Slow cooked shredded meat is one of my all-time favorite things. I was craving beef this week, so I decided to make a new version of shredded beef that could be used in burritos, tacos, “burrito bowls” and other similar dishes (I can never seem to get enough of Southwest flavors). My main goal for this new version? Create a rich, thick sauce out of the cooking juices.
Most of the time when I cook meat in the slow cooker there are a lot of leftover juices that end up going to waste. Sure, I could always make some sort of broth or soup out of the leftover juices, but the truth is I never get around to it. This time I added less liquid before cooking (anticipating the beef giving off a lot of liquid of its own) and combined it with cornstarch, tomato paste, and a bunch of delicious spices so it would form its own thick cooking sauce.
The result? Total success. I got about 4 cups of shredded beef and sauce from a 3 lb. roast, most of which I plan to freeze for later use. Beef is super expensive, so I plan on using only about 1/3 cup of meat per serving and bulking it out with things like rice, beans, and other vegetables. Because cooking on a budget shouldn’t mean cutting out certain foods, but learning to portion them responsibly.
Southwest Shredded Beef
Servings 12 1/3 cup eachIngredients
- 3 oz tomato paste (1/2 6 oz. can) ($0.26)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder* ($0.30)
- 2 tsp cumin ($0.20)
- 1 tsp oregano ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.04)
- 1 cup beef broth ($0.15)
- 3 lb boneless beef rump or shoulder roast ($13.94)
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional) ($0.03)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, cornstarch, and beef broth.
- Remove any large pieces of fat from the beef roast, then cut the meat into 2-inch chunks. Place the beef in the slow cooker, then pour the sauce over the meat. Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn the heat onto high, and let cook for 4-5 hours (or 8 hours on low).
- After cooking for four hours on high, use tongs to stir and shred the meat in the sauce (if the meat is not yet tender, let it cook longer. It can go longer than four hours, if needed, and will only get more tender the longer it cooks). Keep the heat set on high as you shred the meat to continue to cook down and thicken the sauce. Taste the meat and sauce and add salt if needed. Serve hot over a bed of rice, in tacos, or stuffed into a burrito.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Southwest Shredded Beef – Step by Step Photos
When I first set out to make this recipe, my plan was to just pour a jar of taco sauce over the meat. Then I thought, why not make my own taco sauce? So I mixed a few ingredients together to make something sort of similar (it’s not far from my favorite enchilada sauce, either). Start with 2 cloves of garlic (minced), 3oz. tomato paste (half of a 6oz. can), 1 Tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. The cornstarch is really important for helping the sauce thicken up.
Add one cup of beef broth and whisk until smooth.
I bought a 3lb. boneless rump roast because it had the lowest price per pound for beef roasts at the store that day. A shoulder roast, with more fat marbling, would make for a more tender meat, but it was actually more expensive and then there would also be more fat floating around in the sauce at the end (that can always be removed after chilling the beef because it will harden when cold).
Normally I leave the fat on when cooking meat in the slow cooker because I end up removing the meat from the juices anyway (so the fat gets left behind), but since I’m leaving the meat IN this time, I removed the thick layer of fat from the back of the roast. Cut the meat into large cubes (about 2 inches each).
Place the beef chunks in the slow cooker and pour the sauce over top. The sauce will not completely cover the meat and that’s okay. My slow cooker is somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 quarts and it was not half way full, so you could probably easily do this with a smaller cooker.
Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn the heat onto high, and let it go for a minimum of four hours (or 8 hours on low). After that time, take some tongs and try to shred the beef. It should easily fall apart. If not, let it cook for another hour or so. The longer you let it cook, the more tender it will become.
By simply pinching the chunks of beef with the tongs, the meat easily shreds. I like to leave the heat on while I do this so that the sauce continues to evaporate and reduce. Taste the beef and sauce and decide if you want to add salt. This will likely depend on the type of beef broth used. I use Better Than Bouillon to make my broth, which tends to be on the salty side, but I still added about 1/2 tsp of salt at the end. Salt will always give your flavor more punch and salting at the end has more impact with less salt.
I used my shredded beef to make some “burrito bowls”. There is a bed of rice under all those delicious toppings to fill out the bowl and keep the cost down. I also added black beans, salsa, cilantro, and avocado. Cheese, sour cream, corn, jalapeños, or even shredded lettuce would also be good. The trick with using expensive meat, like beef, is to use a small amount and bulk it out with other, less expensive ingredients.
