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Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Veggies & Black Beans |  |
Memorable Homestyle Whole Food, Simply Prepared. Little Effort, Big Reward. A Long-Time Family Favorite & Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. A New Addition to Slow Cooker & Oven Slow-Cooking Recipes for either a traditional slow cooker or the oven (my favorite). Great for Meal Prep. Potluck & Party & Kid Friendly. Low Carb. Low Fat. High Protein. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!
that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes
published every summer since 2009.
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A Life-Changing Lesson from Local Chefs.
As of this month, I’ve written 175 weekly columns for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrangling home-cook friendly recipes from restaurants.
Column by column, the weeks fly by, the years too. And week after week, I fall in love with a brand-new place, its chef, its food and most especially its story.
Every week, that one place is my new favorite. I want to eat there! I want everyone else to eat there too! The next week? It happens all over again with still another new place.
(Okay, yes, there are a few clunkers and some times the owner and I just don’t connect. But it’s more rare than one might think. And I like to think that readers never know, discerning nothing between the lines.)
One big lesson? Ingredient management.
Chefs are trained to have at least two menu items for any ingredient kept on the shelf. And boy, does this common restaurant practice work out here in my own kitchen.
Frankly, it's really simplified meal planning. It means I get along with a smaller pantry. It means less food waste.
Here's an example, two pantry ingredients used in two recipes.
The two ingredients? Jars of salsa and small cans of green chiles.
The two recipes?
- Recipe #1: Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole, it’s so handy to make this on a whim, I keep all the key ingredients on hand, including both salsa and green chiles.
- Recipe #2: Slow Cooker Shredded Beef (recipe below), what an easy supper, how useful it is to meal prep to have on hand. I cook this beef again and again.
Recipe Overview: Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos
- What a quick supper! Just cook the beef in the slow cooker (no browning!) with onion, seasoning, salsa (either red or green), green chilies and some water. Once it's done, then toss together a quick sauté of vegetables and black beans. Add some diced avocado and sour cream. Gorgeous!
- When to Serve = This is one of my favorites for meal prep, cooking the meat a day or two ahead of time for our own use or just as often, when we're expecting guests from out of town or hosting a family swim party.
- Diet Needs & Choices = Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free. (Shredded Beef). Please, if you're cooking for someone with celiac or a gluten sensitivity, be extra cautious about both reading ingredient labels and cross contamination (your hands, your fridge environment, your counters, your knives, your bowls, your stirring spoons, your serving plates and utensils).
- Distinctive Ingredients (for Beef) = Beef + Seasoning + Salsa
- Short Ingredient List (for Beef) = all the above + onion + green chiles
- Kitchen Tools (for Beef) = A slow cooker + two forks for shredding
- Hands-On Time (for Beef) = Allow about 15 minutes, kicking it off + stirring after two hours plus + shredding after another two hours
- Total Time (for Beef) = Allow about 4-1/2 hours total in the slow cooker.
- Tasting with our Eyes = The shredded beef isn't especially pretty in the looks department. But it makes up for it in the taste and convenience departments.
- Texture = The meat is soft but not stringy or mushy, easy to cut and chew.
- Taste = The meat tastes beefy but with noticeable taste (more than heat) from the salsa. I especially like a bit of a sourness that comes forward when using a green salsa (aka salsa verde) instead of a red salsa (tomato salsa). Techniques (for Beef) = This recipes uses a simple technique to "shred" or "pull" the cooked meat into its strands. It calls for two forks; I use two meat forks (those are the larger ones that come with a set of silverware) but a regular fork will work too. Use one fork to secure a piece of meat, the other one to scrape along it following the grain; this separates the cooked beef into smaller pieces that makes great tacos, hot beef sandwiches, casseroles etc. If you've ever had a pulled pork sandwich, that meat has been "shredded" or "pulled".
- Time Friendly = This is a time-friendly recipe with minimal hands-on time, thanks to using the slow cooker.
- Shop Your Pantry = This is a pantry-friendly recipe. It's easy to keep all the ingredients on hand, including the beef. Any wonder that we have two freezers? Between beef, venison and fish, we fill them.
- Watching Our Waistlines = This is a calorie-friendly recipe. It uses very low-calorie ingredients to flavor the meat.
- Staying Cost Conscious = This is a budget-friendly recipe for beef, it uses relatively inexpensive stew meat vs a fancy steak cut.
- Makes = about 3 cups of shredded beef. Because I like to use this meat when family and friends come to stay or have dinner, I often make a larger batch, either 1-1/2 times or 2 times as specified. How this works will depend on the size of your slow cooker.
- Small Households = This recipe works especially well for those Cooking for One or Two, since it's so easy to use up the meat in different ways. It also freezes beautifully!
- So good! I hope you love it!
- For meal prep, I also like to cook a whole beef roast, see Perfectly Cooked Roast Beef.
- Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other beef and slow cooker recipes.
If There's Extra Time,
How About Some Fun Side Dishes
for Tacos?
~ Best Quick Tomato Salsa (Red Salsa) ~~ Mexican Rice ~
~ Pinto Bean Salad ~
Why I Love This Recipe & You Might Too
- SIMPLE EVERYDAY INGREDIENTS (for the meat) — Just onion, salsa and green chiles plus the stew meat.
