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Shredded beef tacos are the perfect low-effort, high-flavor dish to serve at cookouts, parties, or taco night. Juicy, savory beef seasoned with a blend of spices and simmered in a citrusy broth until fall-off-the-fork tender. Just add your favorite toppings!
Before You Get Started
- For really tender beef, it’s important that you let it rest after cooking, before you try to shred it. That rest time allows for 1) the meat to finish cooking, 2) the muscle fibers to relax, and 3) the juices to settle within the meat. Don’t skip it!
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Season the Beef
You can use the homemade spice blend outlined below, or you can use your favorite taco seasoning – whatever you prefer! Either way, make sure you pat the beef roast completely dry on all sides with paper towels first, then season it generously with your spice blend of choice. Make sure every side is covered – you can gently massage the spice blend into the meat if you want, too.
Sear the Beef
Heat neutral oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, then lay the seasoned beef roast in the hot oil. Sear each side of the roast for 3-4 minutes, until every side is lightly browned.
Braise the beef
Once the beef is nicely seared, add the beef broth, orange juice, and lime juice, then cover the pot and reduce the heat. Let the meat simmer for 2 ½ hours or so, until the roast is tender and the internal temperature reaches 195° Fahrenheit. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the beef from the pot and set it aside to rest 10 minutes.
Cheryl’s Tip: Beef roast needs to reach 200°-210° Fahrenheit to shred easily. Remove the beef from the heat when it reaches 195° Fahrenheit – as it rests, the residual cooking should put it within that ideal shredding range.
Shred the Beef
After the beef has had time to rest, use 2 forks to shred the meat into small pieces. Once it’s shredded, return the meat to the pot and stir it into the reduced sauce.
Serve the Beef
Warm flour tortillas in a skillet or steam them in the microwave, then fill the warmed tortillas with shredded beef and your favorite taco toppings. You can also enjoy the shredded beef in burritos, on nachos, or as a taco salad!
What I Love About This Recipe
- It’s ridiculously delicious, every single time you make it. The foolproof slow-cooking method gives you juicy beef that’s so tender it literally falls apart and melts in your mouth.
- Shredded beef tacos are one of those meals that everyone at your table will love. At least, that’s the case at my house! We have these babies for dinner often, and my kids love being able to pick and choose their toppings and build their tacos themselves.
- It’s loaded, and I mean loaded, with flavor! The beef roast is seasoned with a blend of spices, then braised in a mixture of citrus juices and beef broth so every bite is insanely juicy. No dry, boring, bland meat here!
Recipe Variations
- Make it Gluten Free: Use gluten-free tortillas and watch for added starches in your ingredients.
- Make it Paleo: Use paleo tortillas or lettuce cups and a vegan queso fresco. Use additional beef broth in place of the orange juice or juice your own oranges.
- Make it Keto: Use lettuce cups instead of tortillas. Use additional beef broth in place of the orange juice.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Shredded Beef Tacos
Equipment
- Small bowl
- whisk
- Cutting board
- Paper towels
- Large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid
- Tongs
- internal meat thermometer
- 2 forks
- Large skillet or microwave
Ingredients
For the Taco Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Beef
- 3-4 pounds boneless beef roast
- 2 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil avocado oil, olive oil, etc.
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup orange juice
- 6 tablespoons lime juice juice of approximately 3 limes
For the Tacos
- 8 flour tortillas 6-inch or 8-inch
- ½ cup sour cream optional
- 1 cup pico de gallo optional
- crumbled queso fresco optional
- chopped fresh cilantro optional
- shredded romaine lettuce optional
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons chili powder, ½ tablespoon smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to small bowl. Whisk spices together until well incorporated, breaking up any clumps. Set bowl aside.
- Place 3-4 pounds boneless beef roast on flat surface. Pat all sides of beef roast completely dry with paper towels, then thoroughly coat all sides of beef roast with spice blend.
- Place large pot on stovetop over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil and continue heating pot until oil is hot and shimmery.
- When oil is hot, place seasoned beef roast in pot. Sear beef roast 3 to 4 minutes or until lightly golden on bottom. Flip beef roast over and sear 3 to 4 minutes more. Repeat until all sides of beef roast are golden brown.
- Once beef is seared on all sides, add 1 cup beef broth, 1 cup orange juice, and 6 tablespoons lime juice to pot. Cover pot with lid and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Cook beef roast 2 hours, then check doneness of beef with internal meat thermometer. Continue cooking beef as needed until beef is tender and internal temperature reaches 195° Fahrenheit.
- Once target temperature is reached, transfer cooked beef roast to cutting board. Let roast rest 10 minutes.
- While beef rests, reduce heat under pot to low and simmer sauce until reduced slightly.
- After beef has rested 10 minutes, shred beef roast into small pieces using 2 forks. Return shredded meat to pot and stir to incorporate shredded meat into reduced sauce.
To Serve
- Warm 8 flour tortillas in large skillet, or in microwave with individual tortillas layered between damp paper towels.
- Serve shredded beef in warmed tortillas with desired toppings.
Video
- Warming Tortillas: To warm tortillas on an open flame, use this method.
- Slow Cooker Method: Season the beef roast as written. Heat olive oil in large skillet and sear beef roast on all sides.Transfer beef roast to slow cooker with the beef broth, orange juice, and lime juice. Cover and cook 5 hours on low or 3 hours on high. Shred beef, then stir and cook uncovered another 30 minutes on high or 60 minutes on low. Assemble tacos with desired toppings and enjoy.
- Leftover Beef: Refrigerate any leftover shredded beef in an airtight container up to 4 days. Freeze leftover shredded beef in an airtight container up to 3 months.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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