Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos with avocado, salsa, and onion are easy to prepare and yield THE BEST tacos! This easy-to-prepare Instant Pot Taco Meat recipe is big in flavor, yet so simple!
Tacos. A love language. Powerful enough to put Tuesday on the calendar. A source of pure unadulterated joy. Some may say, a state of being.
When pressed to divulge my all-time favorite taco, I don’t think I could possibly choose. Each has their place!
So many meat, topping, and sauce options!
Okay, but shredded beef tacos rank very high.
I top shredded beef tacos with avocado, red onion, and salsa because it creates that fine balance of heat, creaminess, freshness and zing.
This easy recipe for Instant Pot Taco Meat yields mouth-watering succulent results every time! It is simple to prepare and turns out with incredible savory flavor and perfect tender shredded beef texture.
One of the best parts about this recipe is the fact that all the heat stays in your Instant Pot (no oven-roasting necessary!), making it ideal for summertime when you’re craving tacos non-stop but can’t bring yourself to cook.
Looking for a slow cooker version? Make my Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef.
Prefer making ground beef tacos? Make my Ground Beef Taco Meat recipe!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Taco Meat:
For the Taco Meat:
Sirloin Roast or Cuck Roast: I find the best roast for shredded beef tacos is a chuck roast or a sirloin roast. Each has a decent fat content without being overly fatty like brisket.
Yellow Onion and Garlic Powder: These two simple ingredients bring a huge amount of flavor to taco meat! Don’t skip them!
Avocado Oil: Used for searing the beef. We need a quality oil with a high smoke point due to the fact that we’re searing beef at a high temperature. Olive oil doesn’t work here, as it burns.
Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce: My secret ingredient! Similar to the onion and garlic, a huge amount of flavor is brought to us by canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. This recipe is medium heat, but it can the chilis can be adjusted up or down for spicy or mild.
Beef Broth or Chicken Broth: We need some form of liquid for cooking in a pressure cooker, or else the process won’t work. I like using a quality beef bone broth, but chicken stock works too.
Sea Salt: Season the meat to taste!
Optional Additions: Fresh lime juice and/or homemade taco seasoning is great here!
For the Tacos:
Use your favorite taco shells like corn tortillas, flour tortillas, or grain-free tortillas. Similarly, pick your favorite toppings. Avocado, onion, cilantro, and salsa are my top picks!
Sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, cabbage slaw, cotija cheese, pickled onions, hot sauce, and guacamole are popular choices.
Best Roast For Shredded Beef Tacos?:
Really any roast you can find at a grocery store will work for shredded beef tacos. However, choose wisely depending on the fat content you’re looking for.
For instance, tri tip and brisket will yield an insanely flavorful and crazy tender shredded beef, because the fat content is high.
I choose a sirloin roast to keep the fat content under control, and it still yields an incredibly flavorful result.
The key to perfect shredded beef is adding big bold flavors like onion, garlic and chilis to to the meat, seasoning it well with sea salt, and allowing it to pressure cook (or slow cook) for a decent amount of time.
How Long to Pressure Cook Beef for Tacos?:
Different schools of thought on this topic!
Although pressure cookers cook meat through very quickly, you don’t want to just set it for the bare minimum. In general, the longer meat cooks, the more tender and shreddy it will become.
For this reason, I pressure cook a 2 to 3 pound roast on high for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes. I bump it up to 2 hours for anything heavier than 3 pounds.
I also allow the pressure cooker to completely naturally release and allow it to sit for additional time (about 1 to 2 hours).
This may be bad news for folks who want their tacos done yesterday, but giving it the proper amount of time is well worth it!
How to Make Instant Pot Taco Meat:
Remove any webbing around the beef roast and chop it into large chunks (I do 3 to 6 chunks for a 2.5-pound roast).
Season the beef on all sides with sea salt and garlic powder.
Plug in your pressure cooker, press the Sauté button, and allow it to heat up for a few minutes.
Add the yellow onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Scoot the onion off to the side and place the chunks of beef on the hot surface, making sure they have room to get a nice sear. You will likely have to sear the meat in 2 to 3 batches, depending on the size of your pressure cooker.
Sear for 3 to 5 minutes on two sides, or until the chunks of beef are nice and golden-brown on two sides.
Pour the chicken broth and chipotle chilis into the pressure cooker and secure the lid.
Press the Manual/Pressure Cook button and set the time for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Make sure the steam release valve is sealed shut and that the pressure is on its default High pressure setting.
Allow the pressure cooker to run its course, then allow it to complete its natural release cycle, about 1 hour. You can allow it to sit longer if you’d like!
Remove the lid and transfer the beef to a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the beef, then transfer it back into the pressure cooker to absorb the juices and become even more flavorful.
Taste the beef for flavor and add sea salt and/or lime juice to taste.
Use shredded beef for tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, taco salads, tostadas, enchiladas, and more!
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freeze leftovers in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
There you have it! Easy taco meat for the perfect Taco Tuesday!
This large batch of pressure cooker taco meat is ideal for big families, or for meal prepping dinners for busy weeknights.
Looking for side dish suggestions? Make my Instant Pot Black Beans and my Cilantro Lime Rice!
Taco fanatics, try out some of these tasty recipes for your next taco night!
More Delicious Taco Recipes:
- Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
- Grilled Chicken Tacos
- Crock Pot Carnitas Tacos
- Superfood Breakfast Tacos
- Salmon Tacos
- Al Pastor Tacos
That’s it! Sear it, set it, taco it!
Let me know what toppings you love on your shredded beef tacos!
Instant Pot Taco Meat Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 large yellow onion
- 2 ½ lbs sirloin roast cut into large chunks*
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 2 cups chicken broth or beef broth
- 4 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce chopped**
For the Tacos:
- Tortillas of choice
- 2 ripe avocados sliced
- Salsa
- ½ cup red onion chopped
- Cilantro optional
Instructions
- Remove any webbing around the beef roast and chop it into 3 to 6 large chunks.
- Season the beef on all sides with sea salt and garlic powder.
- Plug in your pressure cooker, press the Sauté button, and allow it to heat up for a few minutes.
- Add the yellow onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Scoot the onion off to the side and place the chunks of beef on the hot surface, making sure they have room to get a nice sear. You will likely have to sear the meat in 2 to 3 batches, depending on the size of your pressure cooker. Sear for 3 to 5 minutes on two sides, or until the chunks of beef are nice and golden-brown on two sides.
- Pour the chicken broth and chipotle chilis into the pressure cooker and secure the lid.
- Press the Manual/Pressure Cook button and set the time for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Make sure the steam release valve is sealed shut and that the pressure is on its default High setting. Allow the pressure cooker to run its course, then allow it to completely naturally release (about 1 hour. You can allow it to sit longer if you’d like!).
- Remove the lid and transfer the beef to a cutting board. Use two forks to shred the beef, then transfer it back into the pressure cooker to absorb the juices and become even more flavorful.
- Taste the beef for flavor and add sea salt and/or lime juice to taste.
- Use shredded beef for tacos, burritos, taco salads, tostadas, enchiladas, and more!
I’ve yet to try your Instapot shredded beef taco suggested recipe but I do know that when using a chuck roast up to 3#, 65 minutes on high pressure is more than sufficient with a 10 minute natural release and then vent the balance.
The pot roast will be nice and “shreddy.”
No need to go hours on end with a chuck roast.