I often find it funny on all of the posts for ‘Taco Tuesday’. Granted I love the name and the idea of it all, especially if you are planning out the weekly meals, but I feel that Monday (Meatless), Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (Fish Fry in Wisconsin), Saturday, and Sunday get left behind. I’m sure those days are out there in terms of identifying food to a day but that is not how it goes down in our house. Sure, we try to get a meatless Monday in (and any day of the week for that matter), and hump day or Thursday results in (at least for me, ‘I’m tired of cooking) a let’s order something kind of night, but for tacos, heck, I could eat those every day of the week. So upon my wandering around the house looking for something to do or cook as I was bored, I came across a lonely poblano pepper.
Yep, one poblano pepper resulted in this Taco Thursday. The idea of the poblano made me think of the chicken poblano recipe that my wife loves, but I had just recently made that for her, hence the lonely poblano. So I came across a nice looking chuck roast that was calling my name, as was the pressure cooker for that matter.
These pulled beef tacos were super simple to make, and quick (due to the pressure cooker), and made everyone’s Thursday a very happy one.
Let’s get started.
- 4 lb beef chuck roast
- salt and pepper, to taste
- water (or beef stock) to cover beef
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed
- 1 poblano chile, halved, seeds and stem removed
- 4 tbsp canola oil, divided
- 1 tbsp Berbere spice blend (or taco)
- additional salt, to taste
- Shredded cheese, to your liking
- hard shell tacos
- Taco fixings (chopped onion, avocado, cilantro, tomato, beans, etc)
I left this one pretty generic as the taco game is pretty diverse. The idea here is to get your shredded beef ready and you load however you want. This particular evening I went with hard shelled tacos with cheese, onion, and garden tomatoes, along with some hot sauce.
If you do not have a pressure cooker (I highly recommend that purchase) then feel free to use a slow cooker with less water, and cooking that on low for 6-8 hours. The pressure cooker however will get you done and ready within 45 minutes if that.
To the pressure cooker, heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil on medium-high heat. Season both sides of the chuck roast with salt and pepper. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the chuck roast and sear it on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. You want some good browning so let it sit there, do not disturb it, then flip until both sides are seared.
Once seared, add in the garlic, onion, and poblano pepper. Cover the roast with water or beef stock, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes. Let your pressure come down before taking off the lid (follow your pressure cooker instructions). The roast should be fork tender and should easily shred with a couple of forks.
Discard the onion, garlic, and pepper.
Remove the roast onto a cutting board, and reserve a couple of cups of the liquid.
Using two forks, shred the beef and discard any of the weird fat that may still be intact. No one likes that stuff, trust me.
Next, heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add in the oil, and once shimmers, add in the beef. Season with a pinch of salt, then the berbere spice. Give that a good toss, and sear the shredded beef. Something about those slightly crispy strands of beef get me every time.
Once the beef is slightly seared to your liking, add in just a bit of remaining liquid, to your liking, to moisten the beef.
Once your remaining taco ingredients are ready, it’s taco time!
Load in the beef into your desired shell whether that be hard, or soft, and load in your fillings.
The result is super tender shredded beef with awesome flavors from that berbere spice, and just all of those goodies from your taco fillings. This shredded beef taco is not only easy to make, loaded with flavor, and perfect for any day of the week, but it also is a nice change to that classic American ground beef mixture that we grew up to love. Hope you enjoy!
Other Ideas:
- 4 lb beef chuck roast
- salt and pepper, to taste
- water (or beef stock) to cover beef
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed
- 1 poblano chile, halved, seeds and stem removed
- 4 tbsp canola oil, divided
- 1 tbsp Berbere spice blend (or taco)
- additional salt, to taste
- Shredded cheese, to your liking
- hard shell tacos
- Taco fixings (chopped onion, avocado, cilantro, tomato, beans, etc)
- I left this one pretty generic as the taco game is pretty diverse. The idea here is to get your shredded beef ready and you load however you want. This particular evening I went with hard shelled tacos with cheese, onion, and garden tomatoes, along with some hot sauce.
- If you do not have a pressure cooker (I highly recommend that purchase) then feel free to use a slow cooker with less water, and cooking that on low for 6-8 hours. The pressure cooker however will get you done and ready within 45 minutes if that.
- To the pressure cooker, heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil on medium-high heat. Season both sides of the chuck roast with salt and pepper. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the chuck roast and sear it on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. You want some good browning so let it sit there, do not disturb it, then flip until both sides are seared.
- Once seared, add in the garlic, onion, and poblano pepper. Cover the roast with water or beef stock, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes. Let your pressure come down before taking off the lid (follow your pressure cooker instructions). The roast should be fork tender and should easily shred with a couple of forks.
- Discard the onion, garlic, and pepper.
- Remove the roast onto a cutting board, and reserve a couple of cups of the liquid.
- Using two forks, shred the beef and discard any of the weird fat that may still be intact. No one likes that stuff, trust me.
- Next, heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add in the oil, and once shimmers, add in the beef. Season with a pinch of salt, then the berbere spice. Give that a good toss, and sear the shredded beef. Something about those slightly crispy strands of beef get me every time.
- Once the beef is slightly seared to your liking, add in just a bit of remaining liquid, to your liking, to moisten the beef.
- Once your remaining taco ingredients are ready, it’s taco time!
- Load in the beef into your desired shell whether that be hard, or soft, and load in your fillings.
