- Pickled Red Onions
- Fresh Cilantro
- Green Onions
- Minced White Onion
- Mango Habanero Salsa
- Pico De Gallo
- Tomatillo Salsa
- Lime wedges
Sides: Try any or all of these side dishes with your barbacoa tacos.
- Mexican Rice
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Refried Beans
- Black Beans
- Salad
Storage
If you plan to enjoy your beef barbacoa street tacos later, you will want to store each item individually in an airtight container. You can then assemble when you are ready to serve.
Top tip
Choose Quality Ingredients: I say this a lot, but the quality of ingredients you use will have a huge impact on your overall dish. High-quality, minimally processed ingredients not only taste better, but they are better for you. When preparing the Barbacoa, try to get a chuck roast that is grass-fed.
FAQ
While barbacoa can be made from different types of meat, beef is one of the most popular choices. The cut of beef used for barbacoa is often from the more flavorful and tender parts of the animal, such as the cheeks, and head, or the beef's more fibrous regions like the chest or brisket.
Absolutely! While traditional barbacoa is made with beef, lamb, or goat, you can experiment with your preferred meat. Each variety brings its own unique twist to the dish.
Slow cooking is key. Whether using a slow cooker, oven, or traditional pit, allowing the meat to cook low and slow ensures maximum tenderness and flavor.
While both barbacoa and carnitas are flavorful slow-cooked meat dishes, the main difference lies in the type of meat used, the cooking method, and the resulting flavors and textures. Barbacoa typically involves slow-cooked beef or other meats in an underground pit, while carnitas are made with pork, cooked using low heat then shredded and finished off by being cooked on high heat in a pan until tender and crispy.
Read more about the difference between Barbacoa And Carnitas.
You may also like
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Tacos de Barbacoa (Beef Barbacoa Tacos)
Ingredients
- 16 oz Barbacoa see linked recipe
- 8 Corn Tortillas
- ½ cup Sharp White Cheddar Cheese
- ¼ cup Pickled Red Onions see linked recipe
- Avacado Oil Spray
Instructions
- Prepare your barbacoa, by following my beef barbacoa recipe.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, and lightly spray it with avocado oil.
- Place 2 - 3 corn tortillas on the skillet and heat each side for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until soft and pliable.
- Remove the warm corn tortillas from the skillet and heat the remaining tortillas following the same process.
- Add the warm barbacoa to the center of your corn tortilla.
- Top the taco with sharp white cheddar cheese and pickled red onions.
- Repeat until you have made all of your tacos.
- Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and additional toppings you enjoy.
Notes
- Sour Cream
- Guacamole
- Pickled Red Onions
- Fresh Cilantro
- Green Onions
- Minced White Onion
- Mango Habanero Salsa
- Pico De Gallo
- Tomatillo Salsa
- Lime wedges
- Mexican Rice
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Refried Beans
- Black Beans
- Salad
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