Grilled Barbacoa Tacos With Chimichurri Sauce

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Barbacoa Tacos aren’t my usual pick for taco nights. A lot of the time when I’m craving a taco I will opt for Carne Asada. But it’s been so nice outside, I wanted to take out the grill and try a  low and slow barbacoa recipe for tacos. I hate to toot my own horn, but I’ve been missing out on something really amazing!

Grilled barbacoa tacos, cooked low and slow with a zesty chimichurri sauce. Barbacoa makes an excellent change to taco Tuesday! dadwithapan.com

I picked up a 2 lb chuck roast and didn’t really feel like getting the kitchen hot this weekend. So taking advantage of the barbecue I recently picked up, I decided to go low and slow and cook some barbacoa on the grill.

I even added a little smokiness with some applewood smoking chips towards the end to really get that smoky flavor set into the meat for some amazing tacos!

Grilled barbacoa tacos, cooked low and slow with a zesty chimichurri sauce. Barbacoa makes an excellent change to taco Tuesday! dadwithapan.com

To begin, I put a can of diced tomatoes in a skillet while the grill was preheating, leaving the middle of the grill for indirect heat. I grilled an onion, garlic, and serrano pepper to really get a nice smoky flavor incorporated into the barbacoa mix I was putting together.

Using spices like cumin, smoked paprika, and a little agave to add a little sweetness. I couldn’t wait to get things going!

Grilled barbacoa tacos, cooked low and slow with a zesty chimichurri sauce. Barbacoa makes an excellent change to taco Tuesday! dadwithapan.com

This is definitely one of those Sunday cookout meals. Get the grill going earlier in the day. Crack open a beer, and just enjoy the day outside with the family while the barbacoa slow cooks on the barbecue. Grilled barbacoa tacos, cooked low and slow with a zesty chimichurri sauce. Barbacoa makes an excellent change to taco Tuesday!

When the barbacoa is ready after a few hours of cooking, it will just pull apart. Which is how I like it, pulled. Not shredded. I’m not into that stringy texture, but I can do pulled all day every day.

Before serving your barbacoa tacos, I like to serve it up with some chimichurri sauce, and nothing else. Let the flavor combine and speak for themselves. Opposite of barbacoa, the Chimichurri sauce comes together in about 2 minutes. just combine your cilantro, parsley, pepper and let it blend. Done and done!

Grilled barbacoa tacos, cooked low and slow with a zesty chimichurri sauce. Barbacoa makes an excellent change to taco Tuesday! dadwithapan.com

Also, make extra, because you’re going to want to see what I come up with later this week with the extra barbacoa!

Grilled Barbacoa Tacos With Chimichurri Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Barbacoa

  • 2 lbs chuck roast
  • 16 oz canned diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 small red onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 large serrano pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground ancho pepper chili powder will work too
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tbsp agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Chimichurri

  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • 1/4 cup fresh oregano
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 small red fresno pepper

Instructions

For The Barbacoa

  • preheat oven to 200-225F, with indirect heat in the center. While the grill is preheating, char onion, garlic, and serrano; about 5 minutes
  • Place a skillet over direct heat and add diced tomatoes. let simmer with the charred onion, garlic and pepper; about 2 minutes.
  • Pour tomato mixture into blender and add cumin, smoked paprika, salt, ground ancho pepper, oregano, agave nectar, and apple cider vinegar. Pulse until smooth; Set aside.
  • Lightly salt and pepper both sides of your chuck roast. sear over direct heat on the grill; about 1-2 minutes per side.
  • Place chuck in a disposable roasting pan over indirect heat. And pour over tomato mixture. keep temperature around 200-225F and cook for 3-4 hours until meat easily pulls apart with a fork.
  • Optionally, you can add some wood chips in the last hour, to add some extra smokey flavor to your barbacoa. When the barbacoa is done. let it rest for about 5 minutes, then pull apart.

For the Chimichurry

  • Add cilantro, parsley, oregano, salt, vinegar, cumin, fresno pepper, olive oil and garlic to a food processor; pulse until smooth. Now you're ready for the tacos!
  • Add the barbacoa to the taco and pour over a healthy serving of the chimichurri. Enjoy!

 

Derek Campanile
Derek Campanile
I'm an IT professional by day. Home cook for the family by night. Follow my blog for easy to make recipes, how-to's and ideas to gather the family at the dinner table!

12 Comments

  1. Tatiana Shifruk says:

    Your photos are stunning ! So bright and beautiful, make me want to take a bite of that taco!

  2. NICOLE SHILLINGS says:

    Man! I haven’t had good barbacoa since I left California! This sounds incredible!

  3. Constance says:

    That looks pretty darn amazing. I bet that pesto would work great on a lot of other things as well. Fresh pesto is the best!

  4. Sarah Anne Stubbs says:

    I love tacos! Always looking for new taco recipes! This one looks great!

  5. Anne Murphy says:

    Long and slow and lots of flavor… oh, so good!

  6. This is such a fantastic looking taco and, while its not your usual taco, I think you need to be including it in your taco rounds on the regular. And I’m with you . . .pulled meat is the only way to go.

  7. TheFoodOlic says:

    Love the agave touch in there! It’s a simple looking recipe with a delightful look! Pretty sure my belly would ask for more and more and … more! Yum!

  8. Sarah Kranz says:

    These look like wonderful tacos, I love the vibrantly colored sauce!

  9. Low and slow on the grill is PERFECT for awesome tasting meat. These look and sound delicious. Perfect to feed a crowd, or have fantastic leftover meat to pile on a bun, or use on pasta.

  10. Jeni says:

    So before I became a pescetarian I spent time in Mexico and the barbacoa tacos were amazing! You make this look easy, and I just love summer grilling. 🙂

  11. Erin Amundsen says:

    Love everything about this recipe! We love lots of spic in our house–will have to make this soon.

  12. Sarah James says:

    Oh my, what a great way to cook a chuck roast! I can’t think of a better way to spend a sunny Sunday with the family.

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