baked barbacoa tacos and quesadillas with homemade ranch

The key with barbacoa, in my opinion, is to make the meat the day before you want to use it because it does take a long time to cook – approximately 10 hours. So just throw it in your slow cooker for the day, and dream about your meal for the next day. Our favorite way to use barbacoa is in oven baked corn tacos or quesadillas, smothered with a generous handful of grated Monterey jack cheese and baked into a corn (or flour) shell. It’s all you need for spicy, cheesy perfection. The tacos and quesadillas will fly off the table.

baked barbacoa tacos and quesadillas with homemade ranch

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• Author: Salt and Share
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 8-9 hours
• Total Time: ~10 hours
• Yield: 6-8 servings
• Category: Main Dishes
• Method: Slow cook
• Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

For the meat:

• 1 3lb chuck roast, trimmed of most of the fat and cut into large chunks
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup beef broth
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoons oregano
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

For the tacos and quesadillas:

• 8 corn tortillas
• 4 medium size flour tortillas
• Monterey jack cheese
• olive oil

Instructions

For the meat:

1. Heat olive oil in skillet, add beef a few pieces at a time and brown all sides. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, mix together beef broth, apple cider vinegar, chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, cloves, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
3. Pour over meat and cook on low 8-10 hours.
4. Remove, shred with 2 forks, return to slow cooker to heat through with sauce.
5. At this point you can move forward with making the tacos and quesadillas or you can refrigerate overnight and make the tacos and quesadillas the next day.

For the tacos and quesadillas:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. LIGHTLY brush the outside of the corn tortillas with olive oil. Place on cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
3. Carefully fill corn tortillas with meat mixture.
4. Bake 6 mins until lightly browned. Remove from oven and flip tortillas with a spatula. Cook 4 minutes more.
5. For the quesadillas, heat a skillet, add small amount of olive oil.
6. Add cheese and meat to flour tortilla, fold in half, saute on both sides until golden brown.
7. Serve with fresh avocado and homemade ranch dressing.