Tender, slow-cooked beef carnitas make delicious tacos, burrito bowls, salads & more! (Even better? These carnitas are naturally gluten-free, Paleo + Whole30 Friendly!)
Post updated Oct 2017. Originally posted June 2013.
First off: I know. These are NOT authentic. Carnitas are traditionally made with pork braised in oil or lard until tender. I skip the oil/lard, and swap pork for beef. I couldn’t say no to our taco craving!
Tacos are a major favorite at our house, but I have to admit that I’m not usually satisfied with a ground beef taco. It feels like the peanut-butter-and-grape-jelly-on-Wonder-bread of tacos. They get the job done, but I always feel like there’s something I could do better, add more flavor, or make them more exciting.
Sometimes that’s whipping up a batch of fish tacos, or salsa verde chicken tacos, but shredded beef tacos will probably be Michael’s forever favorite. Specifically, he loves and craves these Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas tacos.
You’re going to love them as much as we do…
These were a cinch to pull together. I pop everything into the slow cooker, forget about it for a few hours, and then give it a quick shred with tongs (it’s fall-apart tender!).
You could certainly dress them up with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, etc. I think the meat and veggies mixture is so flavorful it doesn’t need much more than a tortilla and a little salsa or guacamole (because EVERYTHING is better with guacamole).
I’ll also say that as much as we love these as tacos, the beef is equally delicious in burrito bowls (with these sweet potatoes), rice bowls, taco salads, or tucked into baked sweet potatoes.
FAQ + TIPS AND TRICKS FOR THE BEST SLOW COOKER BEEF CARNITAS
WHAT KIND OF BEEF ROAST DO YOU USE FOR BEEF CARNITAS? My favorite beef for beef carnitas is chuck roast. It has a nice marbling of fat and gets gorgeously tender when slow-cooked. It makes for seriously flavorful, tender beef carnitas.
MAKE-AHEAD NOTES: To save time in the morning, I often do the prep for this meal at night. I slice up the veggies, brown the beef, put everything into the slow cooker crock, and refrigerated it in the crock overnight. The next morning, I pulled out the crock, settle it into the slow cooker and forget about it till many hours later.
MY FAVORITE SLOW COOKERS: I always get questions about slow cookers when I post a slow cooker recipe. I swear by this one. It’s programmable, has a lid clip (no more sloshing if you need to transport it), and even has a thermometer you can program so that your slow cooker switches to WARM mode when the meat reaches the right temperature (which means NO overcooked, dried out meat–Holla!). Target and Amazon typically have the best prices.
PALEO + WHOLE30 NOTES: if you’re eating paleo or doing a Whole30, this beef recipe is 100% paleo approved. Instead of serving it in tacos, make a giant taco salad heaped high with salsa and guacamole, stuff a baked sweet potato, or serve it in burrito bowls (with these sweet potatoes!) and your favorite taco toppings.
LOVE TEX-MEX? YOU MIGHT ALSO LOVE:
- My ULTIMATE Guide to Guacamole
- Fresh Pico De Gallo
- The BEST Fish Tacos With Cilantro Lime Slaw
- Instant Pot Charro Beans
- Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef
- Magic Green Rice (Arroz Verde)
- Chipotle Sweet Potatoes (Great for Burrito Bowls!)
- Tomatillo Ranch Dressing (Awesome for Taco Salads!)
Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: about 8 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
If your slow-cooker has a removable crock, you can prep this the night before. Follow all steps up until cooking and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, put the crock in the slow cooker, set it to low, and you’re ready to go!
Ingredients
FOR SLOW COOKER BEEF CARNITAS:
- 2–3 lbs beef chuck roast
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 onion, sliced (I like sweet onions)
- 1 green pepper, sliced
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 (4oz) can diced green chiles (don’t drain)
FOR SERVING:
- corn tortillas*
- your favorite taco toppings: shredded lettuce, salsa, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, etc.
Instructions
- If desired, brown your beef roast in a pan or Dutch oven. Heat a small drizzle of oil over medium heat, add the beef roast and cook 5-7 minutes per side, or until it’s very browned and crisped.
- Place roast in the slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Sprinkle spice mixture over the roast. Add onion, bell peppers, and green chiles over the roast as well.
