Instant Pot Barbacoa Quesadillas

Barbacoa Quesadillas are made quick and easy by pressure cooking the beef roast with an amazing chipotle sauce, then melting cheese in the best tortillas.

Why this recipe works:

You don't often think of a quesadilla coming from an Instant Pot recipe. Although this barbacoa beef can be eaten on it's own or in burritos, tacos, or enchiladas, a tasty quesadilla is my favorite choice!

• Cooking a bone-in chuck roast in an Instant Pot with the right seasonings and enough liquid to bring it to pressure creates unbelievably tender and flavorful meat.
• Using an Instant Pot to cook a roast that usually needs to be braised, not only drastically decreases the cooking time but it helps infuse the flavors into the meat.
• The beef is super easy to shred.
• Since you're making this from scratch, you can easily modify the ingredients to make it more or less spicy.

Ingredients needed:

A rather long list of ingredients is needed to create the amazing flavors in this recipe, but it's actually fairly simple to make.

• For the barbacoa beef, you will need a chuck roast, onion, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, chipotle in adobo, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, cloves, beef broth, oil and salt
• For the quesadillas you will need corn tortillas and shredded cheese
• For the quick pickled radish garnish, you'll need radishes, jalapeno, red onion, lime juice, salt and cilantro

How to make Instant Pot barbacoa beef:

1. To reduce over all cooking time and to create the best flavor, you will cut the roast into smaller pieces and brown them in the Instant Pot.
2. Once the meat has been browned and transferred to a separate plate, you will saute the onion to give it flavor and help release any bits of meat that may have stuck to the bottom of the pot.
3. Then, all of the meat and remaining ingredients get added to the Instant Pot and cooked on high pressure for an hour.
4. The meat gets transferred to a cutting board where it will get separated from the fat and bone while the sauce gets further reduced and thickened in the Instant Pot. The shredded beef then gets stirred into the flavorful sauce.

How to make the quesadillas:

1. Lightly oil the corn tortillas on one side.
2. Set the oil side on a hot griddle.
3. Layer cheese, barbacoa beef, and then more cheese before topping with a tortilla.
4. Cook until the tortilla starts to brown and the cheese melts. Flip once and cook on the other side. 
5. Top with the pickled radishes!

Cooking tips:

There are a few easy tips to creating the most wonderful, tender Barbacoa in your own kitchen.

• Chose the right cut of meat. I recommend finding a roast that has a fair amount of marbled fat as well as bone. I think a chuck roast is the perfect choice when making chipotle barbacoa because it cooks up so incredibly tender and is easy to shred.
• Good barbacoa requires excellent seasoning. Although there are a lot of ingredients, each one plays it's roll in creating a very unique flavor. I don't recommend any substitutions, but you can certainly increase or decrease the amount of chipotle pepper depending on how spicy you like it.
• Make ahead and freezing instructions - Barbacoa beef can be made ahead of time. If not being used within a couple of days, freeze the cooked shredded beef in it's sauce in an airtight container for a future date. To reheat, just thaw in the refrigerator and heat in a pot on on a baking sheet under the broiler.

Related recipes:

Who doesn't love a good quesadilla? Here are some tasty recipe recommendations:

• Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas
• Grilled Summer Vegetable Quesadillas
• Broccoli Cheddar Quesadillas
• Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas
• Vegan Gluten Free Pizza Quesadilla

I am not lying when I tell you that these amazing barbacoa quesadillas might just be one of the best things that have ever come out of my kitchen!

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Barbacoa Quesadillas

Barbacoa Quesadillas are made quick and easy by pressure cooking the beef roast with an amazing chipotle sauce, then melting cheese in the best tortillas.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate SaveSaved!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Scale: 8 servings

Recipe Created By: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

Instant Pot Barbacoa

• ▢ 1 tablespoon avocado oil (or other high heat oil)
• ▢ 2.5 pound beef chuck roast (bone in recommended, size can range from 2-3 pounds)
• ▢ 1 small yellow onion (diced)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ▢ ¼ cup lime juice (2-3 limes needed)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried cumin
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried oregano (Mexican, if available)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cloves (whole cloves recommended but ground will work)
• ▢ ½ cup beef broth (or substitute with water)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt

Quesadillas

• ▢ 16 Corn Tortillas
• ▢ 16 ounces shredded cheese (any kind of a Mexican blend works (cheddar, pepper jack, etc))
• ▢ 1 tablespoon avocado oil (or oil spray)

Pickled Radishes

• ▢ 1 bunch radishes (chopped)
• ▢ 1 jalapeno (stem and seeds removed, chopped)
• ▢ 1 small red onion (chopped)
• ▢ Juice from one lime
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ fresh cilantro (minced)

Instructions

To make the barbacoa beef:

• Cut the add chuck roast into chunks that are no larger than 4 inches wide. Heat the Instant Pot on Saute mode with the oil. When the oil is extremely hot, place pieces of the roast in the pot allowing room in between each piece of meat (you may have to brown the meat in batches to avoid over crowding). Allow the meat to sear to a nice brown by cooking for about 5 minutes per side, flipping only once. Transfer browned meat to a separate plate and continue untiil all the meat is browned.
• With the meat removed but the Instant Pot still set to saute mode, add the onion. Stir a few times while scraping the bottom of the pot to release any meat that stuck to the bottom. Allow onions to brown slightly.
• Add the remaining barbacoa ingredients to the Instant Pot, along with the browned pieces of roast and any juices that may have accumulated on the plate. Stir to combine. Close lid with pressure valve seated correctly. Set to high pressure for 60 minutes.
• When the Barbacoa beef is done cooking, allow the pressure to naturally release. Then remove the meat from the pressure cooker and transfer it from a cutting board. Set the Instant Pot back to saute mode and allow the liquid to cook with the lid off so that the sauce reduces and thickens. This may take 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and discard any fat and bone. Add the shredded beef back to the pot with the sauce, stir, and turn the Instant Pot off.

To make the pickled radishes:

• While beef is cooking, prepare the pickled radishes by combining radishes, jalapeno, red onion, lime juice, salt and cilantro in small bowl.

To make the quesadillas:

• Heat a griddle over medium high heat. Spray bottom side of a corn tortilla with a very thin layer of oil, and place oil side down on hot griddle. Add a sprinkle of cheese, then a small handful of the shredded Barbacoa, then more cheese, and top with a second tortilla that has been lightly brushed with oil. Cook until tortillas start to turn golden brown and cheese melts and flip once. It may take about about 3-4 minutes each side.
• Serve Barbacoa Quesadillas with pickled radishes.

Notes

• Chose the right cut of meat. I recommend finding a roast that has a fair amount of marbled fat as well as bone. I think a chuck roast is the perfect choice when making chipotle barbacoa because it cooks up so incredibly tender and is easy to shred.
• Good barbacoa requires excellent seasoning. Although there are a lot of ingredients, each one plays it's roll in creating a very unique flavor. I don't recommend any substitutions, but you can certainly increase or decrease the amount of chipotle pepper depending on how spicy you like it.
• Make ahead and freezing instructions - Barbacoa beef can be made ahead of time. If not being used within a couple of days, freeze the cooked shredded beef in it's sauce in an airtight container for a future date. To reheat, just thaw in the refrigerator and heat in a pot on on a baking sheet under the broiler.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 589kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 143mg | Sodium: 1053mg | Potassium: 688mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 686IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 368mg | Iron: 4mg

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This recipe was originally published in July 2014 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!