- SIMPLE EVERYDAY INGREDIENTS (for the tacos) — Just onion, garlic, jalapeño, zucchini, corn, tomato, black beans and cumin plus the cooked beef.
- USEFUL (the meat) — Make a big batch for tacos, hot beef sandwiches, casseroles and more.
- Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!
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SLOW COOKER SHREDDED BEEF TACOS
with VEGGIES & BLACK BEANS
Slow cooker time: 4-1/2 hours, with occasional attention after two and four hours
Time-to-table: 5 hours
Makes 3 cups Shredded Beef and 3-1/2 cups Veggies & Beans, enough for about 9 tacos
-
SLOW COOKER SHREDDED BEEF
- 2 pounds beef stew meat or a beef roast, cut into big chunks
- 2 tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) meat seasoning (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
- 1 onion, diced fine
- 1 15-ounce jar salsa (tomato salsa works great, my favorite is salsa verde)
- 1 4-ounce can green chiles
- 2/3 cup water
-
VEGGIES & BLACK BEANS
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced small
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 jalapeño, minced
- 2 cups diced zucchini
- 2 cups corn kernels
- 1 large tomato, diced or 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Shredded Beef Cooking Liquid
- Salt & pepper
-
FOR EACH TACO
- 1 whole-wheat tortilla, warmed (see TIPS) or toasted a bit on a hot skillet
- 1/3 cup hot Shredded Beef
- 1/3 cup hot Veggies & Black Beans
- Diced avocado
- Chopped green onion
- Sour cream
SLOW COOKER SHREDDED BEEF Stir the uncooked meat (no need to brown first!) and remaining ingredients together in a slow cooker. Cook on high for two hours. Stir well and cook on high for another two hours.
Lift the meat from slow cooker. There will be almost 3 cups of liquid in the slow cooker; leave one cup in the slow cooker, set aside the rest for the Veggies & Black Beans. With two forks, shred the meat and return it to the slow cooker, stirring it into the one cup cooking liquid.
Cook for another 30 minutes or so on high while cooking the Veggies & Black Beans.
VEGGIES & BLACK BEANS In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium high until shimmery, stir in onion, garlic, jalapeno and zucchini as they’re prepped, cook just until turning color. Stir in tomato, black beans and cumin, then the leftover cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Let simmer for 5 – 10 minutes.
PER TACO Spread Shredded Beef on a tortilla, top with Veggies & Black Beans. Sprinkle with avocado and green onion, serve with sour cream on the side.
SHREDDED BEEF The beef itself is excellent on its own, great texture and flavor. It's nice to have on hand (and I suspect, to freeze) for impromptu beef sandwiches.
If your stew meat or roast is slightly more or slightly less than 2 pounds, be sure to scale the spices and the water up or down by an equivalent amount. Regular readers know I’m no fan of slow cookers, finding inconsistent and unreliable, no matter the model. But great news, this recipe works in a slow cooker, even for me! It’s because there’s so much liquid in the pot, that means there’s little risk of the meat burning. Still, I’d never leave a slow cooker unattended for more than an hour or two but that’s just me. Yes, that’s raw beef that’s dropped into the slow cooker. Yippee, no browning! For meat seasoning, use one of those blends that collect in the spice cupboard. I've used Ozark Seasoning, Montreal Seasoning, North Woods Seasoning. I've also used our house rub, My Spice Rub. For our taste, mild salsa is perfect and the green chiles are quite mild as well. These add flavor more than heat.VEGGIES & BLACK BEANS This is a great combination, as written, but feel free to adapt based on what vegetables you like and have on hand.
Do dice everything quite small, it’ll be easier to spread on the tacos.TACOS I’d intended to fold the shredded beef and veggies into burritos but found whole-wheat tortillas way too stiff for folding even when warmed. Tacos it would be!
You can warm one or two tortillas in the microwave, just 10 or 20 seconds will do it. For more, wrap a stack of tortillas in foil, heat in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes. With leftovers, I use corn tortillas to make a slightly different version of my total favorite Mexican Pizza (Oaxaca Tlayuda), warmed in the oven on a blazing-hot cast iron griddle, the grill would work too. Awesome good!FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more.
Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2014/07/slow-cooker-shredded-beef.html .
FYI for accuracy, I’m separating the nutrition information for readers, some will use only the Shredded Beef, others only the Veggies & Black Beans, etc. In addition tortillas vary widely-widely in calories, fat and carbs depending on the size, the brand, their own ingredients: there’s no guessing what you might choose.
SLOW COOKER SHREDDED BEEF ONLY Per 1/3 cup (assumes 2/3 salsa and green chiles used with Veggies & Black Beans): 178 Calories; 8g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 65mg Cholesterol; 153mg Sodium; 3g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 21g Protein.
WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 4 & PointsPlus 4 & future WW points VEGGIES & BLACK BEANS ONLY Per 1/3 cup (assumes 2/3 salsa and chiles from Slow Cooker Shredded Beef): 100 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 318mg Cholesterol; 318mg Sodium; 18g Carb; 4g Fiber; 3g Sugar; 4g Protein.
WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1.5 & PointsPlus 3 & future WW points NOT JUST FOR TACOS! I also use the Slow Cooker Shredded Beef to make a beef version of Afghan Chicken & Rice Casserole (Kabeli Palau). So good! Great party food!
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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.
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This looks wonderful and I can't wait to try it!
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