Chipotle Barbacoa Beef (Copycat)

18 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes

Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Layered in a huge burrito, enjoy your favorite Mexican take out for much less!

It’s easy and inexpensive to make your favorite meaty Mexican Food takeout recipes at home. Once you try this Chipotle copycat burrito, you’ll want to also make Pork Carnitas, Tacos Al Pastor, and Beef Enchiladas just like at a restaurant.

Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!

Tender beef is braised slowly with garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, bay leaves, and of course, chipotles in adobo, to make the most flavorful and authentic beef you’ll ever taste. You’ll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!

Chipotle is a definitely a guilty pleasure for most, and for good reason. You can go to Chipotle, have them make you a burrito (literally the size of your head) and make three meals out of one burrito! Extra bonus points if you can also make them use a second piece of foil to wrap it.

Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito collage of preparation steps

But if you are reading this and you’re thinking, “Forget those lines, I want to make it myself!” then you are in the right place! The best part of making Chipotle copycat burritos at home is that you can customize how you want to serve it, as well as the portions. Get smaller tortillas to make a mini version of the huge burritos, or serve it in a bowl with tortillas on the side. And, you can make way more servings and make this into a party!

This recipe is a joy to make and the foundation of an amazing party menu! Set out a table full of these items and you’ll see how the party instantly recenters itself around the table. Even better, cut up some small corn tortillas and fry them up. Add some lime juice and salt and bake at 350 degrees for 3 minutes for an authentic side dish. Don’t forget to serve up lots of Corona beers with a bowl full of lemon and lime wedges.

The flavors of this recipe are authentically special to Chipotle, just like In-N-Out is authentically special to them. When something has a completely unique flavor, figuring it out and being able to enjoy it at home is a wonderful thing! Especially when the restaurant is so cool that they release a recipe for their authentic guacamole which is one of the best things ever. This recipe is the foundation of an AMAZING Chipotle Meal!

Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!

How to Layer a Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito

Tortilla (warmed)
Chipotle Cilantro-Lime Rice
Chipotle Jalapeno Lime Corn Salad
Black Beans
Chipotle Barbacoa Beef (You’re here!)
Sour Cream
Chipotle Guacamole (Authentic Recipe!)
Guapos Salsa (Authentic Recipe!)

Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!

How to Make Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Copycat

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add the vinegar, lime juice, chipotles in adobo sauce, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt, ground cloves, and process until small homogenous chunks occur.
  • Trim your beef, add vegetable oil to a large dutch oven and heat on high. Sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned. Pour over the beef and spread on it evenly. Add chicken broth on the sides of the beef so you don’t make the topping fall off.
  • You can either cook in your slow cooker on low for 7 hours. In the oven, you can cook at 325 degrees for 3-4 hours until fork tender in your favorite dutch oven.

How to Store Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito Copycat

  • Serve: Do not leave cooked beef at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
  • Store: Store the burrito ingredients separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Heat up a fresh tortilla and assemble a burrito just before serving.
  • Freeze: Barbacoa Beef can be frozen up to 4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat to serve with fresh burrito ingredients.
Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!

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Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito (Copycat)

Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Layered in a huge burrito, enjoy your favorite Mexican take out for much less!
Yield 18 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Mexican
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 4 teaspoons minced garlic cloves
  • 4 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 3 chipotle chiles in adobo
  • 5 lbs chuck roast

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Add the vinegar, lime juice, chipotle, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt, ground cloves, and process until small homogenous chunks occur.
  • Trim your beef, add vegetable oil to a large dutch oven and heat on high.
  • Sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned.
  • Pour sauce mixture over the beef and spread on it evenly.
  • Add chicken broth on the sides of the beef so you don’t make the topping fall off.
  • You can either cook in your slow cooker on low for 7 hours.
  • In the oven, you can cook at 325 degrees for 3-4 hours until fork tender.

Video

Notes

Adapted from Food.com

Nutrition

Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 300mg | Potassium: 445mg | Vitamin A: 150IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 3.1mg
Keyword: barbacoa beef, barbacoa recipe, Chipotle Barbacoa Beef (Copycat), Chipotle recipes
Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!
Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!
Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!
Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!
Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!
Spicy, seasoned beef cooked low and slow to tender perfection! Your favorite Mexican take out! You'll love this amazingly easy copycat version of the famous Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito so you can feed a large crowd and save 80% the price!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. sounds great. My roast is 2 1/2lb. how long should I cook it? I will half all the ingredients. thank you!

  2. Hi! I am cooking this in the oven in the Dutch oven. Do I cover it or leave uncovered? Thanks so much!

  3. Thank you for sharing your recipes, techniques, and lessons. Whether you realize it or not, you are shaping an entire generation of Americans. We’re deciding to stay home more, cook healthier meals, and live longer lives. For far too long, restaurants have kept all of these techniques hidden and not shared how to make good-tasting & affordable food at home.

