Tender and flavorful, this pressure cooker Chipotle Shredded Beef has just the right amount of spice and is perfect for tacos or burritos. And you can’t beat the cooking time!
I have gotten to the point where my kitchen is so full of “stuff” that I’m pretty particular about adding utensils or appliances. And even though I’m in the kitchen all the time, and it’s tempting to want to buy every little thing on the shelves of Williams Sonoma, I know that I am moving my life towards minimalism.
But sometimes something catches my eye. Again and again. And peaks my interest. Until I can’t resist anymore and I have to jump on board.
Right now, it’s pressure cooking. And not just pressure cooking. But this lovely appliance that I keep seeing everywhere – the Instant Pot.
My mom used to use a pressure cooker back in the day. But when my friend Barbara from Pressure Cooking Today started telling me how wonderful pressure cooking is, I knew I wanted to try it. I’m only ashamed that it took me so long.
I use my slow cooker fairly often. I have said it before, though, that I don’t always love the texture that meat gets in the slow cooker. And really, I forget to set it in the morning so often anyway, and sometimes I’ll look at my menu at 2pm, realizing I was supposed to start the slow cooker at noon for dinner to be ready, and a new plan has to be made.
Well, no more.
Not only does pressure cooking not give you that weird texture, but it speeds up cooking so much. Like today’s recipe. Normally, a roast will need to cook hours and hours in the slow cooker, or even just hours on the stove. But in the Instant Pot? Cook time is only 1 hour. You do have to wait for it to come up to pressure, and then release the pressure, but you are definitely still ahead of your game.
Let’s talk about this Chipotle Shredded Beef now. So much flavor. And it’s so easy. (I’ve actually already made it 3 times in the last couple weeks!) It’s perfect for Sunday dinner, or you can make it and use it for tacos or burritos, or just about anything. I have about a million recipes that use shredded chicken, but I’m so addicted to this Chipotle Shredded Beef now that I may be subbing in beef for chicken. And I may have a recipe coming to you tomorrow that uses this shredded beef. 😉
I have tested a few different kinds of roasts, and a chuck roast is definitely the way to go on this. It is a lot more tender, and it shreds so much easier. You can use a round roast, and it will work, but it definitely doesn’t shred as well or have as much flavor.
I am a complete Instant Pot convert now. I’m already adding recipes to my list to make in mine!!
And check out how easy this Chipotle Shredded Beef is to make in the video below!
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Chipotle Shredded Beef {Instant Pot}
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 4-5 cups 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Tender and flavorful, this pressure cooker Chipotle Shredded Beef has just the right amount of spice and is perfect for tacos or burritos. And you can’t beat the cooking time!
Ingredients
- 3 lb beef chuck roast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped (seeds removed for less heat)
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle with adobo can)
- 2 teaspoons dried cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Salt and pepper the roast generously.
- Press sauté on the Instant Pot and add the olive oil. Brown the roast on both sides, 3-4 minutes per side, or until completely browned.
- If needed, remove the roast and drain any oil or fat. Place the roast back into the pot and spread the chipotle pepper and adobo sauce on top of the meat. Then sprinkle with the cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Sprinkle the cilantro over the top. Add the onions and bell pepper. Pour the water around the edges of the roast in the pot.
- Close the pressure cooker select high pressure for 60 minutes. When it’s done and it beeps, turn the cooker off and use natural pressure to release. When the valve drops, remove the lid.
- Remove the meat from the Instant Pot and let it rest for 5 minutes. Discard the veggies, reserving the liquid.
- Shred the meat with 2 forks and return to the pot and stir into the liquid. Keep warm over low heat until ready to use.
Recipe Notes:
adapted from food.com
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of recipe
- Calories: 279
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 654 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 37 g
- Cholesterol: 113 mg
Keywords: shredded beef, chipotle shredded beef, instant pot shredded beef
Nancy says
I make this delicious recipe at least once a month.
It’s a hit every time! Love , love it ohh and everyone else does too!
★★★★★
Deborah says
Thanks so much for the comment and rating Nancy – I’m so glad you love it so much!
Beatrice kalle says
I do not like cilantro. Substitute?
Deborah says
You could just leave it out and it would still be great!
Cathy Clemmons says
60 minutes on high pressure seems like a long time?? I bought ingredients to make this but don’t want to overcook the meat.
Deborah says
It’s a larger piece of meat, so it needs some time to cook through. You’ll typically cook for 20 minutes per pound.
John B says
Hi Everyone, I made this tonight and it came it pretty good! The beef came out nice and tender. So, here’s the changes I made since this was for 2 people: cooked for 30 minutes (not an hour), used 1lb of cubed chuck roast (instead of 3lbs), added 1.5 Chipotle peppers, added coriander (instead of cilantro – Thanks Sandy!). I didn’t drain the beef before cooking or toss the veges. I thought the onion and bell pepper were delicious! I was hoping that the beef would have more of a smoky flavor. Any suggestions?? I used Herdez Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce so maybe I need a different brands?
Thanks for the great recipe Deborah! I will definitely be making this again!