- Cook on HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 7-8 hours, or until beef is pull-apart tender. (You should be able to easily shred it with a fork or a pair of tongs).
Notes
*Gluten & Dairy Free Notes: not all corn tortillas are gluten free. Read your package to be sure. We like Tortilla Land cook-your-own corn tortillas. They’re gluten and dairy free and are delicious and soft (i.e. they don’t crack or split when you bend them). Also, this is common sense, but skip cheese and sour cream if you’re dairy free.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican, Tex-Mex
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 216
- Sugar: 4.4 g
- Sodium: 555.2 mg
- Fat: 7.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.2 g
- Fiber: 1.9 g
- Protein: 28.7 g
- Cholesterol: 83.6 mg
Recipe adapted from Eat Live Run
Don’t pass this one by, it is fabulous! My family loves it in a rice bowl with sour cream, guacamole and vegetables!⭐️
Saaaaame! So glad you loved it Denise!
Thanks so much to Anonymous and KG for the detailed dutch oven tips. I used these tips and the carnitas were perfect. Everyone loved the tacos.
How necessary are the diced chilies? 😅
I love them (since I use mild ones)! You can leave them out, your results will just vary from mine.
this was great! used stew meat and the instant pot and it was delicious
Does it require for beef to be cut in cubes before cooking?
Ruth – It’s not strictly necessary, but cutting it into at least 3-4 pieces can help it cook faster!
Awesome! Cubed my roast and added a can of jalapenos instead of chilis.
I’m so glad you loved it! (And yum–sounds like a great way to add some extra heat!)
No stock is needed for slow cooking?
Not for this recipe! The meat will create its own juices as it cooks and the meat will still end up tender and delicious.
1x says 8 servings- how many tacos is 1 serving? Wanting to make this for a family night 🙂
Lauren – It sort of depends on how full you pack your tacos and whether you’re adding other toppings/fillings, but you should be able to get at least 2 tacos per serving (or 3 if you add other fillings to the tacos!).
Wonderful, thank you!
I don’t have a slow cooker so I made this in the dutch oven instead. It turned out awesome! I could see where the slow cooker might make it even more fall-apart tender, though. To convert this to a dutch oven recipe I first seared it in the dutch oven according to the recipe. You always need to add some extra liquid when converting a slow cooker recipe to a dutch oven because more steam will escape and you are cooking at a higher temp, so after I seared the meat I took it out and deglazed the pan with a little bit (like a couple of big splashes) of fresh squeezed orange juice. I then, I added all the seasoning to the meat and put it back in. Between the OJ and the juices released from searing the meat there was probably 1/2 an inch of liquid. I topped with the veg (just as the recipe said) and then covered and put in a 300 oven. To avoid drying out in a dutch oven it’s always best to baste the meat every so often so I basted it in the pan liquid every 35-40 minutes or so. Around the 2 hour mark I dropped the temp to 275 and the liquid was getting low (under 1/4 inch) so I added a couple tablespoons of water. I took it out at the 2.5 hour mark and it was perfect!
By the way, for anyone eating a low-FODMAP diet it is easy to convert this to Low FODMAP. I substituted 3 teaspoons of a commercially-available Low FODMAP taco seasoning spice mix for all the seasoning (you will need to add the salt and pepper if it doesn’t contain it) and substituted green onions (green parts only) for the onions. I also seared the meat in garlic oil since I didn’t use the garlic powder obviously. I make these kinds of recipe subs all the time and my boyfriend can never tell a difference 🙂
I hope anyone who doesn’t have a slow cooker or eating Low FODMAP finds these adaptations helpful! But again, great recipe, I bookmarked this and will definitely do it again!!
Thank you for sharing all your tips!
The chuck roast were buy one get one free so I made two… One in my slow cooker and one in my dutch oven (on 250). The slow cooker created a lot of liquid. I had to use a slotted spoon to get all the yummy bits of vegetables. In contrast, the dutch oven roast had less liquid and created a beefy, juicy reduction. When I shredded the beef everything was incorporated. Both were and delicious but the dutch oven one was better.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I love making this in the Dutch oven, too. So good! Slow cookers have less evaporation and get less crispy, but we love how easy they are!