    So, I thank people like you — also like Todd Wilbur, Kevin at Closet Cooking, and many more. You are making the Middle Class be able to keep going, because wages aren’t keeping up with prices — along with the student loan debt burden (like I have).

    So, it is so appreciated what you do, even if you don’t have a TV Show yet … you will. Because I think you will be one of the standouts and Stars of this next generation of Chefs.

  4. This recipe looks amazing. I’m thinking of making ahead of time and taking camping. Any tips? 

    Also, do you use Mexican oregano?

    1. This would be great to make ahead of time to take camping. I used regualr oregano but you can use whichever you’d like. 🙂 Have fun!

  5. Loved it! Made the Barbacoa, the rice, the corn salsa. Used all the other ingredients. Made Burrito bowls, and tacos. AMAZING! and not difficult. Will be making again

  6. My husband and daughter (she’s 12 years old) looooveees burritos and didn’t want to order take outs from chipotle but I’m so glad I found you and it taste just right at home ! Every now and then she would ask for burritos ! She never got tired of it! And the husband who is a police man cannot wait to come home for dinner for this ! Thank you!

    1. Love seeing this! I know how hard it can be at times to please everyone with one dish so when it happens, I take it as a huge win!!!

  7. Looks great but help!!! My text editor is not translating parts of the ingredient quantities. When viewing the recipe I see 1?3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1?2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 3?4 cup chicken broth. Should those all be fractions? 1/3, 1/2 an 3/4? Many thanks in advance!

    1. Sorry! There have been some glitches in the recipe card system, I updated it so the quantities are corrected. 🙂

  8. In my crock pot now. This is 3rd time making this using this recipe and I highly recommend it. People please give this a try. Your taste buds get lit up like a grand finale fireworks display on 4th of July!!!
    It’s just as good if not better than Chipotles. Everything gets put in a food processor or blender, and poured over the browned meat. Then low and slow is how you cook it and BAM you’ve got a Barbacoa to die for. Be sure to make the rice, guac, white sweet corn, jack cheese, cilantro, green onions, sour cream and salsa. You will forget all about Chipotle and save your money!

    1. Absolutely! 45 minutes to an hour I imagine, but would need to refer to some more notes if you want a solid time estimate.

  9. THANK YOU I HAVE MADE THIS A COUPLE OF TIMES NOW, IT TASTE EXACTLY OR BETTER, THANKS SO MUCH GOD BLESS HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

  10. You mentioned that you make this in large batches and freeze it. Would you mind sharing your process for this and how you thaw/reheat afterward? I am expecting a baby soon, so this would be awesome to make before she arrives so we can just heat it up! 🙂

    1. Of course and CONGRATS! I did the same when I was pregnant! I pre-shred, add liquid and fill about 75% of the way a quart sized ziploc bag. Freeze in a flat stack of them so it is a thin rectangle. To defrost I usually put it in a warm glass bowl of water for about 10 minutes then tear the ziploc away. Empty the bowl of water, break the slightly melted beef apart and microwave on 50% power covered with a wet paper towel. If you prefer to not heat in the microwave. You can do the same defrosting in a bowl, then warm in a covered skillet on medium-low for 5-7 minutes. I keep the liquids in the bag with the meat to prevent freezer burn.

  11. My husband eat the burrito bowl with barbacoa in it from Chipotle every week. We actually thought the meat was pork–all we do know is it is yummy, and I am glad it can be replicated at home.

  12. My family would love it if i made this for dinner. I will have to give this recipe a try. I like trying something new.

  13. Dare I say I’ve never tried anything from Chipotle? My adult kids eat there often but I’m hesitant to try it because I hear they’re not cheap.

  14. Oh Hubby is such a great fan of Chiptle and he would love this. I just may have to surprise him with it one night. Thanks so much for sharing.

  15. Oh wow, I need to mention that we can try making this to my boyfriend. We go to Chipotle literally 2-3 times a week lol.

  16. I DO want to come over to your house for a party! I love build-your-own meals like this for a crowd! That way everyone gets what they want, and it’s always such a fun way to change things up. These look better than Chipotle’s!

    1. Haha! You’re totally welcome to! I love these “bar” parties. Ice cream bars, taco bars, burrito bars. I think they are so much fun!

  17. That looks so delicious and healthy too! I’m going to have to make these real soon. Hopefully my daughters will eat this too. I can’t wait to try it out.

    1. Thanks! If you make it for kids I would suggest maybe half the adobo peppers 🙂 My toddler said “hot mommy” but totally hates any spice so take that with a grain of salt, haha.

  18. This recipe looks delicious! I love mexican food and Chipotle, especially burritos!! Thanks for posting!

  19. Wow – this looks delicious!! And who does not love Chipotle!?! This would be the perfect dish for an Sunday afternoon football party. Pinned!!