I made a few portions to take with me to work this weekend (and decided to add some cheddar!) and will freeze the rest of the meat for later. Always completely chill the meat in the refrigerator before portioning and freezing. I’ll be freezing the meat in quart sized freezer bags, probably 1 or 1.5 cups per bag for easy thawing.
This is an amazing recipe. My beef roast is 5 pounds. Can I try it with my dutchoven pot in the oven?
I’m sure it’s possible, although I have not tested that method. You can try Googling “slow cooker to oven conversion” to find what time and temperature in the oven would be similar to the slow cooker.
Excellent!! I had this with the taco rice and lime crema from this website, along with some sharp cheddar cheese and roasted sweet corn. Seriously one of the best meals I’ve made in my short time cooking. Plus it made so much…I have about 7-8 portions left over. Love slow cooker meals like this.
Great recipe! I added two chipotle peppers that I chopped up and a few tablespoons of the adobo sauce they come in, since I had some open in the fridge. I reduced liquid by half and cooked for 1:15 min in pressure cooker with natural release. This was perfect!
1 hour, 15 minutes, that is! Hope that was clear.
This worked beautifully in the instant pot — same ingredients, 25 min on high. I did brown the meat chunks a bit as I wanted a little fond.
Tried this one today and it was fantastic! Really great flavor. I was hesitant to use the full 2 tsp of cumin because I find it to be a pretty strong spice, but did anyway and it was perfect. The long cooking time and other flavors seemed to mellow it out. I did use chicken broth instead of the beef because that’s what I had on hand – thought I might sacrifice some flavor doing that, but it turned out just fine. Love your tip about keeping the beef portion size smaller and bulking it out with other items like rice and beans – I do enjoy red meat but am trying to not eat as much for budget and health reasons.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hey Beth! Where I live, they don’t sell slowcookers. Could I use my rice cooker for this, or does the rice cooker get too hot?
Hmm, unfortunately I don’t have any experience using rice cookers, so I don’t know how their heat settings and insulation compare to slow cookers. I know they work on a fairly similar principle, but I’m not sure how effective they are with meat.
Hi again. I found that the temperature of the rice cookers gets too high, so I opted for laying the beef and the liquid in a backing dish, covering it with foil and put it in the oven on low heat. I ended up with enough meat for six bowls of this, which was great! The meat was tender and delicious, and the smell filling my apartment was to die for. Thanks for the great recipe!
In order to produce the steam needed for them to work, Rice Cookers cook to the boiling temperature of 212 degrees, which is generally too hot for slow cooking.. Hope this is helpful
My apartment smelled heavenly today when I made the Saucy Southwest Shredded Beef for dinner. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a three pound rump roast, but was able to get a two pound roast for $10.94. I made the Avocado Salsa, Cilantro Lime Rice and threw in a can of black beans to make the bowls. It was out of this world delicious!! I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow night when I come home from work. Thank you, Beth for this phenomenal recipe!! :-)
Question about Lunch portioning: Do you reheat the portions shown for “bowls” etc. at work for lunch “as is?” I feel like some of the things might not taste the best….warm. Like the avocado, or salsa, or in the chicken bowl the pineapple. I think the meat would taste best warmed, but do you just throw the whole thing in the microwave for lunch or do you separate the components? I’m new to the “meal prep” for work week lunches and I’m trying to figure out all the logistics. :)
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Yep, I usually just throw the whole assembled bowl in the microwave. Ha! But, I’m not that picky about things like that. Warmed avocado and pineapple are fine with me, so it’s all good. I can see how some people might be sensitive to those temperature/texture combos, though. In that case, dividing into separate containers probably is the best solution.
Do these freeze well (without the avocado)?
Very well, YES.. :)
I love adding a cinnamon stick to the slow cooker to give it that extra depth of flavor!
Great tip!
Made this tonight and it is very flavorful and delicious!
Made these for dinner tonight…success! I made rice bowls with some cilantro lime black beans and tomorrow will use the leftovers with some soft shell tacos.
I made this a few days ago, and my husband and I stuffed burritos with it. My husband scarfed down his burrito before I had even taken two bites of mine. When I told him it was a Budget Bytes recipe, he said, Why do we even cook anything not from Budget Bytes? It was super delicious and versatile… used in 3 different meals so far!
A-mazing… I can’t wait to make this!! Yeah Beth!
This sounds fabulous!! I love so many of your recipes. Your Italian wonder pot is on our weekly meal rotations!! And I love your chicken taco bowls too, in fact last time I made it I substituted a chuck roast for the chicken and it was so yummy! This recipe reminds me a lot of it!