I’m new to instant pot. If I made these in there, would I have to tweak the recipe at all? Add liquid? These sound awesome! Excited to give them a try!
Adriane – I haven’t made this in an Instant Pot yet, but this conversion chart might help!
These are fantastic! We made beef carnitas bowls…no tortillas or rice….we didn’t change a thing… definitely a keeper recipe! Thank you!
Ooh, that sounds delicious! I need to make a batch soon!
I’ve been making this recipe for some time now, and it’s one of our family’s favorites. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad to hear that Cydney! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! 🙂
Tried this recipe for dinner tonight. It was so simple and flavorful. Absolutely delicious! It was a great alternative to using ground turkey or ground beef. My husband, teen boys and I really enjoyed this. Thank you so much for this recipe! Blessings to you and your family 🙂
That’s WONDERFUL to hear! I’m so glad it was a big hit! It’s one of my husband’s all-time favorite dinners. 🙂
So so yumm!
This is a recipe I’ve made about 6 times. I followed the recipe to a T. My family and I absolutely love this!!! It’s seriously amazing, and I am soooo happy to have found it. It’s easy to make and you cannot just take a little piece to try lol… you’ll be coming back for more!
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! ❤️
I’m so happy to hear this! It’s my husband’s favorite!!!
Awesome!! So easy and made the house smell so good. I made a mexican salad and my husband made nachos. One tiny piece of meat left in the crock pot just so my husband could say he didn’t eat it all. Will make again. Thank you.
I have some stew meat in the feezer. Do you think I could use it as a substitute for chuck roast?
I’d think so! (I do recommend thawing before putting it into your recipe first :))
Love this! Put it into my 2 week rotation.
That’s fantastic! I’m so glad to hear it 🙂
Hi Laurie! This recipe looks delicious!! I have 2 lbs of beef shoulder already cut up. Do you think beef shoulder would work well in the crock pot for this recipe?
I would think so! 🙂
Hi i am making this for dinner but I wasnt sure how to do this since your video says one thing and your written recipe says another. Does it matter if the seasonings are on top of the veggies like you have stated in your video or the seasonings on the meat like you have it written down?
Loretta – I’m sorry for the confusion! It doesn’t matter, but I’ll be sure to clarify so they match. Thanks for letting me know!
Have you tried making this ahead and freezing it? I have a grad party coming up but would have enough time to make it on the day of the party?
Laurie – It reheats pretty well, in my experience! 🙂 Otherwise, you can easily make it the day before and refrigerate it. Hope you enjoy the graduation celebration!
The spice mix is what puts this recipie over the top. I cooked roast in my crock pot on low for 7-8 hours. We have been using the meat for street tacos alll week. So good and easy.
I LOVE hearing that!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
We raise our own beef and thinking of using stew meat. Don’t think I will have any issue do you?
I don’t think you’ll have any trouble. That sounds wonderful! (And good for you!!!)
Just a quick question. Just the roast in the pot no additional liquid?
Yes! The meat and veggies will create all their own juices. I’ve never yet had any problem with scorching, burning, etc.
Would a tri tip work well for this dish?
Tri tip steak? Or a tri tip roast? I wouldn’t recommend a steak for sure, since the slow cooking would probably just cook it to death. If you’re talking about a roast, the cattlemen’s beef board says it’s good for roasting, so it might be able to stand up to the longer cook time of a slow cooker!
Could you do this recipe in an instant pot?
I think so! I haven’t tested it, but would guess you’d cook it about 45 minutes at pressure. That’s about how long I’ve cooked other beef roasts with good success!
I made this last Monday with a grass-fed chuck roast. It was sooooo good and my boys loved it so much I made it again today with a grass-fed rump roast. I cant decide which was better! Thanks for sharing!
I love hearing this!!! So glad you enjoyed it as much as we do!
Hi. Would flank steak work for this recipe?
Marley – I haven’t tried it with flank steak, but I think it would be overcooked in a slow cooker. It doesn’t have as much connective tissue to break down as a beef roast. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Ok I’ll have to buy some chuck roast then- can’t wait to make this! Thanks
This looks all kinds of amazing, thanks for sharing 🙂
My pleasure!
Making today for the 2nd time..love them. Cooked it on low it was perfect.
