There is nothing more satisfying than a recipe you can make ahead to reheat and enjoy when all you want is to enjoy a relaxed, family weeknight dinner or a relaxing weekend get-together. This Mexican Slow Cooked Beef features fork-tender, fall-apart beef in a rich tomato sauce filled with fragrant Mexican flavours. I like to serve this with rice and fresh salsa, topped with cheese, sour cream, spicy mayonnaise and avocado, but the variations really are endless with this one! Change the toppings to suit your tastes, or try using the flavourful beef for burritos, nachos, or tacos.
Can you make Mexican Slow Cooked Beef ahead of time?
Mexican Slow Cooked Beef can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Is Mexican Slow Cooked Beef suitable for leftovers?
Mexican Slow Cooked Beef leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 3 months.
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Mexican Slow Cooked Beef
- Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg chuck steak, gravy beef or oyster blade steak (any slow cook beef, no need to dice)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 400 g crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
Serving suggestion
- Steamed rice
- Coriander/cilantro, fresh tomato & red onion salsa
- Cheese, grated
- Sour cream
- Lime wedges
- Pink sauce (sriracha and mayonnaise mixed together)
- Avocado cubes
Instructions
- Marinate the beef with the cumin, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and olive oil. Use your hands to ensure it is evenly coated.
- Heat a large, deep skillet on medium heat, and cook the beef in batches for 3-6 minutes until browned. Use 1/4 cup of water to deglaze the pan as needed (if it starts getting sticky). Set the beef aside.
- To the same pan, add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir through the tomato paste before adding the crushed tomatoes, beef stock, white sugar and lime juice.
- Return the beef to the pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to the lowest heat setting. Cook for 2 hours, covered.
- Uncover, and cook for a further hour or until the beef can easily be shredded with two forks. If it can’t be shredded easily and is still tough, continue cooking in 30-minute intervals. Add 1/2 cup of water if the sauce begins to thicken and catch to the base of the pan.
- Remove the beef from the skillet, add it to a large dish and shred with two forks.
- If desired, allow the sauce to continue cooking on the stove to thicken for 10-15 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high.
- Drizzle the beef with the sauce and serve with whatever you like from my serving suggestion above.
Notes
SLOW COOKER
Follow the recipe up to and including step 3. Add the cooked beef, onion and garlic to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours or until the beef falls apart with a fork. Optional: remove the beef from the slow cooker, and return the sauce to the stove to thicken for 15 minutes on high. Shred the beef using two forks and return to the sauce.
MAKE AHEAD
Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
LEFTOVERS
Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 3.5 hrs
- Category: Beef
- Method: Slow cooked
- Cuisine: Mexican
marianavidovic says:
I cooked this in the pressure cooker for 45 mins. Tender and delicious although there is more liquid using this method. It’s on regular rotation now and I like to do bigger batches and freeze as a back up meal.
bridgetbrasser says:
This is my husbands absolute favourite! And easy to make 🙂 Heaps of leftovers. Thank you x
bekhoward says:
My family absolutely loves Mexican night now. This paired with the tomatoe rice and sides is amazing. Love all your dishes! Thankyou, you’ve changed my cooking!
Nicole says:
This is so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to write. We actually have this simmering on the stove right now for dinner! Thank you again 🥰 Nic x
michelleviselli says:
This was the first Simple home Edit recipe I made & I was so impressed. Incredibly delicious and definitely worth the wait of the slow cook. I served it with the Mexican Tomato Rice,a perfect accompaniment.
Nicole says:
This is so wonderful to hear, thank you so much. We love it with the rice too! Nic x
caitlinjames says:
I made this in my slow cooker with a roasting beef it was delicious! We served it on corn chips with sour cream, veg and cheese ontop. Cant wait to make again.
Nicole says:
Ahhhhh this makes me so happy! So glad you loved it! x
tammiepecanek says:
So delicious! My kids have asked for it every week since I made. I cooked it on the stove up til step 4 then put it all the slow cooker as I had to head out. Was perfect!
Nicole says:
Ahhhh I love this so much! I am SO glad you all enjoyed it and am so grateful for you taking the time to comment on and rate the recipe. Thank you so much x
laurenbell says:
I made this today for the first time and it is a winner! I slow cooked it all day and served exactly as you have pictured. The whole family loved it.
Nicole says:
This is so fantastic to hear! You’ve got me craving it right now. Thank you so much for trying the recipe and taking the time to write! ❤️
lisahillenaar says:
I made this yesterday for a group of 8 and it was a hit! I did also find I needed to cook it for an extra hour for it to be pull-apart.
Next time I’ll try it in the oven rather than on an induction cooktop.
I also made your tomato rice recipe and have loads of leftovers for future dinners.
Thank you for your reels, posts and recipes. Keep them coming xxx
Nicole says:
This is so fantastic to hear – Thank you so much for taking the time to write and thank you for being here! Means more than I can tell you x
danielleduyvestyn says:
This recipe is delicious. I’ve made a few similar recipes over the last few years and this is hands down the tastiest. If you are looking at the recipe I can’t say anything other than just DO IT!! You won’t regret it.
Nicole says:
😭 Thank you SO much. I am so glad you loved it as much as we do. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment x
emmat says:
So good! Easy, fresh and tasty. Love that it can be prepped in advance and takes the hectic out of dinner time. Made this last week and it’ll definitely remain on rotation in our house.
Nicole says:
Ahhh goosebumps. I’m so glad you loved it as much as we do! x
jessicabower says:
My family absolutely loved this! I cooked it for an extra hour and it all fell apart nicely. We had it with red Mexican rice. Will definitely make again!
Nicole says:
That is so wonderful to hear Jessica! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and taking the time to comment! Nic x
melissastav says:
I got gravy beef meat from coles and cooked as per the recipe but my meat was so tough… do you have any suggestions?
Nicole says:
Hey Melissa, thank you so much for trying the recipe. I’m so sorry to hear the beef was tough! Gravy beef steaks are one of my favourite cuts to use for this recipe and I’m baffled by it being tough – even 2.5 hours of cooking is generally more than enough time if the beef has been seared first, but I go 3 hours in the recipe just to be safe. My only suggestion would be to cook it longer, at 15 minute intervals until soft enough to shred with a fork. If you have any leftovers, pop them on the stove top with 1 cup of water and cook longer until soft and falling apart. Hope that helps!
melissastav says:
Thanks so much Nicole! It actually turned out delicious.. might not have been as “fall apart” as I thought it might but I just had to cook it for longer and I could pull apart with forks.. .. maybe I didn’t sear it enough to start or wrong temp of stove..