★★★★
Anny says
Hi ! I’m doing this as my VERY 1ST instapot recipe and I read your post and wondered what the original article was referring to when you stated that “ you had a recipe coming tomorrow that we could also use this meat for” ?! Thank you! Can’t wait to try this for my picky children’ tonight! 🙂
Deborah says
Hi Anny – the recipe I was referring to was the recipe for these Enchilada Beef Sliders. I hope you – and your children – enjoyed the recipe!!
Sandy says
This was amazing! So tasty!
Being relatively new to instant pot, I hadn’t realized I could cook with only a cup of liquid… apparently I’ve been drowning my meats and diluting the flavors.
I made the recipe as written except that I didn’t have fresh cilantro so I used a tsp of ground coriander instead.
This made fabulous tacos.
★★★★★
Deborah says
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Diane says
I would like to double the size of roast. 6 lbs rather than 3. How do I adjust the liquid & cooking time?
Lisa says
Hmmmm, cilantro in during cooking time not mixed in in the end????
Diane Watson says
Why discard the veggies??
janet says
This was phenomenal! So flavorful, even the picky kiddo loved it!
★★★★★
Deborah says
Yay! I love it even more that the picky kiddo loved it!
Krystal L says
I’ve made this numerous times now and it’s Soo good! I add a couple extra chipotle peppers to it because we like the spice and flavor, but otherwise the recipe is perfect. I serve it on grilled corn tortillas, with homemade salsa and guacamole. It’s delicious!
★★★★★
Deborah says
I’m so happy that you love this recipe!
Adam says
I’m just a single person, so three pounds of beef is too much. If I halved the amount of meat, what would that do to the cooking time?
Deborah says
Hi Adam – I haven’t tried it with a smaller amount of meat, but I would try decreasing the cook time by 25%. If it needs longer to cook at that point, you can put it back in for longer. Hope you love it!
pk says
THNAKS FOR THE POST
Deborah says
You’re welcome!
Nelson Fuertes Ii says
Wonder what it would taste like with beef stock instead of water?? Have you tried it?
Sherry says
What did you do for sides with this? I’m considering making this for company this Sunday and I’m unsure what sides to put with it. Thanks.
Debbie says
I have a duo mini will thst make a difference in the recipe?
Deborah says
I haven’t used the duo mini, so I couldn’t say for sure. My guess is that you’d have to scale down the recipe, but it should work!
Rachel says
I’ve tried beef in my instant pot several times and it never seems to come out right I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong for this recipe for instance does the water need to cover the beef?
Deborah says
Nope – the water doesn’t need to cover it all the way. Just use the 1 cup water. What doesn’t come out right with the beef?
Nicole says
I know the InstaPot is all the rage – but I don’t own one. How long using a traditional pressure cooker would this take? Any other tips when doing this recipe in a traditional pressure cooker?
Jamie says
If I used stew meat, do you have any idea how long the cooking time would need to be to get it tender? I’m guessing 30 minutes?
Deborah says
I haven’t tried stew meat, but I’m guessing you’d be right – around 30 minutes.
Jen says
Can this be done in a slow cooker?
Deborah says
I’m sure it probably could, although I haven’t tried it. I’m guessing you’d have to cook it awhile, though – probably about 9 hours on low.
Tessah hazen says
This is my question as well, has anyone tried using frozen chuck roast?
Cynthia Rojas says
I’ve done this recipe twice and my family loved it!! Thanks
Deborah says
Yay!! I’m a bit addicted to it as well!
Lisa Patterson says
Can you put the roast in the instapot frozen & it still cook it in that amount of time?
Sara says
I usually cook frozen roasts for 90 min in the instant pot, add more time if it’s bone-in
Barbara Schieving says
I’m so glad you finally took the leap and started pressure cooking! I can’t wait to see what else you whip up.
Heidi @foodiecrush says
This looks amazing. I have one on order and will totally be making this first thang! Cute video too!
kitara says
This is pure perfection!
Tori//Gringalicious says
This looks like one of those recipes that becomes absolutely necessary on the go-to list for favorite meals. Yum! This is definitely a winner!
Ann B says
I’ve made this twice now. The first time was better, and I think it had to do with how lean the chuck roasts were, but in each case, it was easy and delicious. I shred the beef and carefully remove as much fat and cartilage as possible then refrigerate it separately from the broth. I skim the broth the next day and add just a little to the shredded beef. The leftover broth is excellent for mixing with udon or rice noodles or drinking as is. I’ll use it for a vegetable soup base this winter. Just the right amount of spice! Last time, I froze half the shredded beef and, 2-3 weeks later, thawed it in my IP (1 min with 1 C water and 6 min natural release) and served it on corn tortillas with a dollop of homemade ranchero sauce and some pickled nopalitos and jalapeño. Cheese optional. Quick and easy dinner when a friend stopped by! Thanks for this great make-ahead recipe! I’m sending a pound with a 4 oz mason jar of broth off with my kid when he heads back to college tomorrow. Pretty sure he and his friends will want more next time I visit.
★★★★★
Deborah says
I’m so glad you liked it – and you sound like a wonderful mom!! What a great thing to send with your son!