Yay! I’m so glad you loved it! These are one of my husband’s FAVORITES!
I made this with venison instead of beef and it was delicious!
Wow! That’s great to hear! So glad you liked it!
YUM! These are totally going onto the menu plan next week!
Making this right now and totally love u for this recipe ! Me and my hubby just moved in together and he wanted this to be his first meal !!!!
Oh congratulations! I hope you love it as much as we do!
would it be reasonable to save the juice (the water released by the meat) to use as, say, a salad dressing? (I ask because I know you’re not supposed to reuse chicken marinade.) if so, would it need to be stored in the refrigerator?
S – you could certainly repurpose the juice from the cooked meat if you like. Mine has never tuned out overly juicy since there’s no added liquid.I’ve always just eaten it as part of my carnitas. You would absolutely want to refrigerate it and it will only keep for about 5-7 days max.
I am making this as we speak. The smell is so delightful I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this. Thanks for such a tasty recipe.
Mia – Oh, you made my day! I hope they tasted as good as they smelled!
Do you add any liquid?
Tracy – I don’t. I’ve never had a problem with scorching. Typically the juices from the beef are plenty to keep everything nice and cozy! I hope that helps!
So the ingredients calls for a chuck k roast but directions reference a rump roast. Have you tried this with a rump roast? I’m just a bit worried it’ll be too lean.
JJ – I’m sorry for the confusion! I’ve updated the directions to say chuck roast. I’ve used both kinds of roast with good results, though I most often use a chuck roast since the price is typically better at my markets. I hope that helps! Have a great day!
You don’t put any liquid at all in the crock pot?
Karen – I don’t. In all the times I’ve made this, the beef releases it’s own liquid shortly into the cooking process, and it’s enough to keep everything from burning. If you’re nervous, you could put a little beef stock or water in, but I wouldn’t add more than about 1/2 cup at the very most.
I have now made this several times. My family begs for them which is just fine with me. We love them and it is really easy to make. Thank you for the recipe and also the tip about the corn tortillas-I will never go back to the ones I used to use.
ANA – I’m so glad! Thank you for the kind comment and great feedback. Happy eating!
Instead of cooking it on low, could I cook it on high for a shorter amount of time? Any idea how long that might be if I cook it on high?
Tania – That should be just fine! When switching from low to high, I generally half the time, so I’d say 3-4 hours on high should do the job. Just so long as the meat shreds easily, you’ll know they’re done!
Wow this looks delish. I have some chuck roast that I cut up do you think 8 could use that
Tha ks
Nanci – Absolutely! Since the meat is in smaller pieces, you may just want to check it 1-2 hours earlier. It will probably be tender sooner. Yum! Hope you love them!
These were so yummy! Made these for dinner tonight and the hubby and I both loved them!
I’m so glad you liked them! They’re my husband’s absolute favorite meal.
Do you add any water? Can’t wait to make these!
I don’t! The meat creates its own juices and is tender and delicious without it!
Emily we love this recipe. We have made it multiple times since you posted it and it has become an instant staple in our house. I’m featuring it on my fabulous friday post tomorrow just to give you a heads up. Miss you girl and keep the great recipes coming!
We made these tonight and everyone loved them! The meat had just the right amount of seasoning to add flavor without taking away from all my other favorites (avocados, cilantro, sour cream, etc..) Thanks for sharing!
These were a huge hit with my family! Than you for sharing this great recipe. I didn’t marinate overnight but decided to sear the seasoned meat first, worked well, crockpotted it all day. My house still smells yummy the morning after!
These were fantastic and easy since I keep bell pepper strips frozen in my freezer. It took only a few seconds to throw together and made a TON.
My mouth is watering. We love taco’s but hate ground beef. Thank you for a wonderful alternative!
Can I add these to the Hootenanny menu?? Please? Also, Emily–where do you find the tortillas? I’m guessing cold food section?
Elisabeth all bread items are in the bread isle !
The type of tortillas she mention have to be refriderated. They are normally in the deli section depending on the store.
Yes they are in the regular cooler section at Meijer’s they are called Aztec Torila shells, krogers they are in the regular aisle but a cooler section.
These look so tasty, and it’s great that they’re made with affordable, yet oh so tasty when slow cooked, chuck!