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Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos

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!

easy slow cooker barbacoa short rib tacos in the crockpot

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

  1. Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel.
  2. Generously rub spice mixture onto both sides of the short ribs.
  3. 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.
  4. Add the seared short ribs to the Crock Pot along with tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, dried apricots, garlic cloves, and red onion.
  5. Cover and let cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours. (or on low for 6-8 hours)
  6. Remove short ribs and shred the meat. Place the meat back into the Crockpot with the sauce and serve.

how to make slow cooker barbacoa short rib tacos

overhead photo of slow cooker barbacoa short rib tacos

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!

tongs picking up slow cooker barbacoa short rib tacos

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

close up of slow cooker barbacoa short rib tacos

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close up of slow cooker barbacoa short rib tacos

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Krista
  • 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

Scale

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:

  • 23 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

  1. 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.
  2. Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel.
  3. Generously rub the spice mixture onto both sides of the short ribs.
  4. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat.
  5. 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.
  6. Add the seared short ribs directly to the Crock Pot.
  7. Next add tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, dried apricots, garlic cloves, and red onion to the Crock Pot.
  8. Cover and let cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours. (or on low for 6-8 hours)
  9. 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.
  10. 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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32 comments on “Slow Cooker Barbacoa Short Rib Tacos”

  1. This was INCREDIBLE! I grilled pineapple in the skillet that still had the juices from the sauce and added them to the tacos. The fresh sweetness from them was everything. I also had various other latin inspired season alls that i added to the sauce for extra flavor. Sooooo incredobly good and easy.






    1. Is this recipe written for bone-in short ribs or boneless short ribs?
      Need to know because 2lbs of bone-in
      Is sure different than 2lbs of boneless.

      1. It is written for boneless, and yes it’s a big difference. Just made that update in the recipe card so people aren’t confused.

          1. You could. You’ll just have to buy more meat because you have to take into account the weight of the bones. It may add more “fat” to the recipe but other than that the flavor will be the same.

  2. I’m seriously about to dive head first into this slow cooker. And I mean that in the least harmful, most delicious way possible. I can’t WAIT to try this out!






  3. I so wanted to love these because i love the barbacoa from Cafe Rio but this was horribly greasy! I think the flavor would have been good but it was so overpowered by grease that it was really disgusting!






    1. OH bummer I am so sorry. That’s strange because I only use oil when seared the ribs in the pan. This is one of our favorite recipes! Did get boneless or bone-in short ribs?

  4. Avatar photo
    Taylor Johnson

    Thanks, Krista! I have not tried the Jamaica shells- such a fun idea! Will definitely be trying that! Love pork taco’s! And, yes, I agree about raising our kids in our generation! Good reminder to pray and trust God with our kids! 🙂

    1. Jicama shells are awesome and a great healthy substitute for tortillas! 🙂 Hope you and the kiddos like this!

    1. hey Diana, they are jicama taco shells. I purchased them precut at the grocery store in the chopped vegetable aisle. However, you could purchase Jicama, which is a root vegetable, and then thinly slice them at home using a mandolin.

    1. Thanks Joanie! The flavor of these short ribs is seriously incredible! I hope you get a chance to make them!

  5. Avatar photo
    Sandi (@fearless_dining)

    My parents used to kick us outside all of the time. It seems like now, there is just too much homework. At least that is what seems to keep my kids in these days.

  6. Avatar photo
    Laura | Petite Allergy Treats

    Gosh Krista! I hear ya about worrying about our kids. We decided on a private school to help shield them from the ‘real world’ things until they are a bit older… Love these jicama shells and awesome crock pot ribs!

  7. Avatar photo
    Carole from Carole's Chatter

    Hi Krista, love this. Would you like to share this with the other participants in Food on Friday over at Carole’s Chatter? I have a weekly link up party – each week there is a different ingredient or theme. The current theme is Mexican Food. You can see upcoming themes in one of the pages at the top of my home page. If you would like to join in the fun please schedule a reminder for each week. The collection starts at 7am Friday New Zealand time – which is about mid afternoon Thursday your time, I hope – I do find time zones quite confusing. Hope to see you soon. Cheers, Carole